Aubergine Biryani recipe

As featured in Rick Stein’s Food Stories on BBC Two, this is Rick’s favourite vegetarian dish from the series. It’s based on a recipe he wrote for his book Rick Stein’s India, but adapted it to make it vegetarian – inspired by his Food Stories journey around the north of England.

Ingredients for Rick’s Aubergine Biryani recipe

SERVES 4

• 750g aubergines, cut into 3–4cm dice
• 10 whole cloves
• 6cm cinnamon stick
• 5 green cardamom pods, bruised with a rolling pin
• 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 200g baby spinach leaves, washed
• 600g basmati rice
• Salt
  For the marinade
• 250ml natural yoghurt
• 6 garlic cloves, finely crushed
• 30g root ginger, finely grated
• 3 green chillies, finely chopped, with seeds
• 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
  For the fried onions
• 150ml vegetable oil
• 3medium onions, thinly sliced
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
  To assemble
• 100gghee
• Pinch of saffron soaked in 4 tbsp warm milk for 15 minutes
• 2 tsp rose water (optional)
• 20g each cashew nuts and pistachios, dry-roasted in a pan until golden
  To serve
• Cucumber and mint raita

How to make Rick’s Aubergine Biryani recipe

1) Combine the marinade ingredients in a bowl, add the diced aubergines and toss to coat. Set aside to marinate for 30 minutes.

2) For the onions, heat the oil in a sturdy pan over a medium heat until hot but not smoking. Add the onions and fry for 10–15 minutes or until deep golden-brown, then add the garam masala and cumin seeds. Remove the onions with a slotted spoon, drain on kitchen paper, then set aside. Pour off all but about 3 tablespoons of the oil from the pan into a jug to use another time.

3) Add the cloves, cinnamon and cardamom to the pan and fry for 1 minute. Add the aubergine and marinade, then bring to a simmer and stir in the tomatoes and a teaspoon of salt. Simmer over a medium heat for 15 minutes until the aubergine is tender and the sauce is clinging to it. Stir in the spinach – add a splash of water to the pan if the spinach catches on the bottom – and cook for a few more minutes until wilted. The sauce should be almost dry and just coating the aubergine. Keep it warm over a low heat while you cook the rice.

4) Bring a large pan of water to the boil and add salt – 1 teaspoon per litre of water. Add the rice and cook for 5–7 minutes until just tender but still firm, then drain well.

5) Assemble the biryani straight away. Pour about 3 tablespoons of water and half the ghee into a deep, heavy-based pan. Spoon in a third of the rice, then a third of the onions and half the aubergine. Sprinkle in some saffron milk, a little rose water, if using, and a few cashew nuts and pistachios. Then spoon in another third of rice, more onions, the rest of the aubergine, more saffron milk and rose water and a few more nuts. Finally, add the rest of the rice, saffron milk and rose water and most of the remaining onions.

6) Drizzle the remaining ghee around the edges of the rice so it drips down the inside of the pan. Cover with a well-fitting lid and place over a high heat to get the ghee hot and some steam going – lift up the lid to check. As soon as you see steam rising, turn the heat down very low and cook for 30 minutes.

7) Spoon out on to a large serving platter and scatter with the rest of the fried onions and toasted cashews and pistachios. Serve with raita.

Happy cooking and thanks to James Murphy Photography for the recipe image above.