Biryani

Ingredients

• 3-4 cups basmati rice depending on how many you are serving – a cup for each person. Olive oil for cooking and you will need some canola oil or any other vegetable oil for frying.
• 1-1.5 cups frozen peas
• 1-1.5 cups Sultanas
• 1-1.5 cup Almonds – peeled and halved or you can use almond slivers or flakes.
• Mixed spices such as garam masala or the special Biryani mixed spice – baharat from Middle Eastern groceries.
• Saffron and turmeric
• Salt and black pepper
• Chicken stock or dry chicken or vegetable stock.
• 3-4 medium to large size Potatoes
• 1/2-1 kilo Minced beef for meatballs or stir fry beef strips.
• One small Chicken – or 3-4 breasts
• 5-6 eggs

Method

• If you are using minced beef, you need to add salt, pepper, crushed garlic and some bread crumbs to it, mix it well and make small meat balls. Either deep fry the meat balls and drain them, or roast/grill them but make sure they are cooked well, browned all round.
• If you are using the stir fry beef strips, just cook them on the stove and fry them. I use these most of the time instead of meat balls to save time.
• For the chicken meat, you can use either a full chicken or around 3-4 chicken breasts. For the first option, add some water and salt to the chicken and cover and cook on high heat. When cooked, take it out of water and leave it to cool. Once cool, cut the chicken meat into pieces using your hands and take out the bones and skin. You can use the chicken broth later for the rice.
• If you are using chicken breasts, you can cut them into cubes and then cook and fry them on the stove with some salt.
• Hard boil the eggs and when cooked, let them cool and peel them. Then deep fry them and leave them aside to cool.
• Peel the potatoes and cut them into cubes – reasonable size similar to the meat balls size. Add salt and leave them to absorb the salt. Then wash and drain and deep fry them and set aside
• Fry the almond halves/slivers on low heat until golden. Take out and set aside. Similarly, fry the peas separately and leave aside. Then fry the sultanas until puffy and golden brown, take out and leave aside.
• Put 3-4 table spoons of canola or any vegetable oil in a medium size, deep pan or wok and fry on the stove. You can use the leftover oil from the frying process. We use this step to mix all the above ingredients together, except the eggs, before we add them to the rice. You can start with the chicken pieces and add the remaining ingredients one by one while adding some spices, salt, black pepper and turmeric, mix well and set aside.
• Wash the rice well until the water is clear and soak for 10-15 minutes. You don’t have to soak it, but it will take a slightly longer time to cook.
• To cook your fried rice, you will need a separate pot in which you will put some olive oil – 3-4 table spoons. Heat the oil on the stove and then add the drained rice and mix for a few minutes. Make sure that by now you have either your boiled water or broth ready to use for your rice. Add salt, pepper, saffron and mixed spices to your rice and then add water and mix. You can also add some cardamom pods to the rice when you cook it. As a rule of thumb, your water level needs to be above the rice level by almost a finger – about an inch.
• Cover the rice and leave until fully cooked. You can check on the rice after  15-20minutes to mix gently and make sure all spices are mixed and absorbed. The rice colour will turn brownish yellow. Leave covered on low heat until fully cooked.
• To serve your Biryani, take the rice and flip half of it in a large platter for serving. Add half the ingredients to the rice and mix together. Add the other half of the rice and more ingredients and mix well. You can layer the two, alternating between the rice and your ingredients. Ensure you leave some of your beautiful ingredients to put on the top as a garnish.
• The final touch is to cut the boiled eggs into halves and decorate on the top. Serve and enjoy with your family and loved ones.