Stranger Foods

Belly bonnet biryani

Serves 4 | Prep 20 mins | Cook 1 hr 30 mins

I call this a biryani but it's more like a rice cassoulet. This is the stuff of a swift supper with a crisp salad, not an elaborate affair. Scotch bonnet i the headline ingredient because it has such an incredible flavour.

Source: Pimp My Rice

Ingredients

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Imperial

x0.5

1 tbsp pine nuts
2 tbsp sunflower oil
5 cm piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and grated
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 green cardamom pods, lightly crushed
3 whole cloves
200 g belly pork, cut into 2.5 cm cubes
½ tsp turmeric
1 tbsp butter
3 onions, thinly sliced
1 green finger chilli, deseeded and chopped
2 tsp garam masala
2 star anise
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp ground coriander
200 g white basmati rice, rinsed and drained
200 g chopped tomatoes
1 orange Scotch bonnet, deseeded and finely chopped
1 tbsp chopped corander
salt

Instructions

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Put the pine nuts in a dry frying pan over a medium-high heat and until brown. Remove and leave to one side
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a heavy-based saucepan (or better still, in a pressure cooker) and add the ginger, garlic, cardamom pods and cloves and a pinch of salt. Fry over a medium-high heat for around . Add the belly pork pieces and turmeric and continue to fry until the meat begins to brown.
Add about 120 ml cold water and bring to the boil .Tum the heat down to medium-low, cover the pan and leave to simmer for until the meat is tender. Top up with water from time to time just to ensure the meat stays moist and there are liquids to simmer. Once the meat is soft, remove the pan from the heat. If you are using a saucepan, it will take 30 minutes but in a pressure cooker, this process takes around 10-15 minutes.
Heat the remaining oil with the butter in a large heavy-based pan and fry the onions for about until golden brown. Lift out one-third of the onions, using a slotted spoon, and drain on paper towels, to reserve for a finishing garnish.
Now add the green chilli, garam masala, star anise, ground cumin, brown sugar and ground coriander and fry for . Stir in the basmati rice and fry over a medium heat for. Add the tomatoes and chopped Scotch bonnet and continue to fry for .
Now transfer the pan of cooked pork belly and the juices and spices to the large pan and combine carefully. Add 480 ml cold water, bring the dish to the boil over a high heat, then turn down the heat to low and leave to simmer for until the rice has absorbed almost all the water. Now carefully stir in the chopped coriander. Cover remove from the heat and leave for .
Turn the biryani out on a plate and sprinkle with the reserved browned onions and pine nuts to serve.

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