Continuing the curry theme this month – I love a warming spicy curry, and sometimes indulge in a takeaway and I love biryani. Biryanis are so versatile, they can be made with any meat, often with chicken or lamb, but I try to have more plant-based meals in my diet so a vegetable biryani is a great curry to have. Biryanis are super simple to make and a vegetable biryani can be made with any number of vegetables – you could use roasted cauliflower, aubergine, carrots or potatoes but in this recipe I am using roasted butternut squash. 

This biryani is packed with veggies, the mix of spices adds lots of flavour and some nuts add in protein and some crunch! I love these rice-based dishes made with an explosion of flavours! They are a much healthier version of a restaurant bought curry! 

Serves 4

Roasted Vegetables:

1 butternut squash, peeled and chopped

1 tablespoon rapeseed oil

½ tablespoon of ground cumin 

Oil for cooking

1 onion chopped

1 red pepper chopped

2 green chillies thinly sliced

2 teaspoons of grated garlic

1 teaspoon chilli flakes

2 teaspoons garam masala 

2 teaspoons cumin seeds

2 teaspoons turmeric 

400g basmati rice

400ml tin coconut milk 

200ml water

100g of frozen peas 

2 handfuls of spinach

50g peanuts 

Method for Vegetable Biryani:

1. Peel and chop the butternut squash into bite size pieces, sprinkle with oil and ground cumin and roast until cooked through – about 40 minutes 
2. Meanwhile place the oil, onion and pepper into a large pan and gently fry for 5 minutes until softened 
3. Add the garlic, chilli and spices and fry for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally 
4. Add the rice and stir until coated with onion, garlic and spices, then add coconut milk and water and bring to the boil. Put on the lid, turn the heat down and simmer for 7 minutes
5. Then add the peas
6. Cook a few minutes more until the rice is done to your taste, you may need to add extra water
7. Finally stir in the butternut squash, spinach and peanuts
8. And serve – with chutney and poppadoms if desired

Enjoy!