Serves 6 People
5 Mins Prepartation
25 Mins Cooking
INGREDIENTS
500g lean beef mince
3 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp mixed spice (any general mixed spice will work, I used baharat)
1 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
2.5 cups basmati rice
4 cups beef stock
200g frozen peas
100g toasted almonds (blanched whole, or flaked, or slivered)
100g raisins
50g barberries (totally optional if you can find them)*
half a bunch of fresh parsley, roughly chopped
METHOD
Place oil, onion and garlic into a large pan on medium heat (use a pan that is nice and wide, moderately deep and has a tight fitting lid). Cook and stir for 5 minutes until softened.
Turn the heat up to high, add beef and cook, stirring frequently to break up the mince until beef is starting to brown. Add the spices and cook for further 2 minutes till spices are fragrant.
Add the rice and stir for a minute to evenly distribute the ingredients and get all the rice grains nicely coated in spices and oil, then add the stock. Bring to a simmer, then turn down the heat to the lowest possible setting and place the lid on the pot. Leave covered for 10 minutes.
Take the lid off, add peas, almonds, raisins and barberries (if using) and scatter them onto the surface of the rice. Put the lid back on and let it cook for 5 more minutes.
Take the lid off, and use a fork to fluff up the rice. Have a taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Top with the chopped parsley & serve right away.
TIPS
Barberries are a lovely Persian sour berry that can be found dried in most specialty Middle Eastern stores. It gives nice tangy pops of flavour and colour, but the recipe will work absolutely fine without it!
Feel free to change the type of nut and dried fruit in this recipe, such as hazelnuts, pine nuts, chopped dried apricot or prunes etc.
