Nothing says Christmas quite like rustling up a turkey curry with the leftovers. This easy biryani recipe is perfect for the job, using staple store cupboard spices and a handful of fresh ingredients to achieve a fragrant, family-friendly dish.
Top and serve at the table with dollops of our homemade raita and quick mango relish – delicious!
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Yields:
8 serving(s)
Prep Time:
45 mins
Cook Time:
1 hr 30 mins
Total Time:
2 hrs 15 mins
Cal/Serv:
509
Ingredients
500g
basmati rice
2Tbsp.
vegetable oil
3
large onions, finely sliced
6
garlic cloves, crushed
6
cm piece fresh root ginger, finely grated
1
green chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
1
cinnamon stick
12
cardamom pods
2tsp.
garam masala
1tsp.
turmeric
4
tomatoes, roughly chopped
250g
natural yoghurt
400g
cooked turkey, shredded
Pinch of saffron
TO ASSEMBLE
100g
butter, melted
1/2tsp.
rose water, optional
20g
flaked almonds, toasted
Small handful coriander, chopped
FOR THE RAITA
250g
natural yoghurt
1/2
cucumber, halved and deseeded
Directions
Step 1Soak rice in a large bowl of cold water for 15min. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large deep frying pan and cook onions with a large pinch of salt over low-medium heat for 30min, stirring regularly, until soft and deep golden brown. Transfer to a plate lined with kitchen paper.
Step 2Add garlic, ginger, chillies and cinnamon to pan with half the cardamom pods. Cook for 3min until aromatic; add ground spices and cook, stirring, for 2min. Add tomatoes with a splash of water; cook on high heat for 7-8min until starting to break down. Stir in yogurt, remove from heat. Season. Stir through turkey and set aside.
Step 3Put saffron in a bowl and pour over 100ml hot water. Set aside until needed.
Step 4Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Drain rice and boil for 4-5min with the remaining cardamom pods, until rice is just tender but still firm in the middle. Drain well.
Step 5To assemble, pour half melted butter and 100ml water into a deep casserole dish (that has a tight-fitting lid); spoon in ⅓ of rice. Stir rose water into saffron-infused water and spoon ⅓ of this evenly over rice. Spread over half turkey mixture and ⅓ of onions. Add further layers of rice, saffron-infused water, turkey and onions. Top with final layer of rice and a sprinkle of saffron water (you should have some onions left; set aside). Drizzle over remaining butter.
Step 6Cover with lid and put on a medium-high heat until you can see steam, then turn down to a low heat and cook for 30min without lifting the lid.
Step 7Meanwhile, coarsely grate the cucumber and squeeze out excess water. Mix into yogurt with some seasoning. Cover and chill.
Step 8Once biryani has finished cooking, leave it off heat with the lid on for 10min, then scatter over the remaining onions with the flaked almonds and coriander. Serve with the raita.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
