Cauliflower rice chicken biryani

Love biryani but wanting a carb-free alternative to the rice? Look no further than our cauliflower rice chicken biryani. By cutting the cauliflower by hand you get a better texture for the ‘rice’, or pulse in a food processor and check regularly to stop it going too watery. Doing smaller amounts at one time also helps.

CAULIFLOWER RICE CHICKEN BIRYANI

Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 20 mins (plus 1 hr marinating time)
Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 2 pinches of turmeric ground
• 25g / 2 tsp of fresh ginger, grated
• 1 green chilli, deseeded and roughly chopped
• 1 tbsp/20ml of water
• 400g / 1 lb of chicken thighs diced
• 1 tbsp/20ml olive oil
• 800g /6 cups of cauliflower, cut by hand or pulsed in food processor to form rice-like texture
• 400g/14oz of tinned lentils, drained & rinsed
• 2 cups of baby spinach leaves
• 4 sprigs of fresh coriander/cilantro leaves, picked & washed
• 4 tbsp of natural yoghurt

Method

1. Place the turmeric, ginger, chilli and water in a food processor and puree to form a runny paste. Pour over the chicken and marinate for an hour or, for best results, overnight.
2. Heat the olive oil in a wide based saucepan with lid, then add the chicken and stir until browned and cooked through.
3. Add the cauliflower, place the lid on, turn the heat to low and cook for 5 minutes.
4. After 5 minutes add the lentils and check to see how cooked the cauliflower is. You may need to add one tablespoon of water to aid cooking. Cook for another 5 minutes.
5. Once the cauliflower is cooked, add the baby spinach and coriander/cilantro and serve immediately with natural yoghurt.

TIP
If your food processor lid takes on a yellow colour after making the paste, put the lid in the sun to sun bleach it, which will help remove the colour stain.