Instant Pot Lamb Biryani

Someone got a new gadget for Christmas! And someone has time to work out how to use it now!

I have been interested in pressure cookers, from a safe distance, for a while. But I was still very surprised when Santa put one under my tree! The reason I haven’t gotten one before is that it seemed a bit daunting to learn a whole new way of cooking, and one that comes with its fair share of safety briefings.

I have never made a biryani because I was worried about the rice burning to the pot, and put off by the time it takes to cook it. So this meal felt like the natural first one to try out.

I completely didn’t believe that it only takes 7 minutes to cook in the Instant Pot. But trust me – it does! SEVEN MINUTES! But it’s not like that’s all  the time that it takes – you still have your prep, sauté and depressurising time, so all in all this probably takes about 40 minutes from start to finish. Which is relatively quick for this type of meal, but it’s not like dinner will be made in 7 minutes.

Sorry about all the ingredients, but the whole spices are really key to the flavour if you have them!

Meal prep life

I have found that some of the recipes for the Instant Pot don’t explain much and assume a level of knowledge. I am still very much learning so I will assume no such thing and explain as much as I can as I'm testing it out.

Kharcho

Roll up, roll up for my second favourite Georgian dish. It's an amazing and filling meaty soup. There is a chill in the air, the internet is full of pumpkin spice lovers and people who make fun of them, so I think we can say it’s coming into autumn. And this soup is a perfect autumnal soup.

I have mentioned my love of Georgian food earlier, and this is another gem from the Georgian cookbooks. It’s a strong, herby, beefy soup with rice. Mine turned out a little bit more like a stew than a soup but it’s still delicious. Could be fixed with less rice or more water, but I liked it just the way it was.

Green Rice

So, I won’t eat cauliflower rice. I just won’t do it. I love rice too much to substitute it completely away.

When I was in Edinburgh recently, I hit up Dishoom (a favourite Indian of mine, with loads of chains in London) and had the most delightful broccoli, pistachio, mint and chilli salad. It was intense and perfect with a skewer of delicately spiced chicken (and a huge pile of garlic naan).

I will re-create that salad one day, but for the meantime I got to thinking how good a side of broccoli was with curry/spiced food. And how maybe I could bulk out rice with some nice greens to easily increase my vegetable consumption. The great thing about this is the versatility, you could easily bulk it up further by adding pistachios and some sliced chillies.

So I decided to throw in what I had on hand - some random spices, shredded broccoli and peas into some cooked rice and see what happened.

The majority of the ingredients

What happened was deliciousness. See below.

Aubergine Curry

This is SO GOOD.

I love a good curry. This one is filling and wholesome and really delicately spiced. And veggie! I do want to reduce my meat intake slightly and I think Indian-style foods and spices are the perfect way to eat veggies.

I've had it for dinner yesterday and for lunch today - it's that good!

And it's a perfect one for a meal prep as you can add some delicious toppings and keep the variation up. I went with some flaked almonds and later (after photos) I added some shredded roast chicken. You could also add some fresh coriander, some pomegranate seeds, some pickled diced chillies.. whatever you fancy.

I also served mine with my favourite new creation of green rice (rice with shredded broccoli and spices) for which a post is coming soon.

Muttar Pilau and Baked Chicken Tikka

Happy Sunday! Brighten up the cold unforgiving week to come by planning to make this for dinner this week.

I forgot how much I love rice. I haven’t properly cooked rice in months (microwaveable rice is really useful for quick dinners but it sure doesn’t taste as good as freshly boiled rice.

I saw this recipe in the newspaper ages ago and it piqued my interest. We’re talking an Indian spiced fried rice. I love rice, I love peas, and I love spices. Sign me up. I didn’t want to cover it in sauces, so I went with a delicately spiced oven baked chicken. You could also have this as a veggie main on its own.

Now, the rice has a lot of steps, but it’s surprisingly quick to whip up, I made enough rice for 4 and enough chicken for two, and that maths means that I’m going to live off the leftovers of my rice now. Thinking ahead!

Sweet Potato and Rice Croquettes

Crunchy, sweet, and filling, I’m kind of in love with these little flavour bombs. 

So, my love of the sweet potato must be boring everyone by now. Each time I post a new recipe, you must be thinking, finally, she’s found the absolute last way to cook a sweet potato. And then I post another!

So, in my search for more ways to utilise this most versatile of tubers, I came across the idea for these delicious croquettes, perfect for a side eg at a barbeque with some sweet chilli sauce, but I really liked mine alongside some curry, the saucy spiciness really complements the sweet crunchiness.

Sort of like a hash brown IN A DREAM WORLD.

Yemista - Stuffed Greek Peppers

Countdown to the weekend is on! Well, not for me, because I'm working this weekend. Feel for me.

But don't feel too bad, because I made these for dinner and they're amazing. You gotta try these. I have been trying to branch out on my side dishes, and I often get inspiration from food I try in restaurants.

After I had eaten them, I just knew I had to recreate these amazing stuffed peppers that I had in my favourite Greek restaurant. I have made some changes to the traditional recipe as I am wont to do.. Traditionally, as far as I can tell, you tend to include sultanas and mint, but I don’t like sultanas and I think mint can be overwhelming in savoury dishes. I also pre-cooked the rice a little because I only had brown rice and my boyfriend is very fussy with the way his rice is cooked.

Delicious filling!

These are great as a side, or on as part of a  little snack-y tapas feast!

Fajitas, Tomato Rice and Salsa

Oh, you know I love a bit of Mexican food!

