The other day when I asked S what he wanted for lunch on a Sunday, he asked for Biryani. I then wanted to make an old recipe, one I last made a couple of years back. This recipe brings back memories of my late father-in-law. He loved this version of biryani and whenever I make this recipe, I always remember him.

This recipe is slightly tedious and takes time to make. But take your time and the results are worth really worth it.

Vegetable Biryani

Ingredients:

For the rice

• 2 cups basmati rice, washed well and soaked in water for 30 minutes
• 3 green cardamoms
• 3 cloves
• 1 inch cinnamon
• 2 Bay leaves
• Salt to taste

For the gravy

• 1 cup cauliflower, chopped into medium florets
• 2 medium sized potatoes, chopped into 1.5 inch pieces
• 2 medium sized carrots, chopped into 1.5 inch pieces
• 10-12 french beans, chopped into 1.5 inch pieces
• 1 medium sized green bell pepper, chopped into 1.5 inch pieces
• ½ cup fresh or frozen green peas
• 3 large onions, halved and sliced thinly lengthwise
• 2 tbsp ginger-garlic and chilli paste (to make this paste, blend together 5-6 pods of garlic, 1 inch piece of ginger and 3-4 fresh red or green chillies into a fine paste)
• 3 tbsp ghee or oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 Bay leaf
• 3 green cardamoms
• 3 cloves
• 1 cup fresh youghurt, whisked and blended well
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• 8-10 cashewnuts
• 8-10 almonds
• 1 tbsp raisins
• Salt to taste

To assemble the biryani

• ½ cup finely chopped coriander leaves
• ¼ cup finely chopped mint leaves
• 4 to 5 tbsp milk
• ¼ tsp saffron strands
• 2 tsp rose water (optional)

Method:

To make the Rice

• Drain the soaked rice and cook in a rice cooker with the whole spices and salt until ¾ done. In this recipe, for 2 cups rice, I used 1.5 cups of water. If cooking on the stovetop, keep an eye on the rice and stop cooking when the rice is 75% cooked. Drain the balance water and keep aside.

To make the Biryani Gravy

• In a deep bottomed pan, heat the ghee and fry the cashewnuts until they are golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and keep on a kitchen towel. Do the same with the almonds and fry until golden brown and crisp and drain on to a kitchen towel.
• In the remaining ghee, add the sliced onions and sprinkle some salt over it and let it cook. Fry until the onions caramelise into a golden brown colour. Remove ½ the onions and drain into a kitchen towel and keep aside.
• To the balance onions in the pan, add the whole spices – cumin seeds, bay leaf, green cardamoms and cloves and stir until they crackle.
• Now add the ginger-garlic-chilli paste and saute till the raw smell goes away.
• Add the turmeric and red chilli powders and mix well.
• Now add the chopped vegetables and saute for a few minutes till the vegetables get coated with the spices.
• Cover and cook till the vegetables are half cooked.
• Then add in the whisked yoghurt and some water and continue cooking, covered until the vegetables are done. Make sure you don’t overcook the vegetables, they should still have a bite to them. Check for seasoning and add what is missing. The vegetables should have a thick gravy and should not be watery
• Warm the milk in a small pan over the stove or in a food safe container using the microwave and when warm, add in the saffron strands. Mash the saffron strands a bit so they get dissolved and keep aside.
• Add the fried cashewnuts, almonds and raisins to the gravy and mix well. Keep aside.

To assemble the biryani:

• Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees celcius.
• Take an oven safe deep dish to layer the biryani
• Layer half the vegetable gravy in the oven safe dish
• Next add half the quantity of rice.
• Then take half the chopped coriander leaves and mint leaves and sprinkle it over the rice. Add 2 tbsp of the rose water into the saffron milk and sprinkle half the milk over the coriander and mint leaves. Lastly sprinkle half the caramalised onions over the milk.
• Repeat another layer with the remaining gravy over the first layer, then the remaining rice and then the remaining coriander and mint leaves, rose infused saffron milk and finally the fried onions.
• Seal the dish with aluminium foil and cover with the lid. Cook in the pre-heated oven for about 20-30 minutes. Once the oven timer goes, let it rest for at least 10 minutes before serviing.
• While serving, make sure you get both the rice and the gravy together. You can also mix the dish together before serving.

• If you don’t have access to an oven, cook the deep dish over indirect heat. This means placing a flat pancake griddle over the flame and then placing the dish where the biryani has been layered on the griddle. Let it cook on indirect heat for 20-30 minutes on a low to medium heat. Again make sure you let it rest for 10 minutes before opening the lid and removing the aluminium foil and serving it.

• Serve it hot with a raita of your choice.