Vegetarian mains
Roasted cauliflower biryani
Although biryani is traditionally served as a side to curry, it's rich and interesting enough to enjoy in its own right as a vegetarian main. Roasted cauliflower is combined with delicately spiced rice and baked in the oven. You could use brown rice for this as well – just lengthen the cooking time accordingly.
Ingredients
- 1 tsp saffron threads
- 2 tbsp boiling water
- 2 tbsp oil for frying, e.g. vegetable or sunflower
- 2 onions, sliced
- 2 tbsp medium to hot curry powder
- 200g tinned chopped tomatoes
- 6 cardamom pods
- 250g basmati rice
- 400ml water
- 1 cauliflower, cut into bite sized pieces
- 200ml plain yoghurt
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
- 2 tsp cumin seeds
- handful fresh coriander leaves
- ½ tsp garam masala powder
- 4 tbsp flaked almonds
Method
-
Step 1
Preheat oven to 180°C/Gas 4.
-
Step 2
Place the saffron threads in a small bowl and pour over a couple of tablespoons of boiling water, then leave to soak.
-
Step 3
Heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in a pan, add the onions and gently fry for about 10 minutes to soften.
-
Step 4
Add the curry powder, tinned tomatoes, cardamom, rice and water. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 25 minutes, or until the rice is tender.
-
Step 5
While the rice is cooking, toss the cauliflower with the yoghurt, garlic and ginger, cumin seeds, coriander leaves and garam masala in a small baking dish.
-
Step 6
Roast until the cauliflower is just tender but still with some bite. Remove from the oven and add the cooked rice, along with the flaked almonds.
-
Step 7
Stir to combine, drizzle over the saffron water then cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Serve with some more plain yoghurt.
