Vegetable Layered Dum Biryani~ Indian Biryani

I have heard lot about Hyderabadi Dum Biryani before coming to Hyderabad and was really tempted to taste it once the moment I came here. But somehow after multiple tasting(yes, I only tasted it but couldn't eat much), it failed to impress me miserably. I found it very bland with scanty masala paste and loads of white rice. It lacked that kick or X factor flavor. I chanced this recipe in a local magazine and I instantly knew I am going to give it a shot. When I tried it, it turned out amazing and this biryani makes into my every week menu. 

Be assured to have flavorful yet tasty and spicy Veg Biryani.


Vegetable Layered Biryani
Ingredients
Basmati Rice or any long grain rice – 1 & 1.2 cups (Cook along with 2 bayleaves, 1 star anise, 1 clove, 1 cardamom and ½ inch cinnamon stick)
Ghee- 1 + 1 tbsps
Mint + Coriander leaves – 1/4^th cup (chopped finely)
Browned Onions – 1/4^th cup
Cashews- 2 tbsps
Raisins- 1 tbsp

Vegetables:
Carrot – 1 chopped
Beans – 8-10 chopped finely
Cauliflower – 8-10 florets
Potato- 1 (boiled & cubed)
Green Peas- 1/4^th cup
Sweet corn – 2 tbsps (optional)
Onion- 1 medium chopped
Green Chillies - 3



Spice Powders:
Red Chilly Powder- ½ tsp
Biryani Masala – ½ tsp
Garam masala – ½ tsp
Pepper Powder- ½ tsp
Turmeric Powder- ½ tsp ( avoid if you are using orange or yellow food color)
Salt – as per your taste.
Sugar- 1/4^th tsp
Ginger Garlic Paste – 2 tsps
Curd- ½ cup

To temper
Oil- 2 tbsps
Cinnamon Stick – ½ inch piece
Cloves- 2
Cardamom -2
Star Anise- 1
Bayleaf – 1



Procedure:
Wash and cook rice with salt, a tsp of oil, 1 and ½ cup of water and spices mentioned. Once your rice is cooked, fork it to get separate grains and reserve for later use.
Heat oil in a pan, fry cashews and raisins. Keep them aside.
In the same pan, add a tbsp of ghee and fry the ingredients mentioned under “To Temper” section until fragrant. Now add onions, green chillies and fry for 2 mins. Add ginger garlic paste and fry till the raw smell subsides.
Add all the vegetables and masalas. Cook this mixture for 5 mins.
Once vegetables shrink in their size, turn your flame to sim and add curd. Ensure it coats all the vegetables and cook for another 3-4 mins.
Add 2 tbsps of coriander-Mint leaves and mix. Ensure that your curry consistency is semi dry.
Once done. Switch of the flame.
Layering
Take a wide sauce pan or a bowl. Spread a layer of rice followed by vegetable layering. Sprinkle fried onions, nuts and chopped mint+coriander leaves mixture. Repeat this process till you are done with rice and masala. On the top layer, add remaining ghee and close the lid.
Now take dosa pan and add 1/4^th cup of water. Let it boil. Once it starts boiling, turn the flame to low and place your bowl containing layered mixture on it. Allow it to cook for 10-15 mins and take care of the water level and add water to the pan if it gets evaporated.
After 15 mins, switch off the flame. Mix all the ingredients in the bowl. Adjust salt if required and serve hot with simple raitha


Notes:
The ingredient list is quite lengthy but the end result is flavorful and tasty veg biryani.
Adjust the spice levels according to your taste.
You can even bake your biryani at 140 degrees for 15 mins as an alternative to the dosa pan method.
Do not skip on any ingredients.
You can add saffron milk to give nice color to your rice.
Team it up with simple raitha . Any spicy curry will get overboard to handle.

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Veg Fried Rice

I love Indo Chinese dishes for their simplicity and flavors. The best thing about fried rice is its peppery flavor which gets me hooked and it matches perfectly with any semi dry or gravy based curry. After many not so bad or not so fine attempts, I nailed this recipe to perfection. Now this recipe makes its entry into my lunch box every week :)

Happy Independence day to all my readers!!



