The lingering taste of Vegetable Biryani

Vegetable Biryanis are wholesome meals filled with goodness of the veggies as well the rich masalas that go with it.  The flavour is unique and would definitely give an invitation to your neighbour.  Biryani must have all the necessary ingredients  to make it the authentic dish.  This is a dish which can be tried out on weekends as it involves time.  Biryani cannot be done in a hurry, it has to be cooked slowly with lot of patience to achieve the perfect taste.  Raita and pappad are the perfect accompaniments and be sure to make enough Biryani as it is going to fast disappear from the bowl like it did in my household.  Thanks to vahrehvah.com for the basic recipe and I made changes according to my family's taste. 

Ingredients:

Rice - 1 1/2 cups
Carrots, - 1/4 cup
Potatoes - 1/4 cup
Beans - 1/4 cup
Cauliflower -1/4 cup
Green peas - 1/4 cup
Panneer - 1/2 cup (cubed)
Green chillies - 2 nos
Jeera - 1 tsp
Garam masala (whole) - 1 tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Biryani masala - 4 tbsp (I used MDH Biryani masala)
Curds - 3/4 cup
Nuts -your choice
Mint
Coriander leaves
Salt
Oil
A few strands of Saffron

Chop onions finely and fry it till it turns brown. Keep it aside.

After soaking the rice for an hour, cook it till it is half done, strain the water and keep this aside.

Chop the potatoes,beans and carrots into 1" pieces and small florets of the cauliflower.

In a pan, add oil, then add jeera . When jeera begins to splutter, add whole garam masala, then add ginger garlic paste and let it get cooked well till the oil leaves out. Now add the cut vegetables, peas, slit green chillies and salt. Mix well and let it cook. Once they are half cooked, add finely chopped mint and coriander leaves, four tablespoons of biryani masala and half cup of curd. Mix well. Now add panneer cubes and leave it aside.

Take a wide mouth pan and add half of the cooked vegetables and spread it well in the pan. Add curds, nuts, fried onions and now add half the portion of rice and spread it well over the vegetable mix. Repeat this process till both the veggies and rice is done. Cover it well and cook in a very slow flame till the rice gets cooked fully.  Mix  a few strands of Saffron in two tablespoons of hot water and sprinkle over the rice for the beautiful color.

Garnish with nuts and croutons.
 

An awesome veggie biryani is ready to serve.

Brinjal Rice

Masala:
Red Chilli: 4 nos
Pepper Corn: 1 tsp
Urad Dal: 1 tbs
Channa Dal: 1 tbs
Dania(whole): 1tbs
Bayleaf: 1/2
Jeera: 3/4 tsp
Hing: 2 pinch

In a pan add all of the above and fry them in medium heat until the urad and channa dal are light brown. Leave it to cool and grind it to a fine powder. I usually like to grind a reasonable quantity of the powder so I can even store it for later use.

Rice preparation
Rice: 1 cup
Brinjal: 4 (baby egg plants or brinjal).
Onion: 2 (egg sized)
Urad Dal: 2 tsp
Channa Dal: 1 tsp
Curry Leaves: 4 nos
Oil: 2 tbs
Salt to taste

1. Cook 1 cup of basmati rice in a rice cooker. I like to use rice cooker since it gives the rice a light and nice texture.
2. Take a pan and add the oil and turn the heat to medium.
3. Add urad and channal dal and let it turn light brown.
4. Add Curry leaves(tearing it into pieces definitely adds more flavor to the food ;) ).
5. Saute the onions till it turns into a light golden color.
6. Add the brinjal & salt, cover the pan and let it cook for about 7 min in medium heat (turn it over every once in a while).
7. Add the 1 tbs of the prepared masala and let the brinjal cook for another couple of minutes.
8. Add the rice and blend it with the brinjal. Garnish with some coriander leaves and serve.

Bon Appetit!

Coconut rice

Ingredients:

Cooked rice - 2 cups
Coconut shredded - 3/4 cup
Red chillies -3
Green chillies - 2
Chana Dal - 1/4 tsp
Urad Dal - 1/4 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves
Salt to taste
Oil - 2 tbsp

In a kadai, add two tablespoons of oil and put channa dal, urad dal and mustard seeds in this order. Once the dal is light red and mustard seeds have spluttered, put in the curry leaves and put the shredded coconut and keep stirring in low fire. The stirring should be continuous, else the coconut gets stuck to the bottom of the pan. Once the coconut mix turns pinkish in colour, add the cooked rice (allow the cooked rice to cool well before you toss it in the kadai) loosening the rice as you put in the kadai. sprinkle salt and mix well in up and down movement. Switch off the flame and toss the rice slowly.

Can be enjoyed with chips, pappad, pickles or with coconut chutney.

Tangy Lemon rice

Ingredients:

Cooked rice -2 cups
Lemon - 1
Carrots - 1/4 cup finely grated
Green peas (fresh or frozen)-1/4 cup
Chenna dal-1/2 tsp
Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - a sprig
Green chillies-4
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Asoefoetida or Hing-1/4 tsp
Finely grated carrot-1/4 cup
Oil for seasoning

Take a kadai and put two tablespoon oil and add channa dal, urad dal, mustard seeds, chopped green chillies and curry leaves. Once the mustard seeds splutter, put in the turmeric powder, asoefoetida, green peas and the grated carrots and keep tossing the mix till the carrots and peas are cooked. This will take 3-4 minutes. Once this is done, put the cooked and cooled rice and add salt and toss it slowly so that rice does not become sticky.

The color combination is too good and very inviting. This is a simple dish and can be prepared within minutes. Can be served with coconut chutney and chips.

The color combination is too good and very inviting. Can be served
with coconut chutney or chips