King prawn and pea baked biryani

Calories per serving: 405

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 40 minutes

Serves 4

This mildly spiced dish is very family-friendly, not too hot but super-tasty. You can make it up to the point where the stock is added, then cover it with a lid or some foil and pop it in the fridge until you’re ready to bake.

INGREDIENTS

– 250g basmati rice

– 200g frozen peas

– 300g raw king prawns

– 2 tbsp vegetable oil

– 1 onion, sliced

– 3 garlic cloves, finely grated

– 3cm piece of ginger, peeled and finely grated

– 2 tsp mild curry powder

– 1 tsp garam masala

– 1 tsp ground cumin

– 1 tsp ground turmeric

– 1 small cinnamon stick

–2staranise

– 1 vegetable stock cube

– 1 tsp butter

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 200C/180c/gas mark 6. Rinse the rice, place in a bowl and cover with cold water. Put the frozen peas in a bowl of room-temperature water; if the prawns are frozen, do the same to defrost them prior to cooking, using 500ml water. Leave them all to soak.

Meanwhile, in a large ovenproof baking dish (preferably with a lid), add 1 tbsp of the oil, the onion and the garlic. Mix well and put in the hot oven for 5 minutes.

Take the dish out of the oven and add the other 1 tbsp oil, plus the fresh ginger and all the ground spices. Mix well and return to the oven for 5 more minutes.

Take the dish out of the oven and add the drained peas and prawns (retain the prawn water to make up your vegetable stock), cinnamon stick and star anise. Give everything a good stir.

Drain the rice and spoon it over the other ingredients evenly. Make up the stock with the prawn water to 500ml, or use boiling water if you haven’t soaked your prawns. Add the butter and salt and pepper, and give it all a good mix to melt the butter. Pour the stock carefully over the rice. Place a lid or foil over the dish and bake for 25 minutes.

Take out of the oven and give everything a gentle stir around. Taste the rice and if it is still too al dente, spread it back out and sprinkle over a few tbsp water if needed, and cook for a further 5 minutes or so. Once the rice is fully cooked, give everything a stir to incorporate any juices still at the bottom of the dish. Remove the cinnamon stick and star anise before serving.