I’ve spent the past 9 months writing SCABs and leaving little notes for my mum, if you’ve not noticed. I’ve written 16 SCABs so that means I’ve left 16 little notes at the bottom of each SCAB.

So for my penultimate one I thought there would be no one better than my mum to write this one. I’m sitting this one out and letting her write whatever she wants. Here goes nothing.

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Hi, so this is Nabeel’s  mum and he’s tasked me with writing 500 words on a sheet of paper and well… here you have it

What’s good is he can’t get in trouble for writing a rubbish SCAB because his mum is writing it, meaning I can say whatever I like and can’t get kicked off the course because… well… I’m not doing the course.

He told me I can write whatever I like, I could just fill the pages with nonsense, copy & paste a caption or even just talk about my day and you would have to listen. I’m sitting in an airport departure lounge. I could write about that. Trouble is I don’t know what to write, so here’s a recipe for chicken biryani.

Ingredients

• 3 large red onions, sliced thin 
• 200ml peanut oil for frying 
• 1 kg chicken thighs, skin off 
• 4 tbsp yogurt
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 3 tsp ginger paste
• 1 tsp garlic paste
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 2 green chillies
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 12 cardamom pod
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 6 cloves
• Salt to taste 
• 1 bunch mint 
• 1 bunch coriander 
• 1 kg aged basmati rice

Method

1. Start by making the crispy onions by heating up the oil in a saucepan over a medium high heat and frying the sliced onions in batches until golden brown. 

2. Next, marinate your chicken by adding the chicken, 1/3 of the crispy onions, yogurt, chili powder, turmeric, garam masala, ginger, garlic, one cinnamon stick, 8 cardamom pods, 1 green chili sliced thin, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 4 cloves and a tsp of salt in a large pot. Mix well and marinate for 4-24 hours. 

3. With the rice, rinse it twice then soak it in water for 40 minutes 

4. In a large pot, half filled with water, add 1 tbsp salt, 1 green chili sliced lengthways in half, 6 green cardamom, 1 cinnamon stick, 2 cloves and 1 tsp cumin seeds and bring to a simmer. 

5. Add the soaked rice to the simmering water, stir once and cook for 6-8 minutes or until its just cooked. You still want a bit of bite in the rice. 

6. Remove the rice from the water and set aside. 

7. Place the marinated chicken onto a high heat and cook for 6-7 minutes, stirring every 1 or 2 minutes. 

8. Remove half of the chicken, then sprinkle half of the rice on the chicken in the pot. 

9. Next, add a layer of the crispy onions, some mint and coriander. 

10. Place the rest of the chicken and repeat with the rice, crispy onions and herbs. 

11. Place a clean tea towel over the lid of the pot and cover the biryani. 

12. Turn your element to medium high for 10 minutes, then turn it down to very low for 30 minutes. Take from the heat and let it rest for 20 minutes before taking the lid off and serving. 

13. Enjoy!

@nabeel13arif