Biryani is a festival dish, traditionally served at Indian weddings. This is a deliciously spicy version of a substantial meal that is served in one pot. It’s perfect for cooking with and for crowds.
You can make it with almost any meat or Quorn™ – look at the end of the recipe for some different options.
Ingredients
200g Basmati rice
1 x 15ml spoon vegetable oil
2 chicken breast fillets (about 260g)
Small bunch fresh coriander
1 medium red onion
100g French beans
4 x 15ml spoons Balti curry paste
130ml water
4 tomatoes
2 hard-boiled eggs
Equipment
Weighing scales
Medium saucepan with lid
Small saucepan
Colander
Large saucepan with lid
2 x Sharp knife (one for meat, one for vegetables)
2 x Chopping board (one for meat, one for vegetables)
Measuring spoons
Measuring jug
Wooden spoon
Kettle
Large serving dish
Bowl
Scissors
Instructions
- Cut the chicken into 2–3cm diced pieces and place in a bowl. Wash your hands after handling raw chicken.
- Cook the rice according to the instructions on the packet. If you haven’t already hard-boiled the eggs, pop them in a separate pan in cold water, bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Then drain through a colander and leave to stand in fresh cold water to cool. While these are cooking you can carry on with the next steps.
- Using a different chopping board and knife, peel and finely chop the red onion.
- Wash the French beans, tomatoes and coriander.
- Finely chop the coriander. Top and tail the French beans and cut them in half. Cut the tomatoes into quarters.
- Heat the vegetable oil in the large saucepan, then add the chicken, half of the chopped coriander and curry paste. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring all the time. The chicken will change colour from pink to white.
- Add the chopped red onion and French beans and cook for a further 3 minutes.
- Add the tomato quarters, and add the water gradually – you may not need it all. Your Speedy Biryani should be moist enough for the flavours to spread through evenly, but it shouldn’t be wet. Cook for a further 3 minutes. Keep stirring.
- Add the cooked rice. Mix well, cover and simmer for 2 minutes. You might want to add a little bit more water now.
- Peel the shell from the hard-boiled eggs and slice into quarters.
- Spoon the Speedy Biryani into a large serving dish and garnish with hard-boiled egg quarters and a sprinkling of fresh coriander.
Skills used include:
Weighing, measuring, peeling, chopping, boiling/simmering and frying.
Top Tips
- To save time, buy precooked rice so this can just be added at step 9. This will save on washing up too. You’ll need about 500g of cooked rice.
- An easy way for children to chop the coriander and French beans is by using kitchen scissors.
Something to try next time
- Instead of chicken, you could make Speedy Biryani with any of the following:
- 300g of Quorn™ fillets (vegetarian) – prepare and cook in the same way as the chicken
- 300g of beef frying steak – prepare and cook as for the chicken, the meat will turn from pink to brown when it is cooked
- 400g can of chickpeas (drained) – skip step 6, add the coriander and curry paste in step 7 and add the chickpeas with the tomato at step 8.
- You can make this recipe with a different curry paste, such as Korma if you like a milder dish or Madras for a hotter result.
- Instead of curry paste, you could use one pouch of a curry recipe base (based on 170g per pouch). As these contain more water than a traditional curry paste, you will only need to add around 30-50ml of water at step 8.
Prepare now, eat later
- To save time, hard-boil your eggs in advance. Once they have cooled, store in the fridge until you need them.
- This Biryani dish is best eaten straight away but if you have any leftovers cool quickly (within 1 hour). Refrigerate and eat within 24 hours, either cold as a rice salad or reheat until piping hot. Do not reheat rice more than once.
