- Serving: Serves 2-3
Vegetable Biryani Recipe
Vegetable biryani is a very tasty rice dish, and healthy too, if it has lots of veggies in it. Vegetable biryani is the vegetarian version of 'Biryani' - a specialty of Hyderabad. It is easy to make; only takes a long time. But the dish is so tasty, you will forget all the efforts you took to prepare it. Any biryani is usually a little spicy, but of course you can adjust the spiciness (by adding more or reducing the number of green chilies) according to your choice and taste. I have written down all the steps in a very organised manner, that will help you make the elongated process of making it, very easy and methodical. Hope you find it useful.
Ingredients
- For toppings
- Oil - 2 tsp
- Cashew nuts - 4-5
- Almonds - 4-5
- Raisins - 10
- Onion - 1 small, cut vertically into long slices
- For preparing the rice
- Cloves - 3
- Cinnamon stick - 4 inch long stick
- Bay leaves - 1 big or 2 small
- Tomato - 1 chopped
- Salt - To taste
- Rice - 1 cup
- Oil - 1 tsp
- For preparing the veggies
- Oil - 2 & 1/2 tsp
- Onion - 1 chopped
- Cinnamon stick - 4 inch long stick
- Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp
- Green chilies - 3
- Ginger - 1 & 1/2 tsp grated
- Garlic - 6-7 big cloves or 10-12 small cloves
- Tomato - 1 small, cut into cubes
- Veggies of your choice - Like Cauliflower (1 cup florets), Potato (1), Green pepper (1 small), Carrot (1), Green peas (1/4 cup), and/or any other
- Lime / lemon juice - 1 tbsp
- Sugar - 1/2 tsp
- Salt - To taste
Instructions
For toppings :
- Heat 2 tsp oil in a pan, and add cashew nuts and almonds, and stir fry till the cashews become golden brown in color. Remove and keep aside.
- In the same pan, to the rest of the oil, add raisins, stir fry till they swell up. Remove and keep aside.
- To the remaining oil, add the vertically slit onion, stir fry till it becomes brownish. Remove and keep aside.
For rice:
- Wash rice thoroughly in water 2 times, and drain away all the water.
- In the same pan, that has some oil left after step 3 above, add 1 tsp oil, heat it, and add 3 cloves, one 4" long cinnamon stick, 2 small bay leaves, and stir fry for a few seconds, till the bay leaves turn brownish.
- Add the washed rice, and stir fry nicely (for about 2 minutes) till the rice is completely dry.
- Add 1 small chopped tomato, salt, and 2 cups of water.
- Bring to boil and continue boiling till the water reaches the level of the rice grains.
- Now reduce the heat to low, cover and allow to cook till all the water is used up to cook the rice.
- Pour out and spread the rice in a plate to cool and to loosen up all the grains.
For the veggies:
(veggies can be prepared in another pan, while the rice is getting cooked)
- Mix and grind 1 onion, one 4" long cinnamon stick, cumin seeds, green chilies, ginger, garlic, and 1 tomato cut in to cubes, into a fine paste. Keep this masala aside.
- Cut the green pepper into long vertical slices. Wash the cauliflower florets. Peel and cut the carrot into 1" big cubes. Peel and cut the potato into long vertical slices.
- In a pan, heat 2 & 1/2 tsp oil, and add the potato. Stir fry till it becomes slightly golden brown in color. Remove and keep aside.
- Add all the ground masala of step 1, and stir fry till it becomes brownish and oil starts separating along the edges.
- Add all the cut vegetables, and 1/2 cup of water. Add salt, sugar, and lemon juice. Mix.
- Cover to cook till the vegetables are perfectly soft (only till the original crunchiness of raw vegetables is gone). By now all the water will get used up.
- Add the stir fried potatoes, mix gently, and keep aside.
Assembly and final step:
- Take a wide and big pan and keep about 2-3 cups water in it for boiling.
- Take a pot that can fit inside this pan, and spread one layer of the rice.
- Now add the next layer of the vegetables.
- Repeat till all the rice and veggies are used up. Make sure that the topmost layer is of the rice with some veggies peeking out.
- Add all the toppings (cashews, raisins, and almonds), except the vertically slit, stir fried onion .
- Now keep this pot inside the pan with boiling water, and cover the pan with a heavy lid.
- Keep the heat on low, and allow to cook for 15 minutes. This will help to blend all the flavors of biryani.
- Turn off the heat, garnish with the stir fried onion, and serve hot vegetable biryani.
- Vegetable biryani is typically served with any kind of 'raita'.
