A Hyderabadi friend taught me this wonderful Vegetable Biryani recipe. It requires some preparation but it’s worth the effort.

Ingredients

Method

1. Wash and soak rice for at least 1 hour.
2. Slice onion coarsely.
3. Chop vegetables in big chunks.
4. Peel and grated ginger finely.
5. Cut green chillies in 1 inch pieces.





6. Heat 1 tbsp of ghee. Add sliced onion and fry till they are golden brown. Now add cashews and raisins and fry till onions become dark brown and cashews are also browned a little. Keep it aside.





7. Boil 5 cups of water and drop rice in it. Add 1/2 tbsp of ghee and 1 tsp of salt. Let it boil. When it starts to boil again, reduce the heat and let it cook uncovered.
8. Keep checking the rice. When it’s slightly el dante, drain the water and keep the rice aside.





9. Heat the remaining ghee in a big pan. Add cinnamon stick, peppercorns, cloves and bay leaves till fragrant. Then add grated ginger and fry for a minute.
10. Add the hard vegetables like carrots, beans and potatoes. Stir fry them for a few minutes on high heat.
11. Now add cauliflower and capsicum and stir fry for another 2-3 minutes. All the vegetables should be slightly brownish.





12. Add coriander powder, fennel powder, red chilli, nutmeg powder, 1/2 tsp salt and green chillies and fry for a few seconds.
13. Pour the whisked yogurt and mix well. Once it starts to boil, reduce the heat to its lowest.



14. Layer the vegetables evenly in the pan.
15. Spread the chopped coriander leaves and mint leaves on the vegetables.
16. Now spread the boiled rice on the vegetables in an even layer.
17. Then spread the fried onion, cashews and raisins on top of the rice.
18. Mix saffron in warm water and sprinkle on top.



19. Cover the pan with a tight lid and let it cook on a very low heat for 30 minutes.
20. After 30 minutes, turn off the heat and mix the rice and vegetables lightly. Vegetable Biryani is ready to serve with raita.

Notes

1. You can even add rose petals, rose water or kewra water in biryani.
2. Traditionally it’s cooked in a clay pot and served without mixing it but I like it better if it’s served after mixing because then even if you took a small portion, you will get to taste all the layers of the Vegetable Biryani.
3. Rice needs to be really good basmati rice otherwise the grains will not turn out to be long and separate.

Summary

Recipe Name

Vegetable Biryani

Author Name

Ruchi Garg

Published On

2013-08-30

Total Time

1H

Average Rating

5 Based on 1 Review(s)