Despite being someone who has never been a huge fan of Indian food, I’m a total convert to this biriyani. Just sitting here writing up this recipe, my mouth is watering and I’m wondering where I could pick up more fresh beetroot on my travels today. I’m sure the family won’t mind eating the same thing again either!
Cook time is quite long because the beetroot needs to be roasted first, and then rice has to boil, but the hands’ on time is pretty quick, so you have time to be doing other things in between too. Like prepare the sautéed beet greens to have on the side.
It’s a great ‘everyone tuck in meal’ and it turned out to be one of those where the pots were scraped clean!
This is a brilliant recipe – quite possibly my favourite beetroot or biriyani recipe – but if you need more beetroot recipes, click here!
- 500g raw beetroot, peeled and cut into 2cm cubes
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large onion, finely sliced
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 bay leaf
- seeds from 4 cardamom pods
- 2 tsp turmeric
- 2 tbsp garam masala
- 250g basmati rice
- 500ml veg stock
- 100ml plain or Greek yogurt
- small bunch of coriander or parsley
- Mango chutney (to serve) (optional)
- Sautéed beet greens (to serve)
- Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Drizzle oil over the beetroot and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss to coat, then tip into a roasting dish and cook for 25-30 mins or until tender.
- While the beetroot is cooking, heat the remaining oil in a deep frying pan (or a wok) with a lid.
- Fry the onion over a medium heat until golden.
- Add the ginger and half the garlic, and cook for 1 min.
- Stir through the bay, cardamom seeds, turmeric and garam masala, then cook for 2 mins.
- Stir in the rice and beetroot.
- Pour in the stock and place a fitting lid on the pot
- Boil for 20-25 minutes, keeping an eye on to make sure it doesn't dry out or burn to the bottom of the pan.
- Put the remaining garlic in a food processor and whizz, then add the yoghurt till it's well blended. Set aside.
- Remove rice from heat and stir through.
- Season to taste and serve.
