Saturday, June 14, 2014

Basmati with chickpeas and herbs

We had a difficult time explaining to my friend's general factotum, who was helping us cook, what on earth this is called. 'Lekin didi yeh kaunsa biryani hai?' Somehow 'Basmati and chickpeas Babulalji' just didn't seem to work. So we called it Choley ka biryani. Once again from Ottolenghi, this time from Jerusalem, we served it with this yummy yummy chicken sofrito, which I didn't make so no recipe and wasn't in serving dishes when we had light so I have no pictures of sadly.


This was the super hit of the night, even beating red velvet cupcakes! I know, right? It's also mad easy to make, and this boiling water to rice technique is superb. I have never done it. Currants I now think should be in ALL food ALL the time. Hee. Again, changes were made, like ditching the wild rice from the original.


2 1/2 T olive oil
250g basmati rice
330ml boiling water
2 t cumin powder
1 1/2 t curry powder (garam masala)
240g cooked chickpeas, drained
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
Some oil for frying
100g currants
2 T chopped flat-leaf parsley (again I had the scrunchy one)
1 T chopped coriander (Ok I forgot this but now I'm thinking I really should add to leftovers!)
1 T chopped dill
Salt and pepper

Pour 1.5 T oil into a pan and then add the rice, stirring it about till it gets hot. Pour into the boiling water and add salt. Cover with a tight lid and cook for 15 min. (Mine burnt a bit, but that's probably because I forgot about it ahem.) Meanwhile, put 1 T oil in another pan on high, and add the spices and cook for a half a minute. Add chickpeas and salt and stir for about 2 minutes, till it's warm. Take off the fire. Deep fry your onions, like you do for biryani and pulao (I'm thinking, next time, I'll fry em in ghee.) till they're nice and brown. Drain and set aside. Once rice is done, stir it nicely so the grain separate. Now in a dish big enough, miss together rice, chickpeas, currants, herbs and onions. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

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