Cheat's Chicken Biryani by Barney Harwood

Pour your rice into a pan along with twice as much water - the key is keeping the ratio as 1 part rice to 2 parts water. Leave this to soak for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, you can start prepping the base of your Biryani. Begin by cutting your onion in half then finely slicing both pieces so you’re left with little onion crescents.

Whack your knob of butter into a pan over a medium heat. Once this has melted and is bubbling away, add in your onion, a bay leaf, and turmeric. Keep this moving around the pan and then add your curry paste and give it a little stir.

Once everything is nice and soft, you need to dollop in three large tbsp of low fat yoghurt and combine it all together. Leave this to bubble on a low-medium heat.

Onto the chicken - cut each breast into big chunky cubes. This then goes straight into your sauce and should be mixed thoroughly to coat it in lovely curry-goodness. Leave this to cook for roughly half an hour. Keep stirring occasionally.

Raita Time. Roughly dice half a cucumber, and chuck it into a bowl with four tbsp of yoghurt. At this point, you could add a sprinkle of chilli powder to taste for a bit of a kick - remember a little goes a long way. Dollop in 2 tsp of mint sauce and thoroughly mix this all together.

Back to your rice! Drizzle a little oil over the water. Give this a really thorough stir - no sticky rice is allowed in a good Biryani. Bring your rice to the boil and then bring it back down to a gentle simmer. Crumble your stock cubes in and stir. Cover your pan and leave it to simmer for around 12 minutes (no checking!). Once cooked, leave your rice to stand for three minutes.

Add your rice to the chicken pan and fold it in. Drizzle your raita generously over the top.

Serving time. Add a big spoonful of Biryani to a plate. Dollop your raita generously over the top. Serve with warm naan bread, garnish with some finely chopped coriander and enjoy! Feel free to share with your MOB, or just keep it all to yourself.