aubergine and avocado oven-baked biryani

I always worry that the word curry is so generic it becomes offensive.  Any lover of Asian food will know how vast and complex a ‘curry’ can be that to label it with just one word seems mighty narrow of us westerners, so it always bemuses me when a company such as the mighty Knorr, should realease one of their new flavour pot range under the label ‘curry’… automatically many of us will assume that they are referring to an Indian flavoured mix of generic spices when in fact the word curry is used as a post-nom throughout Asia to describe many types of dishes…

… as it happens the Knorr Flavour Pot Curry is made up of a blend of corriander, tumeric, fennel seed, ginger, aniseed and all spice amongst others and we’re told that Knorr chef Cameron Healy has worked tirelessly for many years to develop this range of 5 which, along with the Curry pot includes; Mixed Herbs, 3 Peppercorn, Garlic and Mixed Chillies and anyone familiar with their Stock Pot range will recognise the paste-like consistency of these little pots.  Cynicism aside I do actually sometimes use the stock pots, they are convenient and easy to use and don’t have that fake chemical taste that many stock cubes have so I am intrigued by this new range.

aubergine and avocado oven-baked biryani
to go with the ‘convenience but packed with flavour’ concept of these little pots I thought i’d make an all-in-one dish akin to a biryani where all the vegetables and rice are cooked together and I’ve used no spices other than the curry flavour pot… as it turns out this was a rather delicious, if a little on the mild side, meal for two hungry grown men and it’s convenience was without doubt something I would cook again but I worry about two little things… one, the words ‘palm oil’ used in any ingredient list should be banned and two that without creativity and experimentation in ones lives we will all become a little beige…

1 large onion – peeled and thickly sliced
1 medium aubergine – roughly chopped
1 courgette – roughly chopped
5 cloves of garlic – un-peeled
half a swede – roughly chopped
a handful of mushrooms – roughly chopped
1 and a half Knorr Curry Flavour Pots
1 pint boiling water
olive oil, salt and pepper
1 large avocado – peeled and thickly sliced
150g basmati rice

pre-hat the oven to 180C

place all the veg apart from the avocado into a large casserole dish with a lid.  Season well and drizzle with olive oil.  Spoon the contents of one flavour pot onto the veg and stir in, coating all the vegetables.  I used my hands for this but you may want to avoid the strong curry smell… place the lid on and bake for 45 mins

pour in the water plus another half a flavour pot and then stir in the rice.  place the slices of avocado on top and pop the lid back on and place it back into the oven for a further 25 mins or until the rice is cooked… I actually turned my oven off after this time and left it to cool slightly in the oven and ate the dish warm about a half hour later

eat and of course, enjoy!