Tomato biryani is a wonderful dish to make in advance when you want a simple, yet flavourful meal to serve to guests.
Head straight on to the Recipe For ♥ Tomato Biryani ♥
What is biryani?
Biryani is a traditional Muslim rice based dish to which either chicken, goat, lamb, beef, shellfish or fish is added. In South Africa, you will find a Cape Malay version that has lentils as well as rice. For vegetarians, paneer, eggs, aubergines or potatoes make up the additional bulk of the dish. The key component other than the rice, are spices. These will vary according to the region in which the dish is made. Think of bay leaves, cardamom, chillies, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, fennel seeds, garlic, ginger, mint, nutmeg, mace, pepper, and star anise. Ghee is added to the cooking process, making the rice luscious, and for special occasions, one would use saffron. Like most Indian dishes, onions and tomatoes are part of the preparation. To add aroma to the dish, rose water can be added. Key to serving this dish is a good chutney and raita.
Making tomato biryani
When Eva and Mark came to visit from The Netherlands, I wanted to make a hearty vegetarian meal. Tomato biryani seemed like a good idea as part of it could be made in advance. And then, all that it would take was putting the final dish together and leaving it to do its own thing. For the spicing I used cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, and coriander as that is common to Cape Malay cuisine. Fresh garlic, ginger, green chillies and cayenne were added to ramp up the heat. And for colour I added turmeric as well as saffron. I used rose water for a subtle floral hint, which combined well with the pistachios and cashews. Being a vegetarian meal, the meatiness of the dish relies upon aubergines. I did not top the biryani with fried onions but, you can add these if you want to.
Take a look at this inspiring recipe for ♥ Tomato Biryani ♥ from Lavender and Lime #LavenderAndLime Share on X
Click on the links for conversions and notes.
Tomato Biryani
Ingredients
for the marinade:
- 240 g thick yoghurt
- 30 g fresh root ginger, peeled and grated
- 5 mls ground coriander
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
- 2.5 mls ground turmeric
- 1 large green chilli, stem and seeds removed, and finely chopped
- 0.625 mls cayenne pepper
- 460 g aubergines, cut into large chunks
for the rice:
- 750 mls water
- 280 g basmati rice
- 5 mls salt
getting ready:
- 60 mls milk
- 15 threads saffron
for the tomatoes:
- 45 mls canola oil
- 10 whole cloves
- 5 cardamom pods, lightly crushed
- 1 quill cinnamon
- 580 g tomatoes, chopped
- salt to season
- 200 g baby spinach
for the biryani:
- 75 g ghee, divided
- 5 mls rose water
- 20 g cashew nuts, lightly toasted, plus extra to garnish
- 20 g pistachios, lightly toasted
- cucumber and mint raita to serve
Method
for the marinade:
- Place the yoghurt, ginger, coriander, garlic, turmeric, chilli and cayenne pepper into a large mixing bowl and stir to combine
- Add the aubergines, mix to coat the aubergines, and set aside to marine for 30 minutes
for the rice:
- Place the water into a saucepan, add the rice and salt and stir to combine
- Bring to the boil, then place the lid on the pan, and turn the heat off
- Leave to steam until the aubergines have finished marinating
getting ready:
- Place the milk into a small mixing bowl and blitz in the microwave for 10 seconds to warm
- Add the saffron threads and set aside
for the tomatoes:
- Once the aubergines have finished marinating, place the oil into a large frying pan and heat over a medium temperature
- When hot, add the cloves, cardamom and cinnamon and fry until fragrant
- Add the aubergines and the marinade and bring to a simmer
- Once simmering, add the tomatoes and season generously with salt
- Leave to simmer for 15 minutes then add the spinach and stir until it is wilted, then set aside
for the biryani:
- Place 50g ghee into a sauté pan that has a lid, and melt over a low temperature before turning off the heat to assemble the dish
- Drain the rice, and add a third to the sauté pan, and top with half of the tomato mixture
- Sprinkle over some of the saffron milk and a little of the rose water, and the cashew nuts
- Top with a third of the rice, the rest of the tomato mixture, some more saffron milk, and the pistachios
- Add the rest of the rice, and pour over any left over saffron milk and rose water
- Place the rest of the ghee into the microwave to melt then drizzle over the rice
- Place the lid onto the pan and cook over a high temperature until steam starts to rise (you will have to lift the lid to check this)
- Turn the heat to the lowest setting and cook for 30 minutes
- Spoon the biryani onto a serving platter, scatter some cashew nuts over the top and serve with raita
See the links below for blog posts I published on June 24:
- 2022: Mozzarella And Sun Dried Tomato Bread
- 2020: Life Kitchen
- 2019: Citrus Purée
- 2018: The Tattooist Of Auschwitz
- 2015: Neill Anthony Answers Questions For The Blog
- 2011: Cinnamon Buns
- 2010: Pasta Tomato Sauce
I love biryanis but have never made a tomato one. Maybe, now’s the time…….
Let me know if you make this!
It must have been over 2 decades since I last add some biryani or rice. Your biryani sounds really tasty and flavourful with marinated aubergines.
Thank you, and I know this is not a dish for you 🙂
Hi Tandy, I’ve benchmarked this to try when I get back from Belgium.
I cannot wait to hear about your trip!
Tandy – you DO manage to create some different and delightful variations on the theme! About Cape Malay cooking I know very little but have made biryani many times naturally, so this is exciting quite in addition to the usage of tomatoes. Love the spicing in the marinade and the tomatoes . . . am trying to imagination-taste it at the moment for my breakfast 🙂 !
I love the subtleness of Cape Malay spices, even though the dishes can be spicey 🙂
Cashews, pistachios, and rose water? I’m already sold! 🙂
hope you give it a go!
I can practically smell all those aromatic spices from here! What a heady combination!
thank you so much 🙂
such wonderful flavours here Tandy. I love cardamom and rosewater and pistachios!! Oh yes and eggplant and saffron. Sounds like a winner.
sherry
This is really something I would make again and again!
I would happily eat this tomato biryani anytime. I don’t top mine with fried onions either. Never 🙂
That is so interesting to read! Why not?
I thought I already commented on this wonderful biryani recipe. I always order Biryani when we eat in an Indian restaurant. I think your tomato recipe tops any biryani I’ve tasted. I can’t wait to try this recipe this summer. The rose water is an interesting addition.
Please let me know when you try this!
This sounds wonderful!
Thank you Mimi 🙂