Recipe: VEG BIRYANI

Veg Biryani

This is a recipe I concocted on Diwali day. It turned out to be delicious and hence I am sharing it here on my blog.

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice - soaked & drained

Basmati Rice – 2 cups
Shelled Peas – 1 cup
Beans – 100 gm (stringed and cut in inch-long pieces)
Carrot – 1 (peeled and cut in inch-long pieces)
Cauliflower – 250 gm (cut into flowerets)
Coriander leaves – 2 tbsp (chopped)
Oil – to shallow fry the vegetables
Ghee – 2 tsp
Salt to taste

Vegetables

Water – 3 cups
Cashew nuts – a handful (cut into pieces)

Dry Masala:
Jeera – 1 tsp
Black Pepper – 4 corns
Star Anise – 2
Mace (Jaadhi Pathiri) - a few strands

Bay leaf – 2
Cinnamon – 4
Cinnamon bar – 2 small pieces
Cardamom – 2-3

Dry masala ingredients

Ginger-garlic-chilly paste

Masala:
Ginger – ½ inch piece
Garlic – 4 cloves
Green Chillies – 2

Method:

1.    Wash the rice and keep it soaked for half an hour. Then drain it before beginning the biryani process.
2.    Grind the masala ingredients into a coarse paste and keep aside.
3.    In a large saucepan, shallow fry the vegetables with salt, – one type at a time – drain the oil and keep in a bowl. Mix the coriander leaves with the hot vegetables. 

Raita

4.    In the same saucepan, heat some ghee and add the dry masala ingredients to the ghee. When they crackle, add the ginger-garlic-chilly paste and fry for a couple of minutes before adding water.
5.    Add some salt before adding the washed and drained rice to the saucepan.
6.    Close with a lid and cook on medium flame.
7.    Shallow fry the cashew nuts in ghee in a separate pan.
8.    When the rice is cooked, remove it in a serving bowl. Spread the cooked vegetables on top before garnishing with cashew nuts.

The biryani tastes yummy all by itself and does even better with raita.