hyderabadi veg biryani recipe

Hi everyone ,

Ingredients

for cooking rice:

• 1 cup basmati rice / long grain rice
• 5 cloves
• 1 bay leaf / tej patta
• 10 black pepper
• 5 cups water
• 1 tsp oil
• ½ tsp salt

fried onions:

• 1 large onion thinly sliced
• 2 tsp ghee

vegetables for gravy:

• 1 potato, cubed
• 10 cauliflower, florets
• 1 carrot, chopped
• fistful of green peas
• 4 to 5 bean, chopped
• 10 mint leaves / pudina
• 1 tomato (optional)

for vegetable gravy:

• 3 tsp ghee / oil
• 1 tsp jeera
• 3 cardamoms
• 4 cloves
• 1 inch cinnamon / dalchini
• 1 bay leaf / tej patta
• 1 star anise
• 2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
• 6-7 tsp curd
• 5 cashews
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• 2 - 3 tsp biryani masala powder (any ready made hyderabadi biryani masala)
• salt as required

assembling and layering:

• ½ cup coriander leaves, chopped
• ½ cup pudina leaves
• ½ cup milk (optional)
• ¼ tsp of saffron / kesar strands in 5 tsp of milk
• 10 cashews

Instructions

cooking rice:

1. cook the basmati rice with cloves, bay leaf, black pepper, oil, salt and 5 cups water. cook till the grains are ¾ done or just cooked. drain and keep aside.

fried onions:

1. thinly slice onions and shallow fry them in ghee / oil until they turn crisp and golden
2. you can also seep fry the onions. keep stirring often to evenly brown them and prevent burning. (my onions are burnt little; do not burn the onions)
3. set aside half of these in a plate

preparing gravy:

1. now to the same pan add jeera , cardamom, bay leaf, star, cloves and cinnamon. saute till turn fragrant.
2. now add ginger-garlic paste. and saute till raw smell goes away.
3. next, add all the vegetables and fry for 2 -3 mins.
4. add salt, turmeric, red chilli powder, biryani masala powder. saute for 5 more minutes.
5. pour 6 tsp of curd and give good stir.
6. also add cashews and tomato and mix well. (adding tomato is optional)
7. pour half glass of water and cook covered for 15 minutes on low flame. do not overcook the veggies.
8. add mint to the cooked vegetables. boil for a minute. mix well and spread it well evenly.

assembling and layering:

1. layer the rice, and pour soaked saffron milk.
2. sprinkle 2 pinches of biryani masala powder. then sprinkle few fried onions, mint and coriander leaves, cashews.
3. also pour half glass of milk evenly. (adding milk is optional; add if your gravy is too dry)
4. cover the pan with aluminium foil. place the lid tightly. cook on medium flame for 15 mins. allow it to rest for at least 15 mins.
5. veg biryani is ready to serve. serve with a raita or bhindi ka salan- biryani gravy.