Mummyji’s Biryani – Rice cooked with whole vegetables

I call this recipe Mummyji’s biryani as this is a recipe my mother in law (MIL) taught me to make nearly 35 years ago!!.  This dish is my husband’s favourite so she was keen that I learnt how to make the dish.  Although we call this dish biryani – it’s actually rice cooked with vegetables that are kept whole and stuffed with spices.   In this recipe, the vegetables are stuffed with several spices.   The origins of this recipe are from a small coastal town in Tanzania.  I have never known anyone else make this dish so I would be very interested to hear from anyone who does make this dish.  I love making this dish as it is a perfect one pot meal for Saturdays when you have so many chores to catch up on.  I have changed the stuffing ingredients slightly over the years.  I always keep a bottle of the stuffing ready mixed in the fridge to save time.

In Tanzania,  my MIL used to make it on a coal burning stove called Jiko.  It was a slow cooking process but this made the food taste nicer as it gave all the spices a chance to blend.  Now a days, making this dish has also become quicker and easier in the microwave but I do miss the taste of Africa sometimes.

You can also make this dish in the instant pot. cooking it in the Instant Pot makes it so easy as the food doesn’t require too much attention when cooking. The Instant  Pot (IP) is a pressure cooker but can also be used as a slow cooker. rice cooker, sauté/browning, yoghurt maker and steamer. The recipe for making this in the Instant Pot is here 

Ingredients to make biryani  for 4 servings

For the biryani:

Method

10.  Usng a fork, press down the vegetables gently.