Vegetable Biryani Recipe
Basmati Rice layered with vegetables sweet and warm aroma garnished with nuts
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Ingredients
Savory warm water
We will need 5 cups of savory water. 4 cups for cooking Rice, cup for cooking vegetables, and cup during layering
1. Water: 5 Cups
Spice Potli
1. Cheese Cloth: 1
2. Ginger chopped: 2" x 1"
3. Black Cardamom cracked open:6
4. Black Peppercorn: 10
5. Cinnamon stick 3"x" Broken in half: 2
6. Whole Cloves: 8
7. Fennel seeds: teaspoon
8. Bay leaf: 2
9. Nutmeg powder: teaspoon
10: Salt: 1 teaspoon
Sweet aroma water
1. Milk: cup
2. Yellow Cardamom cracked: 2
3. Saffron strands: 6
4. Kewra Essence: teaspoon
5. Rose essence: teaspoon
Rice Layer
1. Ghee: 3 Tablespoons
2. Basmati Rice: 2 Cups
3. Savory warm water: 4 cups
4. Saffron: teaspoon
Vegetable Layer
1. Ghee: 2 Tablespoons
2. Onions Chopped: Cup
3. Garlic Minced: 4 Cloves
4. Turmeric powder: teaspoon
5. Cumin powder: teaspoon
6. Coriander powder: teaspoon
7. Potatoes Peeled and cubed: 1 cup
8. Carrots Peeled and diced: cup
9. Cauliflower cut into small flowerets: cup
10. Salt to taste
11. Cayenne Pepper to taste
12. Whole-milk yogurt: cup
13. Savory Water: cup
14. Green peas: cup
15. Kasoori Patta: Tablespoon
Garnish layer
1. Ghee: cup
2. Onions thinly sliced vertically: 1 Cup
3. Almonds sliced: cup
4. Cashews halves: cup
5. Fresh Ginger sliced into thin sticks: 1 Inch
6. Fresh Cilantro chopped: cup
7. Fresh Peppermint: cup
Lid Seal
1. Flour: cup
2. Water: 1 Tablespoon
Method
Step 1: Savory aroma water
Fold the cheese cloth two time. Make a surface about 6"x6". Put spices in the center. Gather edges and tie a string.
Put water to and spice Potli in a pot. Bring it to a boil. Cover. Let it steep on low heat for 20 minutes.
Step 2: Sweet aroma water
Add Cardamom pods to milk. Warm milk to 100 F. Crush saffron. Add saffron. Let it cool about 10 minutes. Add Kewra and Rose. Cover.
Step 3: Rice
Wash and rinse Rice. Presoak in water for at least 30 minutes. Drain. Heat Ghee in a heavy bottom pan. Stir in rice. Cook till it just starts to turn opaque white. Crush and sprinkle saffron. Add 4 cups of savory warm aroma water. Bring it to a boil. Simmer covered for about 14 minutes. Turn off heat. Wait 10 minutes, the moisture will be absorbed.
Step 4: Vegetables
Wash and cut vegetables to your liking. Put Ghee in a heavy bottom pan and heat. Add onions, and saut till clear. Add garlic, ginger, turmeric, cumin and ginger powder. Continue stir frying but don't burn spices. Add potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, salt and pepper. Saut till the potatoes start to turn brown. Add yogurt and water. Cover and simmer till the vegetables are tender. Stir in Green peas and Kasoori Patta.
Step 5: Condiment layer
Now we need to prepare items for the garnish layer. Keep all items separate. Sautee onions in Ghee till they are brown and caramelized. Stir-fry Almonds and Cashews so they start to turn brown.
Step 6: Layering
Choose a deep pot to assemble Biryani. You must have a tight fitting lid for the pot.
Remember the top and bottom layers are always Rice. Lay a layer of rice. Add a bit of savory water and sweet water in circular motion, add a layer of vegetables, add a 'garnish layer'. Now start over with the layer of rice. If it is the top layer of the rice, add the savory warm and sweet waters as before and the garnish layer.
Step 7: Baking
We need to now emulate Dum cooking (Cooking on low heat) in a Handi.
Make the seal by kneading dough. Apply sticky dough to the lid all the way around. Seal the pot with the lid.
Preheat oven to 425 F. Place the Biryani pot in the oven.
After 10 minutes turn down the oven temperature to 275 F.
You can remove the pot after 15 minutes, or hold it for up to 90 minutes.
Remove the pot from the oven 15 minutes before service. At the time of service, break the seal (remove the lid).
Note: You can use Aluminum foil in-lieu of the lid and the dough. |