Easy Vegetable Biriyani

Once I started blogging, I have to say that my initial interest is making me blog three articles on a single day !!! I hope I can retain the enthusiasm that I am showing in the beginning... I am a person who never stepped into the kitchen at home and today I am someone who wants to blog her lunch menu !! I will blog the story of my amazing journey in cooking later... But today I prepared Vegetable Dum Biriyani for Lunch and it turned out really well. I want to share my recipe with you guys as well. I got this recipe from one of my best friends after tasting it at her home one day. Need less to say, I loved it to the extent that I am blogging it!!! Besides I need a place to stack all my successful recipes. 

So the recipe goes as follows. 

Ingredients:

1 cup Basmati Rice ( Makes for 2 people)
1 Onion
1 teaspoon Ginger Garlic Paste
1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
1 small piece Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Chilli Powder ( Depends on your spiciness level)
1 teaspoon Garam Masala/ Biriyani Masala
2 - 3 teaspoon curd
1 cup Vegetables - ( Carrots, Beans, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Capsicum) 
(You can use any combination of vegtables. You can use potatoes and peas also.)  
5 -6 Cashews ( I split them into half and then cut them into small pieces ) 
Salt to taste 
Around 3 teaspoon Oil
1 teaspoon Ghee (Optional) 

Time taken for the recipe: Around 1 - 1.5 hrs (including prepping time and excluding time for soaking the rice) 

Preparation Method: 

Step 1: 

Soak Basmati Rice in water for around 2hrs.

Step 2:

Prep time!!!

Cut all the vegetables and onion. One half of the onion, I cut in long thin slices and the remaining half was diced into small pieces. 

Step 3:

Saute the onion which were cut into long slices, in oil in a non stick pan till they are fried golden brown and keep them aside. It took me in medium heat around 10 min. 
In the same pan, saute cashews till brown and keep aside. 

Step 4:

Boil all the vegetables and keep aside. 

Option 1:

I boiled the vegetables in pressure cooker for 1 whistle and then drained the remaining water.

Option 2:

Microwaved the vegetables in a microwave safe bowl for around 3min. 

Another option is to try steaming the vegetables. How ever it took me a long time to steam them and hence I dropped the idea. I will try it some time and then update you guys if it works out. 

Step 5: 

Cook basmati rice till its around half cooked. 

Option 1: 

Cook it in a open vessel for 10 min. 

Option 2: 

I used a rice cooker and cooked  it for around 10 min. I did keep on checking how much the rice was boiling every 5min. I didnt want to over boil the rice. 

Step 6:

Now to prepare the gravy of boiled vegetables for the biriyani.

• In the same non stick pan used for sauting onions and cashews, add some more oil. When oil is heated up, add cumin seeds and cinnamon. To test whether oil is heated up properly, I usually add 1 cumin seed and see if it crackles. If it does, then I add the remaining. 
• Add ginger garlic paste and then add the remaining onions and saute them till they are brown.
• Add the boiled vegetables and saute for around 3 - 4 min. 
• Add chilli powder, biriyani masala and salt and mix well. 
• Add curd and mix again. Switch off after 2 min.

Step 7:

This step involves the layering of the biriyani. 

• Grease the bottom of a pressure cooker with 1 teaspoon oil or ghee. You can use any thick bottomed vessel with lid as well. 
• Then add half of the half cooked Basmati rice. 
• Now add half of golden brown onions and cashews
• Add thick layer of vegetables
• Add the remaining half cooked Basmati rice.
• Add the remaining golden brown onions and cashews on top of the rice.
• Sprinkle some water on top

Step 8:

Close the pressure cooker and cook for around 8 min with out keeping the whistle. Open the cooker after half an hour and serve hot. 

The recipe is not a complex one even though it has so many steps. It is very easy to make and can be done in an hour and it tastes delicious :) Do try and let me know your comments... 

Sending to Favorite Recipes # 13 - One Pot meal happening at My Cooking Journey and Zesty South Indian Kitchen.