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Vegetable Dum Biryani

Vegetable Dum Biryani

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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 2
Cuisine: India
Calories: 210
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

For the rice
  • 250g Basmati rice
  • Half teaspoon Shah Jeera (caraway seeds) or cumin seeds
  • One bay leaf
  • One tablespoon oil/ghee (clarified butter)
  • Two teaspoons salt (approx.)
  • One and half-litre water
For the vegetables
  • 300g chopped vegetables (potato, carrot, green beans, cauliflower, tomato etc).
  • One small onion chopped
  • Two tablespoons ginger-garlic paste
  • 125g Greek-style yoghurt
  • One bay leaf
  • Two-three green cardamoms
  • One cinnamon stick
  • One teaspoon turmeric powder
  • Two tablespoons biryani masala
  • Salt to taste
  • Three tablespoons oil
For the garnish
  • 30ml milk with a few strands of saffron
  • Dry fruits such as cashews, pine nuts, raisins etc. (Optional)
  • Half cup fried onion (beresta)
  • Half cup fresh coriander and mint leaves chopped

Method
 

Rice preparation
  1. Rinse the rice in running water until clean water comes out and let it soak for 15minutes in water. Then drain the rice and keep it aside.
  2. Take a deep bottomed pan with plenty of water and heat the water on a high flame. Add the salt and taste it. The water has to be slightly salty, otherwise, the rice will be tasteless. Then add oil, bay leaf and caraway seeds.
  3. When the water starts to boil, add the rice, stir everything well and let the rice cook over a high flame for about 6 to 7 minutes approximately.
  4. The rice has to be 80% cooked. The rice should not be fully cooked but almost cooked. Strain the rice and keep it aside.
Vegetable preparation
  1. Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a pan. Add bay leaf, cinnamon stick, cardamoms and chopped onion.
  2. When the onion is golden brown, add ginger garlic paste. Stir fry for a minute and add the biryani masala mixed with a little amount of water. Sauté until the oil separates from the spice.
  3. Add tomatoes and stir for 1-2 minutes. Then pour the chopped vegetables and salt. Mix everything well and let cook the vegetables on a medium-low flame with the lid on.
  4. Beat the yoghurt using a fork till it becomes smooth. Add the yoghurt when the vegetables are fully cooked. Mix everything well and let it cook for another two minutes with the lid on.
Final presentation (layering the Biryani)
  1. In a heavy-bottomed pan put a little amount of ghee or oil and layer half of the rice. Spread the cooked vegetable on top of the rice.
  2. Cover it with the rest of the rice. Now sprinkle fried onion (beresta), freshly chopped coriander-mint leaves and saffron milk.
  3. Add the dry fruits and cover the pot with a lid.
  4. Seal the lid with a piece of aluminium foil. Or you can first seal the pot with aluminium foil and then cover it with the lid.
  5. Leave it for 30-45 minutes on a very low flame. This process is called Dum. In this last step, rice is fully cooked, and all the spicy flavour of vegetables is combined with rice.
  6. After 45 minutes open the lid. With the help of a wooden spoon carefully mix from bottom to top and let it sit for another 5-7 minutes with the lid on. Serve it hot with Raita (yoghurt sauce)

Notes

Tips and tricks:

  • If you don't have a heavy bottom pan, you can use an old frying pan (Tawa). Heat the pan on medium flame and when it becomes hot then lower the flame. Put the sealed Biryani pan on top of the pan and let cook it for 30-45 minutes.
  • If you use store-bought biryani masala, you do not have to add salt to the preparation of the vegetables, because it has salt is in the mixture.
  • If you don´t want to use store-bought biryani masala, you can make it at home following my recipe “how to make biryani masala at home”.