Beef and Green Pea Biryani
Ingredients
Rice
- 5 cups boiling water
- 550g (about 3 cups) Basmati rice
- 1lb browned ground beef
- 250g (about 1.5 cups) fresh blanched or defrosted frozen peas
- 0.5 cups caramelized onions (see below)
- 50g roasted cashews (see below)
- 40g rehydrated raisins in liquid (see below)
- 2T olive oil
- 2t coriander
- 1.5t cumin
- 1.5t cinnamon
- 0.75t Hungarian paprika
- 0.5t turmeric
- 0.25t fresh cracked black pepper
- 0.25t chipotle chili powder
- Kosher salt
- Cottage cheese (optional)
Caramelized Onions
- 2 large onions, sliced very thinly
- 2T teaspoon sunflower seed oil
- Kosher salt
Roasted Cashews
- 50g blanched unsalted cashews
- 1t sunflower seed oil
- Kosher salt
Rehydrated Raisins
- 40g raisins
- 50ml boiling water
- 0.5t Sicilian lemon white balsamic vinegar
- 1 small pinch (around 10-15 strands) saffron
Process
Mix raisins, saffron, and vinegar in a bowl and cover with 50ml boiling water. Let sit for at least a half hour. Meanwhile, slice two onions very thinly, salt, and let sit for at least ten minutes. Meanwhile, add 1 teaspoon of sunflower oil to a non-stick pan and carefully toast cashews until golden brown. Allow to cool, chop coarsely, and reserve.
Heat two tablespoons of sunflower oil in a steel pan and add onions. Caramelize over medium-low heat for at least a half hour and up to an hour, depending on taste, deglazing with about three tablespoons of luke cold water ever five minutes after the first fifteen minutes, or whenever a brown fond begins to cover most of the bottom of the pan. When onions are done, reserve.
Salt and brown ground beef, drain oil, and set aside.
Add two tablespoons of olive oil to a large pot on medium low heat. Toast remaining spices in oil until fragrant. Add rice directly to oil (do not rinse rice first) and toast for a few minutes until also fragrant. Stir in caramelized onions and cashews, then raisins, then peas, then finally ground beef, ensuring all ingredients are well incorporated. Finally, add boiling water, raise heat to high until water is nearly at a rolling boil, cover, and simmer over low heat without removing cover for twenty minutes. After twenty minutes, remove from heat and let sit for at least ten and no more than twenty minutes without removing cover.
Fluff with fork, add additional salt to taste, and serve immediately. Optionally top with cottage cheese when serving. Would also likely go well with nutmeg, cloves, and cardamom, as well as a bay leaf, and garnish well with flat leaf parsley and/or fresh dill.