Fragrant vegetable & cashew biryani

Fragrant vegetable & cashew biryani

A delicious vegetarian main dish or accompaniment to another curry, ideal for a curry buffet or spicy feast

Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Serves 8

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 40 mins

Cook time

Cook 45 - 1 hr

Vegetarian

Vegetarian, Super healthy

Method

  1. Rinse the rice in several changes of water to remove excess starch, then put in a bowl of cold water and leave to soak for 30 mins.
  2. Meanwhile, fry the onions in the oil for 8 mins until soft and starting to colour. Add the ginger, then cook for 2 mins more. Stir in the curry paste followed by the whole spices, cook for 1 min more, then tip in the potatoes and cauliflower. Pour in 300ml water, cover and boil for about 5-7 mins until the veg are just tender, but still have a little resistance. Stir in the yogurt and peas with 1 tsp salt.
  3. Mix the saffron, rosewater and 3 tbsp boiling water together and stir well. Drain the rice, tip into a pan of boiling salted water, then cook for 5 mins until almost tender. Drain again. Get out a large ovenproof dish with a lid and butter the base. Tip the curry sauce into the base, scatter over the nuts, then spoon over the rice. Drizzle over the rosewater mixture, then cover with foil followed by the lid. Can be chilled overnight until ready to cook.
  4. Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Put the biryani in the oven for 45 mins-1 hr until thoroughly heated through. To check it's ready, try a spoonful from the centre of the rice. For the garnish, slowly fry the onions in the oil until really golden and crisp (this can be done in advance). When the biryani is hot and ready to serve, gently toss through the onions and coriander.
Try

Good source of vitamin C, counts as 1 of 5-a-day

Don't walk away from the rice as it boils - the pre-soaked grains cook quicker than you'd expect, so you need to ensure that it doesn't overcook.

Per serving

469 kcalories, protein 14.0g, carbohydrate 67.0g, fat 18.0 g, saturated fat 4.0g, fibre 4.0g, sugar 7.0g, salt 1.11 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, January 2008.

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Latest comments and suggestions

Results 1-20

  • Binder photo Andrea

    18 January 2008

    Andrea rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo Claire Helen

    23 January 2008

    Claire Helen rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Delicious and relatively easy to prepare and cook. My young children liked it too, as it was spicy without the heat.

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  • Binder photo Anne

    17 February 2008

    Anne rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Absolutely fantastic! Made it for a dinner party on New Year's Eve with the rest of the "Indian Buffet" in January's GF. It was a great success and have made it again since.

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  • Binder photo Sue Spink

    10 March 2008

    Sue Spink rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This was fabulous, even though I had no cauliflower and I used pinenuts instead of cashews. It could be adapted easily depending what veg you have in.

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  • Binder photo Annie

    20 March 2008

    Annie rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This was absolutely delicious. Who needs meat???

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  • Binder photo nick's food

    16 April 2008

    nick's food rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    again really nice and easy, recommend for those fussy meat eaters who think vegetarian curries cannot compare

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  • Binder photo sally

    30 April 2008

    sally rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    lovely flavour, a long winded cooking method but really tasty.

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  • Binder photo Eve

    15 May 2008

    Eve commented on this recipe

    I found there was far too much rice in this dish. It left it a bit tasteless.

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  • Binder photo Eve

    15 May 2008

    Eve rated this recipe

    3 stars

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  • Binder photo nicola*86

    01 October 2008

    nicola*86 rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    sich a flavoursome dish! every flavour was so subtle and complimented one another. great even as a veggie option on its own!

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  • Binder photo Coops

    03 November 2008

    Coops rated and commented on this recipe

    3 stars

    Nice dish, cooked it for a dinner party this weekend and everyone enjoyed it - however I did think it needed a bit more kick, but thats just my opinion, will definatly make it again.

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  • Binder photo kaperkat

    14 November 2008

    kaperkat rated and commented on this recipe

    1 stars

    NO INGREDIENTS LIST AND REALLY YOU DO NOT NEED TO PRECOOK THE RICE - ADDS ONE EXTRA STEP, PARTICULARLY IF SOAKED

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  • Binder photo Liz

    18 January 2009

    Liz rated and commented on this recipe

    1 stars

    I didn't like this. It was bland and really fiddly and time consuming to prepare. Also, its a fairly expensive recipe.

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  • Binder photo hobbycook

    06 February 2009

    hobbycook rated and commented on this recipe

    3 stars

    I thought this was great comfort food and not complicated: you just chuck everything into a dish and put it in the oven! I didn't use chicken but lamb which was delish. I added a bit more curry paste, rose water & yoghurt to give it a bit more of a kick.

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  • Binder photo mssteel

    27 February 2009

    mssteel rated and commented on this recipe

    2 stars

    Fragrance overkill...could do without the rosewater. I made this recipe using 300g of rice. I'm a big fan of biryani but this recipe simply does not work.

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  • Binder photo Mrs H

    01 March 2009

    Mrs H rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    A great recipe. Husband and I loved it and there was plenty of leftovers for lunches. I didn't have any rosewater so didn't use it, but didn't miss it either. It is quite fiddly to make, but delicious and definitely worth it.

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  • Binder photo Gill

    02 April 2009

    Gill rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo Salima

    20 May 2009

    Salima commented on this recipe

    Quite easy to make, very, very nice and healthy though I didn't have a big enough ovenproof dish for all that rice!

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  • Binder photo Salima

    20 May 2009

    Salima rated this recipe

    4 stars

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  • Binder photo Andinewton

    25 September 2009

    Andinewton commented on this recipe

    I pre-prepped everything for this dish and found it incredibly easy to follow and make. The only problem I found (other than having a four hour power cut, the power came back on 15 minutes before I had to put the oven on!) was getting hold of rosewater but it really didn't detract anything. My husband and I loved the dish (accompanied it with the one pot mushroom and potato curry) and will definitely make it the next time we have company!

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Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Serves 8

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 40 mins

Cook time

Cook 45 - 1 hr

Vegetarian

Vegetarian, Super healthy

Ingredients

  • 500g basmati rice
  • 2 large onions , halved and thinly sliced
  • 4 tbsp sunflower oil
  • thumb-size piece fresh root ginger , shredded
  • 65g sachet korma curry paste (we used Sharwood's)
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 6 green cardamom pods
  • 3 star anise
  • 250g diced potatoes
  • 1 small cauliflower , cut into small florets
  • 250g Greek yogurt
  • 225g frozen peas
  • 2 good pinches saffron
  • ½ tsp rosewater
  • butter , for greasing
  • 100g roasted, salted cashews nuts

FOR THE GARNISH

  • 2 onions , halved and very thinly sliced
  • 3 tbsp sunflower oil
  • good handful coriander
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Per serving

469 kcalories, protein 14.0g, carbohydrate 67.0g, fat 18.0 g, saturated fat 4.0g, fibre 4.0g, sugar 7.0g, salt 1.11 g

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