Monday 19 October 2009

Sunday Suppers - Vegetable Biryani with Cucumber-Mint Raita

I'm posting a recipe after a long break..... I hope everyone had a good Diwali. My best wishes for everyone for the new year!

Boy, have I missed blogging and sharing some wonderful recipes with everyone......well, here I am, with the recipe for a Vegetable Biryani-Hope you will try and enjoy!

For the Biryani, you will need:

2 cups rice - wash and soak in water for at least an hour. Add some seasonings to the rice while it is soaking, I used some fennel seeds, cardamom, cinnamon stick and some cloves.

Saffron Mixture:Soak 1 tsp of Saffron in some warm milk and let it for a while, 20 minutes is good, more is better!

Beet Mixture- Microwave a peeled beet for 2 minutes, let it cook and chop into chunks, add some water to cover and let it sit, this will give your biryani the red color!

Chopped Veggies: I used bell peppers, fresh green beans, cauliflower, carrots, lima beans, onions and a fresh tomato. - Chop all into chunks and set aside.

Yogurt Marinade: Mix yogurt ( to your taste) with some chopped cilantro, chopped mint leaves, green chilies and ginger paste.

Biryani Masala- Use your favorite brand, as much or as little you like.
Salt, Chili powder, Sugar, turmeric - to taste

Ghee- to taste, Shahi Jeera, Toasted Cashews, raisins - optional

some extra Ghee to drizzle on top- around 2-3 tbsps (optional)

First, Soak the rice, saffron mixture and the beet mixture.

Now, add all the chopped veggies to the yogurt mixture and adjust the seasonings to your taste. You can also add garam masala, and tandoori masala in this mix. Set aside and let this marinate for an hour or more.


When ready to make the biryani, make the rice first. Wash the rice and add triple the amount of water to the rice so that it stays fluffy. Add the seasonings and cook until al-dente. Drain until the rice is partially cooked and set aside. Add some of the Saffron-Milk mixture to the rice and mix well. Set the rest aside for later.

In a separate pan, heat some oil, add the shahi jeera and let it sizzle. Add the onions, ginger garlic paste and let it cook. Add the tomato puree and stir well. Add chopped mint leaves and the rest of the marinated veggies. Cook until soft, but not too mushy.

Now get ready to layer this. In a baking dish, spread a little ghee on the bottom of the pan, add some of the vegetable mixture, then the rice. drizzle some ghee on top along with some Saffron milk, the beet solution and some garam masala or the biryani masala. Repeat the layer, ending with some nuts and raisins, and a little more milk-saffron mix on top. You can also add some mint leaves and chopped cilantro on top along with the tomato.

Cover with foil and bake at 350 for about 45-50 minutes. Serve hot with some cucumber raita.

12 comments:

lubnakarim06 said...

Wow...love that long grain, flavourful and yum looking biryani...with raita....

Anu Nandu said...

This is my favorite dish - biriyani and raitha - I can eat anytime - you've put in so much effort in making this colorful and great! Wish we can both meet for lunch and eat this together!

Pavani said...

Good to see you blogging again Trupti.. Hope you guys had a good summer (however short that was) and had a good Diwlai. Biryani & raita look mouth watering.

chef and her kitchen said...

Such a gorgeous briyani..love it..

Anupama Krishnamurthy said...

Hi Trupti,
I am really glad you dropped by my blog; I am here because of that. Your blog is amazing. Great recipes. Hope we'll stay connected through our blogs.

Cheers,
Anupama

Manasi said...

Wonderful to see u back in action!!
The Biryani looks OH-SO-GOOD! and is so healthy.. I was going thru some other recipes (from Indian mags. that I have here) and they all use food color, ugh!
Love the look of ur Biryani, the fluffy rice grains and the wonderful colors!

Dori said...

Goodness, You have made me hungry! Looks sooooo delicious!

Anonymous said...

Trupti,
Stumbled upon yr blog while looking for gujarati roti recipe.And like what you have written so far.Tried a few recipes and they came out great.You know how sometimes you get sick of eating your own khana ,the predictablity of taste is sometimes annoying and at times comforting,so I'm going thru the annoying stage right now so checking desi food blogs.Do blog more traditional gujju recipes would love to try them all.Thanks for posting, Sangeeta

Malar Gandhi said...

Biriyani looks fabulous, and what a nice refreshing raita to go with it, wonderful clicks...

Haddock said...

That looks yummy and inviting

Vaishali Sharma said...

Your Veggie biryani looks awesome!

Gauri Gharpure said...

explained very nicely here.. great photo!
i also love the illustration on the header

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