Beef Briyani

INGREDIENTS for 6 persons

• 1 brown onion, coarsely chopped
• 5cm-piece ginger, peeled, coarsely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 long fresh green chilli, deseeded, coarsely chopped, plus extra sliced, to serve
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 2 teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted
• 2 teaspoons coriander seeds, toasted
• 1 tablespoon garam masala
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1.2kg gravy beef, trimmed, cut into 4cm cubes
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 star anise
• 200ml thick natural yoghurt
• 125ml (1/2 cup) beef stock
• 1 teaspoon saffron threads
• 60ml (1/4 cup) warm milk
• 1 tablespoon ghee
• 500g (2 1/2 cups) basmati rice, rinsed, drained
• 4 cardamom pods, lightly crushed
• Roasted cashews, to serve
• Sultanas, to serve
• Fresh coriander sprigs, to serve

METHOD

• Step 1
  Place onion, ginger, garlic, chilli and tomato in a food processor. Process until a wet paste forms. Set aside. Place cumin and coriander seeds in a mortar. Pound with a pestle until coarsely crushed. Add garam masala and turmeric. Set aside.

• Step 2
  Set a 5L slow cooker to Browning. Heat half the oil. Brown half the beef for 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Repeat with remaining oil and beef. Still set to Browning, add onion mixture. Cook for 5 minutes. Add ground spices, cinnamon, star-anise. Cook for 2 minutes or until aromatic. Stir in yoghurt and stock. Change cooker setting to Low. Cover. Cook for 5 hours or until beef is almost tender.
• Step 3
  One hour before beef finishes cooking, soak saffron in milk for 15 minutes. Heat ghee in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add rice and cardamom. Stir to coat. Pour in 810ml (3 1/4 cups) water and saffron mixture. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover. Cook for 8 minutes or until water has absorbed. (Rice won’t be totally cooked.)
• Step 4
  Spoon rice over beef. Cover. Cook on Low for 1 hour or until tender.
• Step 5
  Top biryani with cashews, sultanas, coriander sprigs and extra chilli.

Source: taste.com.au