Easy Food Recipes and Cooking - Shepherd's Pie Biryani
Serves 8
• Olive oil, to fry
• 2 onions, thinly sliced
• 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
• 3 carrots, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1/2 jar rogan josh curry paste
• 1 tbs tomato paste
• 500g leftover roast lamb, shredded
• 1L(4 cups) chicken stock, heated
• 1 large bunch of coriander leaves, roughly chopped
• Zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 2 cups (400g) basmati rice
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 2 tsp brown mustard seeds
• 1 handful of fresh curry leaves
• 4 cloves
Place a large pan over medium heat. Add a little oil, then add the onion, celery, carrot, garlic and a splash of water. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes or until softened.
Stir in the curry paste, tomato paste and the meat. Cook for 1-2 minutes, then pour in the stock. (If you have any leftover lamb bones, add one now for extra flavour.) Bring the sauce to the boil, then leave to simmer with the lid
slightly covering for 1 hour. Remove the lid and cook for another 15-30 minutes until the sauce is reduced. Turn off the heat (and remove any bones at this point) and season the sauce to taste. Stir through the coriander with a squeeze of lemon.
Cook the rice in a generous amount of salted water for about 10 minutes. Drain, rinse and refresh under cold water until the rice is cool. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Meanwhile, in a small pan heat a good dash of oil with the mustard seeds, crumbled curry leaves, cloves and lemon zest until fragrant. Pick out the cloves, then toss the mixture through half the cooled rice.
Spoon the meat mixture into an ovenproof dish, then top with the plain rice. Finish with a layer of the flavoured rice. Bake the pie for 25-30 minutes, or until crunchy on the top and heated through.