Vegetable Biryani(Kerala Style)

I and my family are big fans of Chicken Biryani. So we seldom make vegetable biryani at home. I only make when my mom visits us in Singapore. Because she is a vegetarian. Last week, I had a potluck at my office and I chose to bring biryani. My colleagues Jason and Anelyn told me not to bring chicken curry as they wanna bring their style chicken dishes. Jason is from Korea and Anelyn from Philippines. Others are Indians. So we had Biryani, 2 types of chicken dishes, Udupi Sambar, Chapati and dal, Raita and Carrot Kheer. It was an awesome lunch and all enjoyed very well. But the best part is they started asking me the biryani recipe. Actually I used home made biryani masala and that gives the taste to my vegetable biryani. I have shared the home made biryani masala powder recipe in my previous post. Please try this tasty recipe and enjoy with your loved ones.

Ingredients
For Rice
Basmati Rice - 3 cups
Ghee - 2 tablespoons
Cinnamon stick - 2 small pieces
Mace leaves - 2
Cardamom - 3
Cloves - 5
Saffron - 3 strands, dissolved in hot milk
Salt - to taste
Lemon Juice - 1 tablespoon
Water - 3 cups
For vegetable Masala
Big onion - 1, chopped
Carrots - 1 cup
French Beans - 1 cup
Frozen green peas - 1/2 cup
Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Garam masala - 1 teaspoon
Fennel seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tablespoon
Green chilli - 2, slitted
Coriander leaves - to garnish
Salt - to taste
Oil/ghee - 2 tablespoons
Water - 50 ml
To garnish
Ghee - 1 tablespoon
Oil - 2 tablespoons
Cashew nuts & raisins -  a few
Onion - 1, thinly sliced

Method
Recipe for Rice

Wash and clean the rice and soak in some water for 20 minutes. Drain it after 20 minutes and keep aside. Heat ghee in a pressure cooker and add cinnamon sticks, mace leaves, cardamom pods and cloves and fry for a few seconds. Add basmati rice and fry for 2-3 minutes. Now add water and salt. Pour lime juice and mix well. Cover the pressure cooker and switch off after 1 whistle.

Vegetable Masala
Heat oil/ghee in a pan and add fennel seeds, then add onions and saute until onions are translucent. Add carrots and beans and mix well. Add in ginger garlic paste and chillies. Now add turmeric powder, salt and garam masala. Pour water and mix well. Cover the pan for 2-3 minutes. Now open the lid and add green peas. Cover the pan and let the vegetables cook for 1 more minute. Switch off the flame and add coriander leaves.
For garnishing
Heat ghee and oil in a pan and deep fry thinly sliced onions, cashews and raisins and keep aside.
Layering the Biryani
Take a wide pan and coat the bottom layer with vegetable masala. Then rice on the top and pour saffron mix. Now spread fried onions, cashews and raisins. Repeat the process and the top most layer should be the rice. Again spread fried onions, cashews and raisins on the top. Serve hot with raita and pappad.

Home made Biryani Masala powder/Garam masala powder(Kerala Style)

Yes, this is the recipe of my biriyani masala and I use the same as my garam masala powder too.
Ingredients
Cinnaom sticks - 4, 1 inch each, break into small pieces
Cloves - 10 nos.
Cardamom - 8 nos.
Star Anise - 4
Pepper seeds - 1 teaspoon
Mace leaf - 3 nos.
Fennel seeds - 1 teaspoon

Method
Roast all the ingredients in medium flame and keep aside. Once it cools, blend it and store in an air tight container.

Dry fruits-saffron Pulao

Here, I am giving you a recipe of flavoured rice with dry fruits and saffron. Usually we make variety biriyani dishes during weekends, but I wanted to try
something deliciously different and easy to make. Then ended up with this rice which was not disappointing😃. My hubby and kids enjoyed the rice. Actually I prepared Smoky Chicken Masala
with this flavoured rice which I liked very much. I will share the recipe later. So please try this pulao and enjoy with family!
Ingredients
Biryani rice/Jeera rice - 2 cups
Water - 3 cups
Butter - 2 tablespoons
Onions - 1, thinly sliced
Salt - to taste
Fennel seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
Cardamom - 2 nos
Cloves - 3
Cinnamon - half inch piece
Tutti frutti - 2 tablespoons
Dates - 5 nos, chopped
Dry figs - 3 nos, chopped
Lemon juice - 1 teaspoon
Saffron - 6 strands
Raisins - 2 tablespoons
Cashew nuts - 10 nos

Method

Wash the rice well and soak for 30 minutes. Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a pressure coooker and add fennel seeds, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon. Saute for a minute and add onion slices and fry till onions are transparent. Now add Tutti frutti, dates, and figs and saute for a few seconds. Now add rice, water and salt and mix well. Add saffron strands and lemon juice and mix gently. Cover the pressure cooker and lower the flame after first whistle. Wait for a few seconds and switch off before the second whistle comes (I used jeera rice and measurement of water and cooking time given here depends on jeera rice).
Open the pressure cooker lid once the pressure gets released completely. Mix gently with a fork and remove the spices which can be seen on top of the rice if you don't want to bite those while having rice. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon butter in a pan and fry raisins and cashew nuts. Garnish the flavoured rice with fried raisins and cashew nuts. Serve hot with raita, pappad and lemon pickle.