5 Date-licious Recipes To Try This Ramadan

Biryani rice is normally decorated with raisins and dried fruits, but we’re excited about this version using luscious chopped dates – truly a Ramadan special!

Yield: 6 pax

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cooking Time: 3 hours

Method:

Lamb Leg:

1. Heat up cooking oil in a pan. Sauté sliced onion, garlic and ginger until fragrant. Add incinnamon, cloves, cardamom pods, and star anise, and stir for a few minutes.

2. Once the onion has turned light golden brown, add in cumin and coriander powder. Stir until the oil floats on the surface, which will be roughly around 3 minutes. Season with salt and sugar and leave the paste aside to cool.

3. Place lamb leg in a baking tray and rub the cooled paste all over it. Cover with cling wrap and let it marinade in the fridge overnight.

4. Allow the lamb leg drop to room temperature before roasting it. Preheat oven to 130°C and loosely cover the lamb leg with aluminium foil. Put to roast for 2 hours while covered, and roast it uncovered for another hour. Once done, remove from oven and set aside.

Biryani Date Rice:

1. Melt ghee in a pot. Sauté sliced onion, garlic and ginger until fragrant.

2. Add in cinnamon stick, cloves, cardamom pods and star anise, and stir for another minute.

3. Add coriander powder and salt into the pot and continue stirring, until the paste has released oil.

4. Transfer the paste into rice cooker pot and add in washed basmati rice. Pour in water and evaporated milk. Cook the rice following the instructions according to your rice cooker.

5. Once cooked, transfer the rice into big bowl and leave to cool for a short while. Toss in coriander and mint leaves, chopped dates, fried onion and cashew nuts.

Kurma Gravy:

1. Heat up oil in a pot and sauté sliced onion, garlic, and ginger for a few minutes. Add incinnamon stick, cardamom pods, star anise and cloves and sauté for a minute.

2. Add in biryani and coriander powder. Once the oil has floated to the surface, stir in water and evaporated milk. Let it boil for a few minutes until the gravy thickens and season with salt to taste.

We hope you’ll relish in preparing and sharing these recipes with your friends & family this Ramadan (For more fun & easy recipes, head to http://bit.ly/BIGRecipes. Find everything you need for the above at Ben’s Independent Grocer, and do join us from 15th May to 24th June for our Raya ‘Ramadan Dihayati, Syawal Dirai’ Fair! We’ve got duit Raya packets, Raya hampers and so much more! Click here [link here] for more info on what’s happening in-store.