Jackfruit & Butternut Squash Omani Biriyani (Vegan)
Veganuary has had me feeling all types of emotions this month and truth be told, I don’t feel like a new person having tried a solely vegan diet. The first part had me buzzing with creative food recipes and then I just started to feel uninspired by everything. It’s been a rollercoaster but I am glad that I have lasted 25 days so far….
While I took to my Instagram family to tell them how I planned on giving up this weekend, yesterday night I had a massive craving to make my grandma’s Biriyani… but vegan. To say the least, I was pleasantly surprised! Well actually very impressed with how this turned out.
Not to name names but I have tried so many jackfruit biriyanis at restaurants and I just feel nobody gets it right….but then again nobody makes Omani Biriyani (and there is nothing better than this).
I finish this dish off by wrapping it in a filo casing and baking it. It is a step you can totally miss out but I love the crunch! I got the inspiration from watching my grandmother over the years seal the biriyani pot on Eid with a thick flour paste to stop the steam from escaping. Something I have always tried to do… and failed! So this was my version of that and well hopefully my grandma will be just as impressed!
Ingredients:
200g Butternut Squash (Cubed)
560g Jackfruit in Brine (Tinned)
3 Large Onions (Sliced Thinly)
1 TBSP Garlic & Ginger Paste
200g Tomato Puree
3 TBSP of Coconut yoghurt
1/2 Fresh Lemon
Salt
1 Cinnamon Stick
3 TBSP Garam Masala Powder
3 Cardamom Pods
2 TSP Cumin Powder
1 TSP Tumeric Powder
A handful of Corriander (Chopped Finely)
Seeds of 1/2 Pomegranate (Optional)
12 Square sheets of Filo or Spring Roll Pastry
150g Melted Dairy Free Butter
Good Pinch of Saffron (Soaked in 50ml Boiling Water)
Oil for Frying
1 & 1/2 Cups of Rice
Method:
Heat the oven to 180°c.
In a frying pan, fry all your onions in oil for around 5- 10minutes. You want them to sweat, become transparent and begin to slightly turn golden.
In a separate large saucepan had 1/3 of the onions along with the garlic, ginger & tomato paste and mix well.
Follow with the butternut squash, jackfruit, all the spices, fresh coriander, and yoghurt.
Place on a low to medium heat with the lid on and leave to boil for around 15-20 minutes. Make sure to keep checking on it so it doesn’t stick to the bottom. If you feel that it is, I add a bit more yoghurt or nut-based milk to help it loosen up.
In the meantime, you can parboil your rice.
Place the rice into a saucepan with salt and water. You don’t need the exact measurements of water as you won’t boil till it is fully cooked, but just make sure it covers the rice.
Parboiling should take around 10minutes on a medium to high heat. You’re looking for an almost cooked texture. Once you reach that drain the rice and leave to stand.
While the rice drains check on your butternut squash, it should be soft and a knife should cut through smoothly. The sauce should have thickened and there shouldn’t be any liquid.
Once you are happy take a deep oven dish (I used a square(ish) one which was 30 x 26cm) and layer 8 pieces of filo pastry all around making sure half hangs over the edge.
Coat all the filo sheets you have layered with some melted butter, then you can begin to add in your biriyani.
Spread all the jackfruit/butternut squash mixture across the bottom of the dish then add half of the remaining fried onions across the top, followed by half of the rice. Then cover the rice, with the rest of the onions followed by pomegranates, coriander and the rest of the rice.
Take your saffron water and drizzle all over the rice.
Fold over the filo layers to completely cover the Biriyani and then coat with the melted butter.
I then take 4 remaining filo squares and scrunch them up on top for the cute ruffle effect and just because I love to eat crunchy filo!
Place in the oven and reduce the temperature to 160°c and bake for 10-15 minutes. You are waiting for your filo to be crunchy and golden, so make sure to check on it, unless you want burnt ends!
Take out of the oven and serve while hot and enjoy.