Recipe for Fennel and Potato Biryani
Biryani is a whole and very elaborate genre of rice dishes, not be confused with pulao or pilaf.
Pulaos are fairly dry steamed dishes with layered contrasting ingredients that are often cooked separately and usually served with a savory stock on the side. Biryani is more of an Indian concept—although versions of it appear in Kurdistan and Afghanistan—in which all the ingredients are cooked together. This makes for a very moist and flavorful dish, as every grain of rice is infused with flavor.
Ingredients
Fennel and Potato Biryani
Serves 6
- 1 ½ cups (300 grams) basmati rice
- 2-3 green cardamom pods, lightly cracked
- 2 bay leaves
- Spoon of vegan ghee, plus a splash of oil, for frying
- 3 teaspoons fennel seeds
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2-3 pieces cassia bark (or cinnamon)
- 2 cloves
- 2 red chiles, chopped
- 1 ½ big onions, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2-centimeter piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced
- 1 large fennel bulb, chopped into 1-centimeter chunks
- 2 celery stalks, chopped finely
- 2 medium potatoes, peeled if required, and diced into 1-centimeter cubes
- 1 cup (150 grams) frozen (or fresh if in season) peas
- 3 tablespoons vegan yogurt (see below for homemade)
- ½ teaspoon saffron threads, ground then steeped in a splash of boiling water
- 2 tablespoons almond (or oat) milk
- Zest and juice of 1 lime
- 1 handful fresh cilantro leaves
Soak the rice in water for 30 minutes or so before draining it in a sieve. Add the cardamom pods and bay leaves to a pot of water and bring it to a rolling boil before tipping in the drained rice. Cook for around 5 minutes before draining in the sieve again. Set aside.
Next, heat the ghee and oil in a large frying pan with a lid (I use a heavy-bottomed wok for this). Once hot, add 1 teaspoon of the fennel seeds plus all of the cumin seeds, cassia and cloves. Sizzle for a couple of minutes and then add the chiles, 1 onion (reserving the remaining half for later) and garlic. Soften the onion slightly and then add the ginger, fresh fennel and celery. Cook until the celery has softened and then add the potatoes and peas. Fry till the potatoes gain some color.
Mix the yogurt with the saffron and almond milk and spoon it gently over the vegetables, mixing a little. Finally, spoon the par-cooked rice over vegetables, add a dash of boiling water and stir once. Wrap the lid of the pan with a clean tea towel, cover the pan and simmer for around 30 minutes. The rice should be tender and the potatoes perfectly cooked. Stir the lime zest and juice in the rice.
Heat a small frying pan and dry-fry the remaining fennel seeds until they start to pop, then set aside. Add a little oil to the pan and fry the remaining chopped onion until it is brown and almost crispy.
Serve the biryani in a large bowl topped with the cilantro leaves, toasted fennel seeds and crisped onions. Yogurt and pickles are handy accompaniments.
Reprinted with permission from:
Veganistan: A Vegan Tour of the Middle East and Beyond
Sally Butcher. Interlink Books, 2023. InterlinkBooks.com
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