I can't help myself, and I know that I have done fajitas before on the blog (and this recipe is much the same) but I’ve added some absolutely scrummy sides which just serve to enhance the whole shebang, so I’m posting them again, this time as part of a full meal.

The sides in question are a flavourful roasted tomato salsa and some spiced tomato rice. Now, I know. I am not the biggest fan of tomatoes, and this meal is fairly tomato-heavy. But we all have whims, and I just felt like having tons of tomatoes that day! Feel free to make the salsa and go with plain rice if it all feels a bit  much, or ditch the salsa altogether. Speaking of salsa, you can use this recipe at other times, especially excellent for dipping tortilla chips.

I will finish by saying that I love fajitas. I don’t know who doesn’t (well, apart from my long-suffering boyfriend). For me, fajitas are the perfect midweek meal – meaty morsels of succulently spiced chicken, balanced on top of some flavourful rice and wrapped up warm in a tortilla blanket. My mouth is watering just thinking about them.

Tandoori Halloumi and Cashew Rice

God, I love spice mixing

This was utterly delicious. I’m really impressed with the flavours of this meal.

So, my favourite restaurant is a little vegetarian restaurant that is near my flat. It serves the most amazing and creative food I have ever eaten, and I am constantly impressed with what their chef cooks up. The menu is also seasonal, so every two months there is a whole new list of yummy food to choose from. This has meant that I have had to go several times in that period to get a good try of all the delicious dishes on offer. NO REGRETS. I never regret food eaten, only food missed out on.

Aaanyway. Since sometimes I like to have a vegetarian dinner, I decided to have a go at home as well. I have a reliance on chicken, and it is refreshing to find simple and delicious alternatives. Enter halloumi. I love halloumi, and I’m not a cheese fan. It is spectacular, meaty and holds its shape perfectly throughout cooking. It isn’t overpowering on its own so it really takes the flavour of the tandoori marinade beautifully.

The rice is my new favourite thing. It is the only way I want to eat rice from now on. I have a love for rice, but being able to bulk it out a big with veggies is always great for reducing the old carbohydrate count.

One last thing, don’t fret about the number of spices in the halloumi mix. If you would prefer, you can buy pre-made pastes or powders with tandoori flavour. I just happen to have a weird predilection for collecting seeds and spices.

Chorizo and Pepper Risotto

I LOVE RICE!

I don’t like to mess with perfection, and I was so pleasantly surprised by the last time I made a risotto in the oven that I’ve decided to do it all over again! Of course, I’m changing the flavours around a little, but the basic method is the same.

I really stand by this kind of cooking, it is really simple to change recipes around by adding a different meat, or adding some spices, or even just changing the veggies can make a big difference and stop you getting fed up with dishes.

I decided to go kind of Mexican style with this risotto, with peppers, paprika and chorizo. Delicious for dinner and for leftover lunch the next day!

Jambalaya

This food was MADE for me. It combines all of my favourite things; sticky rice, meaty spiced chorizo and crunchy scallions. I would not be sad if I could just eat this every day for the rest of my life. I think of it as the Cajun/Creole version of another one-pot rice favourite of mine: veggie pilaf.

So, apparently there's a few schools of thought on jambalaya, but it basically comes down to whether you include tomatoes, or not. I am no fan of tomatoes (I pick them out of EVERYTHING) but using passata is perfect for me, enough silky tomatoey flavour without any of the horrific texture issues.

There is something about this kind of all-in-one-pot meal which is irresistible to me. It’s comforting, all the flavour stays really packed in, and best of all: hardly any clean-up! I spend a significant proportion of my cooking time stirring a pot of meat, sauce and assorted vegetables. And I'm okay with that.

Leek and Bacon Risotto

Risotto with an Irish flair.

I love rice. Rice is awesome. I have always had a soft spot for risotto, but have been kind of afraid to tackle it, because I was never sure how it was meant to turn out. I recently had some risotto in a restaurant and now I am an expert. The rice is supposed to have a bit of a bite, to retain some firmness without being hard or crunchy.

A whole meal made of rice awaits you, enjoy.

Veggie Pilaf

First announcement.. I got a new spice rack! My spices were all piled in a little cupboard before this, resulting in much cursing during cooking when I couldn't find the one I wanted at a crucial stage. I also mistook chilli powder for paprika a few times, so there was that. Bad times. Real issues.

But look how gorgeous now:

It's just so.. Beautiful. Organised alphabetically. My life is changed.

Okay, back to the serious business of food going in my mouth. This was one of the first Indian-style dishes I ever made. And I was hooked. I pretty much make this once a month at least. It can easily be changed to add chicken if you fancy that, just fry it off at the start. However, this is plenty flavourful without the addition of chicken. As so often happens with delicious, spicy Indian food, it is almost better as leftovers, and for making colleagues jealous at lunch the day after.

Good things about this meal: quick, easy, and delicious.

Bad things: NONE.

Risgrynsgröt

The shiny-ness is sugar. Delicious melted-in sugar.

Or, Swedish festive rice pudding.

Do you like cinnamon, vanilla sugar and milky creamy dessert rice?

..ME TOO!

As well as desperately clinging to the festive season, this is really delicious, and one of my boyfriend’s favourites. It’s best for breakfast, loaded up with cinnamon and sugar and extra milk on top. Although I didn’t leave him enough room in his bowl for milk, first world problems. Speaking of FWP, my camera battery was dead this morning, so these are phone quality pics I'm bringing to the world.