Sara Chicken's Favorite Biryani with Seitan

The solar-oven-baked pizza from Friday was particularly delicious, but I was too hungry to wait and get a photo of it! So here's what we had for dinner last night, recipe upon request of our honored guest, Bryan, who is trying very hard to go vegetarian. It's Sara Chicken's favorite biryani, and ours, too. Lots of spicy flavor without any heat, pretty easy to prepare, and heats up well. I have no idea where Steve found this recipe, but we've made it for years. We haven't tried freezing it, but that might work okay... For dessert, we had delicious frozen desserts, quite a splurge: One was chocolate hemp milk and chocolate & hazelnut coconut milk. Both were incredibly good, but I'd have to say that the hemp milk dessert had a slight edge in richness. I'd hate to have to pick, though...

Sara Chicken's Favorite Biryani with Seitan

2 c. brown rice
1 large onion, diced
2 T. olive oil (divided use)
1 lb. drained seitan, "chicken style"
1 c. peas (frozen is okay, thaw if so, or use snow peas)
2/3 c. almonds, toasted
1/2 c. raisins
1/2 cup biryani curry paste
10 oz. chopped tomatoes (canned or fresh)
3 3/4 c. boiling water

Preheat oven to 375.

Cover brown rice with cold water and soak for 20 minutes. Drain and set aside.

In small pan, saute half of the diced onion in 1 T. of the oil until soft/golden. Add the drained rice and saute 3-4 minutes. Set aside. (You could use the solar oven for this step, too.)

In a big frying pan or wok, saute the remaining onion in the remaining 1 T. of oil until soft/golden. Add the seitan and cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in peas, almonds, raisins, biryani paste and tomatoes.

Combine this mixture with the rice mixture in a Dutch oven. Add the boiling water, stir, cover, and bake for 60-75 minutes, depending on your oven/the sun. IMPORTANT: CHECK WATER AT 45 MINUTES. If you need to add more, use boiling water.

Serves 6-8.