Aubergine Biryani

Ingredients

• 2 aubergines, diced
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 cinnamon
• 4 cardamoms
• 200 g spinach, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp ghee
• 150 g natural yogurt
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 2 onions, thinly sliced
• 1 tsp cumin seed
• 4 cloves
• 400 g tomato, finely diced
• 750 ml orange blossom water
• 1 tbsp saffron, soaked in 2 tablespoons warm milk
• 1 tbsp rose water
• 50 g cashew
• 50 g pistachio
• 300 g basmati rice
• Poppadoms, to serve
• Fresh mint, to serve

Method

1. Toss the diced aubergine with the lemon juice and vegetable oil in a bowl, season with a good pinch of salt, and set aside for 30 minutes. The lemon and salt draw out bitterness while you get the rest of your mise en place ready.
2. Heat the ghee in a heavy-based pan over medium heat until it shimmers. Add the sliced onions in a single layer — don't crowd them — and fry for 10–15 minutes, stirring now and then, until deep golden-brown and crisp at the edges. This is the colour the whole dish builds on.
3. Lift out about a third of the onions with a slotted spoon, drain on kitchen paper and set aside for serving — they need to stay crisp.
4. Pour off all but about 3 tablespoons of the fat. Add the cumin seeds, cloves, cinnamon stick, cardamom pods and garam masala and bloom the spices in the hot fat for 30–60 seconds until fragrant. Raw spices taste dusty; bloomed spices taste of themselves.
5. Stir in the turmeric and chilli powder, then tip in the marinated aubergine with any oil from the bowl. Toss to coat every piece in the spiced fat.
6. Add the tomatoes and 1 tsp salt with a splash of water — the liquid breaks the tomatoes down so they taste of fruit, not tin. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the aubergine is meltingly tender and the sauce clings to it.
7. Drop the heat low and stir in the yoghurt a spoonful at a time, letting each one settle before the next — rushed yoghurt splits. Fold through the spinach with another splash of water if the pan looks dry, and cook for 2–3 minutes until just wilted. The sauce should be glossy, almost dry. Taste, season with black pepper and more salt if it needs it, taste again. Adjust now — at the end, not at the table.
8. While the curry finishes, bring a large pan of the orange blossom water (topped up with plain water if needed to cover the rice generously) to the boil and salt it generously — it should taste like the sea. Add the basmati and cook for 5–7 minutes until just tender with a firm bite. Drain well.
9. Return the rice to its pan, drizzle over the saffron milk and rose water, and fork through gently so you get streaks of gold rather than a uniform yellow.
10. Layer the rice over the aubergine curry in the heavy pan, cover tightly and leave over the lowest heat for 5 minutes so everything steams together and the flavours marry.
11. Toast the cashews and pistachios in a dry pan for 2–3 minutes, shaking often, until fragrant and lightly coloured — watch them, nuts go from golden to bitter in seconds.
12. Spoon the biryani onto a warm platter so the saffron-streaked rice tumbles over the dark aubergine, scatter over the reserved crispy onions, and shower with the toasted cashews and pistachios.