Spirulina Green Jerk Tempeh Biryani

This is there part where i’m supposed to talk about my time back packing through India for 6 months, became a yogi and learnt to make Biryani from the Royal family of Jaipur’s personal chef… sorry to burst your bubble, but this is a family recipe from a Maldivian friend who lives down the road. Not to worry though, this one is just as good as the one I had in the Maldives and in any restaurant in London.

Growing up in a “West Indian” household (lol), curries and spicy foods were a staple, one of the reasons i’m here in the first place. All this to say I’ve long had an affinity to Southern Asian cooking, it really Is one of my favourite cuisines.

One of my good friends from secondary school is Bangladeshi, and I’d often be at his house revising or just hanging out. There were always pleasant aromas coming from the kitchen, but that was none of my business, he would usually make sure I was full on crisps and ribena. But one Saturday, there was a treat, he offered me some lunch, his mums cooking, a veg curry. This was my introduction to chickpeas and Southern Asian cuisine as a whole. I’m not gonna lie, I was at my friends house often and it wasn’t just for the revision. Its well known that I’d often have a sneaky peek in his mums pots to see what was cooked for dinner last night, which my friends alway found quite funny, who’s laughing now?!

A couple years later my Bangladeshi friend sister was getting married and I was invited to the wedding. There was sooo much amazing food, and this was my first experience having biryani. With all the decedent curries that were available, the biryani was a welcome savoury saviour. A simple dish , rice, spices, vegetables. I love rice, spices and vegetables, but biryani is often cooked with meat or seafood like prawns.

Whilst you can have biryani with just vegetables I wanted my recipe to have a meaty texture, especially since its flavoured with jerk. Because of its hearty flavour tempeh was the perfect choice for this recipe, it marinades well, holds its shape when cooked, its full of protein, and although the soybeans that make the tempeh do go through a fermentation process, its not not a processed food like many of the meat replacements we use.

if you never had Tempeh before, Tempeh is made from whole soybeans that are fermented with a controlled fungus known as rhizopus oligosporus, which thrives in warm temperatures. As the fungi and mold on the soybeans grows, it solidifies the whole beans into a nutty, condensed cake. The fermentation process typically takes about 48 hours to complete. Its a pretty unusual flavour, quite sour and takes a little getting used to, but marinating it in Spirulina Green makes all the difference.

enough about mouldy soy beans, lets get cooking!

Spirulina Green Biryani 

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 onion diced

2 carrots diced

1 handful green beans chopped small

1 yellow pepper sliced

Hand full of peas

1 spring onion slices

1 cup of  raw brown rice .cooked and slightly cooled

200g tempeh marinated in TLSG jerk sauce

1 tomato

1 tbsp of chopped ginger

4 garlic cloves

Spices

1 stick of cinnamon 

5 cardamom pods

5 curry leaves

1 tbsp cumin seeds /1 tbsp cumin powder

2 tbsp chopped coriander leaf/table spoon of coriander powder

1 tsp tomato paste

3 tbsp of raisins

1 tsp curry powder 

1.    Start frying the onions in a table spoon of oil on a medium heat. After 2 minutes add the garlic, ginger, peppers and carrots. Fry for 2 minutes then add the spices(1 tbsp fresh coriander),tomato paste and a pinch of salt.

2.    After 2 minutes add the jerk marinated tempeh.

3.    Fry this for 5 minutes occasionally shaking and stiring the bottom so the pan doesn’t catch. 

4.    Add the tomatoes, spring onions, raisins and rice.

5.    Mix the rice with the veg, but allow for some parts of the rice to remain not mixed.

6.    Add the tbsp of coriander, cover, turn down the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. 

7.    Serve and enjoy