Vegetable Dum Biryani - No fail recipe!

#Biryani is a #persian delicacy that was brought to India by the Mughals. Depending upon the regions several distinct varieties of biryani have emerged, for example #Lucknawi, #Hyderabadi etcetera. The word 'dum' literally means cooking on steam/or lowest possible heat. The main component of Biryani is Rice and it is very essential to use a good quality long grain rice to get the best biryani. Biryani has a very pleasant aroma which just makes it to die for meal.

#Biryani is prepared by assembling layers of rice and cooked veggies, that is specially done to give it a nice aromatic flavor. The hints of a good biryani are- firstly, the rice grains should not stick to each other, they should fall like pearls; secondly, the vegetables should neither be overcooked nor under cooked; and lastly, the most important one is the aroma. Being in #Hyderabad I have got plenty of chances to try restaurant biryani, but I can bet you guys that this veg biryani recipe is far better than the restaurant ones. I feel that the quality of rice used in restaurants is not that great. Also, I personally do not like the size of vegetable pieces and the choice/quantity of vegetables in restaurants' biryani. Another impressive fact about this recipe is that you'd not need any store bought biryani masala. So I can definitely say to all the biryani lovers that do try this no-fail recipe and you'll be surprised how good biryani made at home can taste. Without any further ado, let's start the recipe!

This recipe will serve 4 people. Do try it, I'm certain that you'll love it!

List of Ingredients:

For Rice

1. Rice (Long grain, good quality) - 1 cup.

2. Fresh Curd (dahi) - 3 tbsp.

3. Salt - 1 tsp

4. Oil - 1 tbsp

5. Bay leaf (Tejpatta) - 1 to 2

6. Black cardamom (Badi elaichi) - 1

7. Green cardamom (Choti elaichi) - 1

8. Cloves (Laung) - 5 to 6

9. Peppercorns (Saabut kaalimirch) - 6 to 7

10. Cinnamon (Daalchini) - one small stick

11. Cumin seeds (Jeera) - 1 tsp

For Vegetable curry and layering

1. Washed and chopped - Cauliflower (Phool Gobhi), Green Capsicum, Yellow Capsicum, Red Capsicum, Carrots

2. Oil/Ghee - 2 tbsp

3. Fresh Curd/Dahi - 3 tbsp (beaten)

4. Fresh Mint leaves (Pudina) - Handful

5. Fresh coriander leaves - Handful

6. Onions - 4 medium sized.

7. Whole spices - Same as mentioned for rice above (You'll need same amount additionally for the veggies).

8. Coriander Powder - 3 tsp

9. Red chilli powder - 2 tsp

10. Haldi/Turmeric powder - 3 tsp

11. Garam Masala - 2 tsp

12. Green chilli - 1 to 2 (Chopped) -you can skip these if you don't like spicy.

13. Salt - as per taste

14. Kesar strands - Around 15 (soaked in 1 tbsp of water)

You can choose any set of vegetables as you like. Colored capsicum are totally optional. I added those to make it prettier. You can take a handful of each vegetable that you like. Please see the pictures below to get an idea of how much vegetables I used.

Easy to follow steps:

Let's first start by making rice. Wash and soak rice for 20 minutes. In a pan, add oil and whole spices, and roast them on low flame until you smell the aroma. Add a pinch of salt and soaked rice along with 1 cup of water. Pour curd and give it a stirr gently. Let them boil for around 8-10 minutes, check them by taking out on spoon, rice grain should just break when you press in between fingers, you should feel that they are not completely cooked (they should not be soft). Drain them in a colander, cover it with a plate, rest it while we prepare other elements.

Next, we'll fry onions and keep them aside. Chop onions lengthwise, rub them in between palms in order to separate. Take oil in kadhai/pan and heat it. When it's medium hot, drop onions carefully and fry them until they are golden brown in color. These freshly fried onions are a game changer in biryani flavor.

Now we'll cook veggies. In a heavy bottom pan, add ghee/oil as per your preference. I used 1 tbsp each. Add all the whole spices and let them roast for few seconds on medium heat. Pour haldi powder, stirr and add cauliflower florets first. Roast them for couple of minutes, then add all the vegetables, coriander powder, red chilli powder, garam masala and salt. Mix well. Add handful of fried onion and beaten curd/dahi. Mix again and add fresh mint leaves. If you feel that vegetables are getting dried and might stick at the bottom, feel free to add some water and mix it. Cover the lid and let the vegetables cook on moderate flame for around 10 minutes. Check after 10 minutes, if they are half cooked and not mushy that means they are done.

Now, we will just assemble the biryani and 'Dum' it. From the pan, take out half of the cooked vegetables. To the remaining vegetables in pan, add a layer of rice, fried onions, mint and coriander. Then repeat - vegetables, remaining rice, fried onions, mint leaves and coriander. Pour the saffron water over the layered concoction. Cover the lid and let the biryani infuse all the flavors on the lowest flame for 15 minutes. This is what is called 'Dum'. After 15 minutes turn off the flame, do not open the lid, let it sit for another 10-12 minutes, then remove lid and gently serve. By this time, your entire home will be full of biryani aroma :)

Tip: If the cooked vegetables feel dry, then sprinkle some water at the bottom layer to make sure when you cook biryani the bottom layer does not burn. The whole idea is to have slightly wet vegetables.

To serve it, take a flat spoon, dig it till the bottom and take couple of spoons full. Serve it with boondi raita or Mirchi ka Saalan. Since it's already summer here in Hyderabad, I had mangoes too on the side. Watch a short video to see how beautiful it looks:

And, here is our utterly delicious, full of flavors, aromatic vegetable dum biryani! Doesn't it look scrumptious?

Happily Stay Home!

Hope you liked the recipe and didn't find it too difficult. Let me know if this got you high on flavors. Don't forget to subscribe for more updates. Leave a comment for any questions/thoughts. Talk to you in my next mouthwatering recipe!