Read the other installments of Julie’s Asian Supermarket Tour

Radha’s Vegetable Biryani

Ingredients

• Garlic and ginger paste
• Cassia bark
• Cardamons
• Cloves
• Javantry (flowers)
• Cumin seeds
• Kala jeera
• Bay leaves
• Black cumin seeds
• Cashews
• Green chillies
• Carrots, green beans, baby corns, etc (the packaged selection of baby veg in supermarkets is a quick option)
• Sliced onions.
• NB: Vary the ingredients if you like, just avoid tomatoes

Directions

1. Fry veg (including onions and chillies) in the spices with the paste in butter/veg oil. You can add curry paste for extra spiciness if you like.
2. Add water to the pan (2:1 cups water to rice). Rinse the rice and add to the simmering liquid in the pan.
3. Cover and cook for about 20 mins.

If you don’t have the spices to hand you can always get Biryani paste, which gives you instant biryani.

Radha’s Chana Masala (Chickpea curry)

Ingredients

• Spices (same spices as in the biryani plus turmeric or bag of specific chana masala spices)
• 1 cup chickpeas
• 3 cups of very finely chopped onions.
• 2 tomatoes

Directions

1. Soak and boil chick peas until soft.
2. Fry off the onions with the spices.
3. Add tomatoes and cook for 15-20 minutes to make a sauce.
4. Add the chickpeas. Stir in some butter and simmer with lid on for a couple of minutes.

Eat with naan or chapatti.