My new guilty pleasure appears to be turning whatever leftover roast meat we happen to have into biryani. Christmas 2020 was a strange one; with the covid-19 lockdown and restrictions in place, we took a detour from the traditional turkey dinner. Instead, we opted for a delicious roast duck with morello cherry and red wine sauce. Inevitably there were leftovers, so in true 2020 turn-anything-into-biryani style, here’s my recipe for 2020 leftover duck biryani. Feel free to replace “duck and duck stock” with “chicken and stock from an Oxo cube”, “vegetables and veg stock” or whatever works for you. This will work just fine with whatever leftovers you find yourself at a loose end with.

I’ve made this several times with leftover chicken, green beans, peas… as long as you’ve got the onions, garlic, rice and spices the rest will work with whatever you’ve got to hand. No green beans but got frozen peas? No problem!

You do need an oven-safe casserole with a lid for this one. If yours isn’t safe on the stove top, transfer from pan to casserole before you put it in the oven.

Ingredients (Serves four, or in our case 2, twice)

300g-500g leftover roast duck (or turkey or chicken), shredded
1 large onion, finely sliced
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
1 pepper, diced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground turmeric
3 teaspoons garam masala
1 teaspoon salt
150g french beans, cut into 1cm chunks
300g basmati rice (dry, not the cooked packet stuff)
400ml can coconut milk
200ml stock (we made duck stock from the giblets, but stock from a cube is fine)

Tablespoon ghee / sunflower oil

Fresh coriander (handful) , chopped (optional) to serve.
Chutney, to serve.

Method

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 4 / 170c / 350F.
2. One the stove top, heat the ghee (or oil) on a medium heat, then add the onions and fry for 4-5mins until just beginning to brown.
3. Add the diced pepper and garlic, stir and cook for 1min longer until warmed.
4. Add the chilli flakes, ground cumin, turmeric, garam masala and stir.
5. Add the rice, salt, leftover meat and stir for a minute or so until evenly coated in spices.
6. Add the stock, coconut milk and beans. Bring to the boil, stirring occasionally to stop it sticking.
7. Pop the lid on (or transfer from pan to casserole if necessary), then bake in the oven for 40 mins, stirring briefly after 20 mins.
8. Once the 40 mins are up, remove the lid and stir the coriander through (if using). Once cooked, the biryani will sit happily in the pot if you’re busy eating starters/socialising before serving.
9. Serve, with chutney. (Or in our case with the leftover morello cherry and red wine sauce from the roast duck)