Recipe: Vegan Biryani with lemon and almonds

This easy oven-baked vegan biryani is a delicious rice dish to serve as a weeknight supper, or with a feast of curries and naan bread.

What do you serve when you have friends over for dinner? I like to serve a ‘choosing tea’ as my kids would call it – a variety of dishes for people to help themselves to. That way you can have some spicy and some mild, lots of different textures and flavours but with no pressure on anyone if there’s something they don’t like or are unfamiliar with.

A table groaning with curries, dhal, naan bread, rice, chutneys and pickles is usually a winner. But it can be quite a lot of work, so a rice dish that basically cooks itself in the oven whilst you’re getting on with other jobs definitely lightens the load.

And this easy vegan biryani is both easy, hands-off and delicious It is lemony, nutty, studded with juicy sultanas and with just enough spice to make it interesting without blowing you away.

What you need to make your Vegan Biryani

Ingredients

Basmati rice It is important to use basmati rice for this biryani, so don’t be tempted to substitute in any other sort of rice. Basmati behaves in a particular way, absorbs a certain amount of water, which other varieties of rice won’t replicate and you will end up with a soggy mess!

Garlic 3 cloves might sound like a lot between 4 people but they are roasted whole in their skins, so turn sweet and fragrant. Go for it!

Garam masala is a blend of spices frequently used in Indian cooking. Mine contains coriander, cumin, black pepper, cinnamon, ginger, star anise, cardamom, pimento, bay leaves, cloves and nutmeg. So using 2tsp of that rather than all those individual jars saves an awful lot of time!

Turmeric gives your vegan biryani its sunny golden yellow colour so don’t be tempted to leave it out!

Vegetable stock Always check the labels of stock cubes as so many have some sneaky milk powder in. My favourite is Marigold stock powder (some are vegan and some are not so check), which has a lovely flavour and isn’t too salty so you can level out the seasoning yourself.

Ginger The taste of freshly chopped or grated ginger is noticeably fresher than the ready-chopped stuff from a jar. But I use either/or depending on how much of a rush I am in and who I am serving this to, so you can make your own judgement on this one!

Red chilli The big, fat red chillis really don’t have much heat to them so you can use a really big one, and even leave in the seeds for a bit more heat.

Flaked almonds Toasting them in the oven before serving makes such a difference. You can see the oils in the flakes bubbling and coming to the surface. releasing their lovely flavours and improving the texture. But do keep an eye on them in the oven – they turn from pale to chargrilled in the blink of an eye.

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Variations on your Vegan Biryani

How about using this basic recipe to mix things up, by:

• Making it a meal in itself by adding some protein – a drained and rinsed tin of chickpeas added at the same time as the rice, or even some vegan ‘chicken’ pieces would be a delicious addition.
• Make it creamier by adding a tin of coconut milk. You need to keep the liquid content at 600ml, so add a 400ml tin coconut milk + 200ml vegetable stock instead of the listed 600ml vegetable stock.
• Make it spicier by swapping the garam masala for 1 tbsp medium to hot curry paste.

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How long with my biryani keep in the fridge?

The Food Standards Agency recommends that you keep cooked rice in the fridge for no longer than 24 hours and ensure that it is steaming hot throughout if you reheat it. Do follow their guidance carefully, badly-reheated rice is an unexpectedly frequent cause of food poisoning.

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What else can I make with basmati rice?

If you’re looking for inspiration for the remainder of that bag of basmati rice, how about trying…..

• My Broad Bean, Fennel and Baby Carrot Pilaff
• Michelle’s Christmas Rice from Greedy Gourmet
• Choclette’s Brown Basmati Pilaff with barberries & almonds from Tin & Thyme

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And if you have tried this recipe, please do leave a star rating and comment below which is so helpful for other readers wanting to try the recipe. 👇🏼

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