Vegetable Biryani is a rich dish cooked with basmati rice layered on vegetables mixed with spices and yogurt. I make this whenever I feel like celebrating. It was my husband’s birthday a few days ago so I made this dish… celebrations, of course!
Vegetable Biryani
Servings 2 people
Ingredients
- 200 gr Long Grain Basmati Rice
- 4 Potatoes
- 2 Carrots
- 150 gr Frozen Peas
- 4 long Green Chili
- 2 big Red Onions
- 4 to 5 Garlic Cloves
- 10 Cashews
- a handful Mint Leaves
- 2 Bay Leaves
- 2 tsp Cumin Seeds
- 2 tsp Ginger-Garlic Paste
- 1 tbsp Biryani Masala
- 2 tsp Garam Masala
- 1 tbsp Ghee/ Clarified Butter
- 1 cup Yogurt
- a pinch Saffron
- 1.5 tsp Salt
Instructions
Preparation
- Soak rice in water for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile slice potatoes, carrots and onions to 1 inch thick long pieces.
- Crush garlic cloves and chop green chili to very small pieces.
Spices and Vegetables
- Take a big pan, heat water. Add rice and cook until the rice becomes slightly soft. The rice should not be fully cooked. This should take approximately 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat clarified butter/ ghee in a pan. Add cumin seeds. Once it starts to splutter, add bay leaves and ginger garlic paste.
- Add green chillies, garlic cloves and onions. After the onions becomes translucent, add mint leaves.
- Saute for sometime and add all the vegetables.
- Add biryani masala, garam masala and salt. Simmer for sometime. Add yoghurt, mix well and remove.
Making Biryani
- In a rice cooker/ cooker pan, add 1/3 of vegetable mixture in the bottom. Layer it with some cooked rice.
- Add the next 1/3 of vegetable mixture on top of layered rice. Layer it again with some cooked rice.
- Lastly, add the remaining 1/3 of vegetables. Layer it with the remaining cooked rice.
- Top it with saffron. Close the cooker pan tightly and cook until done.
- Once done, remove and top it with fried cashews. Serve with onion-tomato raita or plain yoghurt.