What's on Your Plate? Day #13 - Veg. Dum Biryani

I have shared several recipes for Biryani before, this is a slightly elaborate version and requires an hour at least to make. Getting the ingredients in place helps immensely. It’s for one of those days when you are in the mood for elaborate cooking :) The efforts are well worth it!Simple ingredients, but very big on flavor.

You will need:

2 cups Basmati rice
4 cloves
2 Green cardamom
1” Cinnamon stick
2 tsp Salt
2 tsp Ghee
3 1/4 cups Water

1 potato, peeled and cut into small cubes
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 tbsp Oil, divided
1 tbsp chopped Cilantro

To grind:
1” piece Ginger, peeled
6 pods Garlic
4 green chillies
1/4 cup Mint leaves
1/4 cup Cilantro

1 cup tomato puree (from fresh tomato)
1/4 cup plain yoghurt
2 tsp Garam masala (make sure it's fragrant and not old)
1 tsp Kashmiri red chili powder
2 tbsp Oil

To boil/steam:
1/2 cup chopped green beans
1/2 cup carrots, cut into 1” strips
1 cup Cauliflower florets
1/2 cup Green peas

Rinse the rice well until the water runs clear. Soak in water for 30 minutes. Drain and add 3 1/4 cups water, the dry spices, salt and ghee. Cook until done and set aside too cool.

In a pan, heat 1 tbsp oil.Add the cubed potato and cook on high heat, tossing every now and then to crisp on all sides. Remove from heat. In the same pan, heat the other 1 tbsp of oil and add the sliced onions. Sauce on medium high until onions are browned and almost crispy. Set aside.

Prep the veggies and boil or steam them until 3/4th done.

Lightly butter a large oven safe dish. Preheat oven to 350F.

Grind the listed ingredients. Heat oil in a pan and then add the ground paste. Saute for 2-3 minutes until fragrant. Now add the tomato puree and the steamed veggies. Add garam masala, red chili powder and salt to taste. Combine and bring to a simmering boil. Lightly whisk the yoghurt and add to the gravy. Bring to a boil and turn off heat.

Assembly:

Spread half the rice in the prepared baking pan. Pour the prepared gravy on top. Top with the remaining rice. Spread the prepared potato, onions and chopped cilantro on top. Drizzle a tbsp of ghee on top. Cover with foil and bake for 15-20 minutes. This basically allows the rice to soak in the flavors of the gravy. 

Remove from oven, let sit for 10 minutes, Remove foil and then lightly mix the rice. Serve hot with a cucumber raita. i also served it with hard boiled eggs on the side which you can leave out if you want to keep this true vegetarian.