So let's hit the road.

Veg Fried Rice

Ingredients:
Basmati Rice- 2 cups
Carrot- 1 medium (chopped finely)
Beans- 10 chopped finely
Onion- 1 medium chopped
Capsicum - 1 small piece (chopped)
Spring Onion (Whites) -2 tbsps
Spring Onions (Greens) - 3 tbsps
Salt - as per taste
Pepper Powder- 1 & 1.5 tbsps (adjust as per taste)
Soy Sauce- 1/2 tsp
Green Chilly Sauce- 1 tbsp
Garlic - 2 pods chopped finely
Sugar-  pinch
Olive Oil - 2 tbsps + 1 tbsp



Procedure:
Wash and Cook basmati rice with salt, olive oil and water of 1 and 1/2 cups. Once your rice is cooked, fork it to get separate grains and keep it aside.
Heat oil in a pan and fry chopped garlic and spring onion whites until the raw smell subsides. Then add onion and fry for a min.
Now add all the vegetables one by one. Add carrots and fry them for a min and repeat this process till you are done with all the vegetables.
Do not allow them to cook. Just the raw smell needs to subside.
Now add soy sauce, green chilly sauce, sugar,salt and pepper powder.
Ensure that all the ingredients are blended well.
Finally add rice and chopped green onion.
Mix all the ingredients.
Turn your flame to high and fry for 2 mins. Make sure that you do not burn your rice.Keep Stirring to avoid burning.
Transfer the contents to a serving bowl and enjoy!!

I served mine with Semi Dry Gobi Manchuria and I loved it. Recipe for Gobi Manchuria will be up soon.

Check out Schezwan Fried rice & Honey Paneer



Chef Says:
1) You can use Sesame Seeds oil instead of olive oil.
2) You can even add 1 cup of cabbage along with these vegetables. Chop it finely.
3) Do not use more soy sauce, it gives a dark shade and it over powers the rice.
4) Make sure that your rice is separate and grainy.

5) I find it extremely difficult to mix rice and vegetables in the same pan. Most of the times, I tend to mess. So I mix rice and vegetables in a wide bowl and fry them.

This recipe is going to participate in my friend SJ's Independent India Event.

                                                 

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Dates Kheer

Before starting this recipe, I bore a clear idea how I wanted it to taste. Dates should play the main character, consistency should be creamy, mild flavor of cardamoms and itty bitty pieces of nuts playing their part. Accordingly, I went ahead with this idea and built my recipe around it.  I was immensely pleased with the result as I was able to recreate this dish just the way I wanted it.



So get ready for a simple and easy to make Kheer this Sunday.

Dates Kheer
Ingredients:
Seedless Dates- 15
Milk - 2 cups
Coconut Milk - 1/4th cup (optional)
Nuts - 2 tbsps (cashews & almonds chopped finely)
Ghee- 1 tbsp
Chopped Dates- 1 tbsp
Cardamom Powder- 1 pinch



Procedure:

• Soak dates in 1/2 cup of warm milk for 20-30 mins.
• Grind dates into smooth paste by adding milk used for soaking.
• Bring milk to boil. Once it starts boiling, turn the flame to sim and add this dates mixture.
• Combine all the ingredients well. Allow this mixture to cook for about 7-8 mins or until you get the desired consistency.
• Add nuts, cardamom powder and coconut milk. Mix all the ingredients.
• Cook for another 2 mins and switch off.
• Serve warm or chilled.

Chef Says:

• You can make this kheer with just 4 ingredients- Milk, dates, nuts and ghee. The taste remains almost the same.
• You can add condensed milk for a creamier kheer. Adjust dates quantity accordingly and avoid coconut milk.
• Coconut milk is purely optional.
• You can ghee roast coconut bits and add it to the kheer.
• Adjust dates according to your sweet tooth. Mine was little less sweet. So I had to use some honey to match my taste.
• Mejdool dates work perfect.

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