Vegetable Biryani

Like I mentioned in my previous post, we had a nice Sunday lunch a couple weekends ago with family that featured some delicious Makai Bhari Mirchi, Vegetable Biryani and some soothing Gujrati Dal. My version of vegetable biryani doesn't call for any yogurt (like traditional ones do) because DH is not a fan of the flavor it brings to the biryani. Here are some pictures from the family table and the recipe for the biryani.

Ingredients

Main	Spices/Tadka	Generic
1/2 head Cauliflower	2 Bay Leaves	Ghee
1 cup Peas	1 Moti Elaichi	Salt
1 cup Carrots	1/2 tsp Kalo Jeera	Sugar
1 cup Beans	1 tsp Jeera
1 cup Bell Peppers	1/2 tsp Whole Black Peppers
1 large Onion	1 tsp Biryani Masala
2 large Tomatoes	1/2 tsp Turmeric
1 cup Paneer	1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
2 cups Basmati Rice	Garam Masala
	Cashews
	Fresh Dhania
	Saffron

Method
Cook 2 cups basmati rice with 1 and a 1/4 cup water in a rice cooker. Add a tsp of ghee so the grains do not stick together.
As soon as the rice is cooked, spread it on a wide plate and let it cool.
Cut the cauliflower head into medium florets.
Cut the rest of the vegetables into long thin strips.
Finely slice the onions lengthwise.
Finely chop the tomatoes.
In a pan heat 2-3 tbsp butter/ghee and roast the bay leaves, moti elaichi, jeera, kalo jeera and black peppers on low-medium heat for a couple minutes.
Add all the vegetables except onion and tomatoes and saute on medium heat.
Add the biryani masala, salt, turmeric, and red chilli powder. Keep tossing.
Add the grated paneer, finely chopped tomatoes, salt to taste and cook only till the vegetables are half cooked.
Carmelize the onions with a tsp of sugar in 2-3 tbsp of butter. Cook on low heat until they are dark brown. Take care not to burn them.
In an oven safe pot, grease the sides with some ghee.
Spread a layer of rice topped with a layer of the vegetable mix.
Sprinkle some garam masala on top and again add a layer of rice.
Continue until all vegetable and rice is used up.
Add a few strands of saffron to a tbsp of warm water and let it sit for a couple minutes.
Sprinkle some saffron water on the top and spread the carmelized onions as the top most layer.
Cover with an oven safe dish cover or just aluminium foil.
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
Cook the biryani in the oven at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes.
Garnish with roasted cashews, fresh dhania and serve hot.

Bissi Bele Bhath

 Ingredients

Main	Spices	Generic
2 cups Sona Masoori Rice	1 pinch Hing	Ghee
1/2 cup Tur Dal	1 pinch Turmeric	Salt
1 cup Squash cubes	1 tbsp Jaggery
1 small Bell Pepper	3 tbsp Dhania Seeds
1 medium Tomato	6-8 Dry Red Chillies
2-3 Drumstick pieces	1 tbsp Chana Dal
1/2 cup peas	1/4 cup Coconut
1 small Eggplant	1 tsp Methi Seeds
1 medium carrot	1 tsp Mustard Seeds
3-4 medium Okra	6-8 Curry leaves
1 small Onion

Method
Chop all vegetables into 1-inch pieces.
In a small skillet, roast the dry red chillies, dhania seeds, methi seeds and chana dal until golden.
Grind this into a fine paste along with the coconut and 1/2 cup water.
In a pressure cooker pan, add 2 tbsp of ghee and let the mustard seeds and curry leaves splutter.
Add the onions and saute for about 3-5 mins before adding the rest of the vegetables.
Cook for about 10 mins or until all the vegetables are half cooked.

Add in 2 cups of Sona Masoori rice, 1/2 cup Tur Dal and 9 cups of water.
Add the turmeric, hing, salt, jaggery and coconut chilli paste.
Close the cooker and cook for about 4 whistles.
Garnish with Ghee and serve.

Khichdi

Ingredients

Main	Spices/Tadka	Generic
1 cup Split Moong (With Skin)	1 tbsp Jeera	Butter
1 cup Sona Masuri Rice	2 Bay Leaves	Salt
1/4 cup Moong Dal(with skin)	2 Cloves
Vegetables of choice	1 pinch Cinnamon
	1 pinch Garam Masala
	1 tsp Dhania Jeera Powder
	3 split Green Chillies
	1/2 tsp Turmeric
	4-6 Curry Leaves

Method
In a pressure pan, heat 2 tbsp butter, roast the jeera until dark and reduce the heat to low..
Add the bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon, garam masala, dhania jeera powder, green chillies, turmeric and curry leaves.
Add the vegetables and saute for 3-5 minutes.
Add the moong dal, rice, moong dal and salt and saute until the rice starts to get transparent and aromatic.
Add 7 cups of water and pressure cook the khichdi for about 3-4 whistles and serve.
Khichdi ke chaar yaar….Ghee, Papad, Dahi, Achaar !!!

