Ravinder Bhogal’s home-made chicken burger and lamb biryani are tastier than any takeout

IF you're a fan of takeaway food, it's time you discovered these recipes you can make at home.

Korean Chicken Burger

Serves 4

Prep time 30 mins plus 4¹/₂ hrs pickling and 2 hrs marinating

Cooking time 10 mins

Cals 845

Sat fat 11g

For the pickled cucumber (or you can use shop-bought)

*1 cucumber, finely sliced

*100ml rice vinegar

*1tbsp caster sugar

*1tbsp black sesame seeds

For the mayonnaise

*1tbsp Sriracha chilli sauce (available from supermarkets)

*150g mayonnaise

For the burger

*2 cloves garlic, crushed

*2tbsp light soy sauce

*100ml Chinese rice wine

*1tbsp sesame oil

*125g cornflour

*4 boneless chicken thigh fillets

*Rapeseed oil, for frying

*4 brioche burger buns

*100g kimchi (available from supermarkets)

*2 spring onions, finely sliced

1 To make the pickled cucumber, massage the cucumber slices with salt, leave for 30 minutes then rinse off the salt. In a glass jar, combine the remaining ingredients and add the cucumber. Pickle for 4 hours.

2 For the mayonnaise, whisk together the Sriracha chilli sauce and mayonnaise.

3 To make the marinade for the chicken, mix the garlic, soy sauce, rice wine and sesame oil together. Add the chicken and leave for 2 hours to marinate. When ready, place the cornflour in a shallow dish and roll the chicken in it. Heat the oil in a pan and deep-fry the chicken for 8 minutes or until cooked through.

4 Meanwhile, slice the burger buns and heat under a grill. To serve, spread one half of the bun with the mayonnaise and top with pickled cucumber, chicken, kimchi and spring onion. Close with the other half of the bun.

Lamb Biryani

Serves 6

Prep time 45 mins, plus 4 hrs marinating

Cooking time 1 hr 40 mins

Cals 775

Sat fat 20g

For the raita

*Handful coriander, chopped

*Handful mint, chopped

*400g natural yoghurt

*Seeds 1 pomegranate

*1tsp cumin seeds, toasted and cracked

For the lamb

*¹/₂tsp cloves

*¹/₂ stick cinnamon

*1tsp cumin seeds

*1tsp coriander seeds

*¹/₄ nutmeg, grated

*1tsp turmeric

*100g ghee (available from supermarkets)

*2 red onions, sliced

*4 cloves garlic, crushed

*1tbsp grated ginger

*1 green chilli, chopped

*1 dried chilli, chopped

*200g natural yoghurt

*Juice 1 lime

*750g lamb leg, cut into bite-size pieces

*2 tomatoes, chopped

*Handful dried apricots, torn

*Handful mint, chopped

*Crispy onions, boiled eggs and coriander, to garnish

For the rice

*350g basmati rice

*1 cinnamon stick

*8 cardamom pods

*1 star anise

*100ml milk

*1tsp saffron

*1tbsp rosewater

1 To make the raita, mix the coriander, mint, yoghurt, pomegranate seeds (reserving a handful) and toasted cumin seeds together
and season. Garnish with the remaining pomegranate seeds.

2 Toast the cloves, cinnamon, cumin, coriander and nutmeg in a dry pan. Grind into a powder with the turmeric.

3 Heat 1tbsp ghee then fry the red onion in it over a low heat for about 15 minutes until dark and sticky. Add the garlic, ginger and both chillies and fry for 3 minutes. Take off the heat and mix with the yoghurt, spice mixture and lime juice, then add the lamb. Leave to marinate for at least 4 hours.

4 Heat a little ghee in a pan, add the lamb and cook on a low heat for 30 minutes, then add the chopped tomatoes and apricots and cook for 30 minutes. Stir through the mint.

5 While the lamb is cooking, place the rice in a pan of cold water and add the whole spices. Parboil for 8 minutes, then drain.

6 Boil the milk in a pan, stir in the saffron.

7 Preheat the oven to 150°C/130°C fan/gas mark 2. Spread 1tbsp ghee over the bottom of a casserole dish with a tight-fitting lid. Spread a third of the rice over the base, drizzle over a little saffron milk and top with half the lamb. Sprinkle over the rosewater. Now layer over another third of the rice, saffron milk and remaining lamb, before topping with the last of the rice and saffron milk. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Top each serving with crispy onions, boiled egg, pomegranate raita and fresh coriander.