12 ounces mixed vegetables- fresh or frozen thawed
1/2 cup Patak's Biryani Paste - or more to taste
6-8 ounces canned tomatoes
1 pound chicken in large dice, or tofu or beef; chicken thighs work very well
2 1/2 cups water
Directions
In a medium sized pan, saute the large dice chicken thigh pieces until golden. (This may not be necessary if you are using breast meat). Remove the chicken and saute the first diced onion in 2 tablespoons of oil until golden. Add the drained rice to the pan and saute 3-4 minutes. Add the water, or tomato juice to the rice (if it's brown rice) and let simmer while you cook the second onion and vegetables. In a second pan saute the second onion in 2 tablespoons of oil until golden and add the vegetables. Saute briskly and stir in the Biryani Paste, the tomatoes and the chicken. The chicken can be cooked slightly before adding, as should the tofu, if you haven't already sauted it in the above step. It uses fewer pans if you cook it before you do the onion. In a casserole dish combine the rice mixture and the meat-vegetable mixture and add the water, if you haven't already done so. Stir, cover and cook at 375 degrees for 40 minutes or until the rice is tender. I used brown basmati rice so it took a little longer than white rice would take to cook.(This was partially taken care of by letting it simmer before combining the two parts. Serve with other Indian vegetables and Chutneys.
Comments
Phyllis Watson on Wed Mar 05 19:52:03 UTC 2008:
The directions are a bit convoluted because I have been trying to take into account a better way to deal with brown rice. If it is cooked part way ahead of time, it doesn't take forever when it is mixed almost raw with the vegetables and chicken. It came out perfectly doing it this way. The meat or tofu really does better if it is partially cooked (tofu and chicken breast) or well-cooked (chicken thigh and beef).