Vegetable Biryani Recipe

Biryani is my most favourite food that i linger for even in my dreams. I have several methods of making various biryanis and by far this is my most favourite as it’s my Amma’s recipe and a fool -proof one though it’s a lengthy process; even the last tiny morsel is worth the effort. But i would say once the prep works are done, it doesn’t take much time. So here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

Biryani Rice/Jeeraga Samba- 2 cups

Tomato-2 small, finely chopped

Onions-2 large, julienned

Mixed vegetables (beans, carrot& Peas)-1 cup

Curd- ¼ cup thick curd (not sour)

Coriander leaves- ¼ cup chopped

Mint leaves- ¼ cup leaves

To Grind:

Paste 1:

Tomatoes-3 medium

Wash them chop roughly, add to a blender jar and grind to a smooth puree

Paste 2:

Shallots-1 cup

Onion-1 medium, chopped roughly

Peel them, put together and grind them to a smooth paste

Paste 3:

Mint leaves- ½ cup

Grind them to a coarse paste with few drops of lime juice or a pinch of salt.

Paste 4:

Coconut (shredded)-3/4 cup

Cashews-5

Paste 5:

Cloves-5

Cinnamon-2 inch piece

Cardamom-1

Star anise- ½ the star

Stone flower/Kal paasi-1 sprig

Red chillies-4

Green chillies-4

Paste 6:

Ginger -a thumb size piece, peeled and roughly chopped

Garlic- 7 medium sized pods, peeled

Blend them to a smooth paste

To Temper:

Sunflower Oil- 5 tbsp

Ghee-3 tbsp

Bay leaves-1

Stone flower/Kal paasi-2 sprigs

Marati Moggu-1 piece

Cinnamon- ½ inch piece

Cardamom-1pod

Cloves-2

How It Happened:

1. Clean and cut vegetables into small cubes and set them aside. Grind all the pastes separately and keep ready.

2. Heat oil and ghee in a heavy bottomed pan/pressure cooker, add the ingredients given under the ‘to temper’ list.

3. Add julienned onions and fry till transparent. Add ginger & garlic paste (paste 6) and fry until raw smell goes off say 3-4 minutes.

4. Add cut tomatoes and fry until its completely mashed. Then add chopped coriander leaves and mint leaves and fry for a minute.

5. Then add tomato puree (paste 1), onion puree (paste 2), mint puree (paste 3) and chilli puree (paste 5). Cook until the raw smell goes off/ until the oil separates in the sides.

6. Add the cubed veggies and cook for a minute. Then add the coconut paste (paste 4) and mix well. Add curd and simmer the mixture.

7. Finally add rice and salt and mix the slurry. Add 4 cups of water, mix and close with the lid. Cook in a medium flame.

8. After 1 whistle simmer and cook for 5-7 minutes. Switch off the flame and wait till the pressure is released. Remove the lid, drizzle two tbsp of ghee on top and mix slowly.

9. Serve hot with raita.

Notes:

*I prefer jeeraga samba rice for biryani but you can also use basmati rice adjust the water accordingly.

*The ginger and garlic paste should be cooked until golden brown make sure the raw smell goes off else it will spoil the taste and flavour of the dish. The paste may stick to the base of the pan while frying but do not worry, it can be scraped easily with the ladle with 1 or 2 strokes once the tomatoes and purees are added.

*The water from the purees will be enough to cook the veggies the 2:1 ratio of water and rice is to be added for the rice to cook well.

*Take thick curd and beat it to a creamy consistency before adding. Do not add sour curd.

*You can avoid the mint puree if you have little, and just add mint leaves while frying.

*Cut onions and tomatoes are added for a little texture but you can add only puree if you want.