Idlis

Ingredients

Main
3 cups Sona Masuri Rice
1 cup Urad Gota
1 tbsp Methi Seeds
Dry Yeast (Optional)
Salt

Method
Soak the rice for 6-8 hours.
Soak the Methi Seeds and Urad Dal together for 4-5 hours.
Grind both the rice and urad dal individually into a very fine thick paste using as little water as possible.
Grind the methi seeds with the urad dal.
Both the rice and the urad dal paste should be really viscous and super fine.
Blend them together in a big pot such that it only uses half the pot by volume.
Add 2-3 tsp salt and beat this batter vigorously for a few minute to beat some air into it.
Put on an airtight lid and set it in a warm dark place to fermet for about 8-10 hours.
I usually heat the oven toabout 200 degrees, turn the heat off and place the pot in the warm oven to ferment.
If the weather is too cold, the fermentation can be aided with some yeast.
Dissolve 1 sachet of active dry yeast in 2-3 tbsp of warm water and let it foam for a minute.
Make sure the water is just warm and not too hot or it will kill the yeast.
Add this into the batter before beating it.
After fermenting, the batter should have doubled in volume.
Beat this again to let some of the air out.
Refrigerate immediately if not using right away.
When ready to make idlis, take a portion of the batter and mix in some water in the below ratio:
3 x Batter : 1 x Water
Taste the batter to test the salt and add some if reqd.
Pour into idli moulds and steam for 12-15 minutes.
Serve hot with coconut chutney and sambar.

Coconut Rice

Ingredients

Main	Seasoning	Generic
2 cups Cooked Rice	1 tsp Mustard Seeds	Oil
1 cup Grated Coconut	1 tsp Urad Dal	Salt
	2 tsp Chana Dal
	2 tbsp Peanuts
	3-4 slit Green Chillies
	4-6 Curry leaves
	1 pinch Hing
	1 tsp Grated Ginger
	Fresh Dhania

Method
Heat 2-3 tsp of oil in a wok and splutter the mustard seeds.
Add the Urad Dal, Chana Dal and Peanuts and roast on medium flame until golden.
Add the Green chillies, Hing, Curry leaves and Ginger and saute for half a minute.
Add the grated coconut and salt and cook open for 3-5 minutes on a low flame.
Turn the heat off and add in the rice and toss gently without getting it too mushy.
Garnish with Fresh Dhania and serve.

Lemon Rice

Ingredients

Main	Seasoning	Generic
2 cups Cooked Rice	1 tsp Mustard Seeds	Oil
1/2 cup Peas	1 tsp Urad Dal	Salt
	2 tsp Chana Dal
	2 tbsp Peanuts
	3-4 slit Green Chillies
	4-6 Curry Leaves
	1 pinch Hing
	1 tsp Grated Ginger
	1 pinch Turmeric
	1/4 cup Lemon Juice
	Fresh Dhania

Method
Heat 2-3 tsp of oil in a wok and splutter the mustard seeds.
Add the Urad Dal, Chana Dal and Peanuts and roast on medium flame until golden.
Add the Hing, Green Chillies, Curry leaves, Ginger and Turmeric and saute for half a minute.
Add the peas and salt and cook open for 3-5 minutes.
Turn the heat off and add the lemon juice.
Add in the rice and toss gently without getting it too mushy.
Garnish with Fresh Dhania and serve.

Tomato Rice

Ingredients

Main	Spices	Seasoning	Generic
1 lb Tomatoes	1 pinch Hing	1 tsp Mustard Seeds	Oil
2 cups Cooked Rice	1 pinch Turmeric	1 tbsp Grated Ginger	Salt
	1 tbsp Sambar Powder	1 tbsp Chana Dal
		2 tbsp Peanuts
		4-6 Curry Leaves
		Fresh Dhania

Method
Finely chop the tomatoes.
In a wide skillet, add 2 tsp Oil and splutter the mustard seeds.
Add the chana dal and peanuts and roast until golden brown.
Add the curry leaves, hing and ginger and roast until raw smell dissappears.
Add the tomatoes and cook until they get pulpy.
Add salt, turmeric, sambar powder and cook on a medium low flame for about 10 mins until the oil starts to separate.
Mix in the Rice and toss gently so it doesn’t get very mushy.
Season with fresh Dhania leaves and serve.

Ven Pongal

Ingredients

Main	Seasoning	Generic
1 cup Sona Masuri Rice	1 tbsp Grated Ginger	Ghee
1 cup Yellow split Moong	4-6 Curry Leaves	Salt
2 cups 2% Milk	1 tbsp Jeera
	1 pinch Hing
	1 tsp Peppercorns
	2 tbsp Cashew nuts

Method
Pressure cook the rice and dal together with 2 cups milk and 6 cups water for about 4 whistles.
Wait until the pressure is fully released before opening the cooker.
In a skillet, heat 1 tbsp of ghee and splutter the Jeera until really dark.
Add the ginger, hing, curry leaves, peppercorns and cashews.
Roast until golden and blend into the rice along with salt.
Season with Ghee and serve with any kuzhambu/sambar/thokku.

Puli Pongal

Ingredients

Main	Spices	Seasoning	Generic
2 cups Sona Masoori Rice	1 pinch Hing	1 tsp Mustard Seeds	Til Oil
1 cup Squash cubes	1 pinch Turmeric	1 tsp Methi Seeds	Salt
1 small Bell Pepper	1 tbsp Sambar Powder	1 tbsp Chundakkai Vathal	Ghee
1 medium Tomato	1 tbsp Vethalkuzhambu Powder	4-6 Curry leaves
2-3 Drumstick pieces	1 tbsp Jaggery
1/2 cup Peas	2 tsp Tamarind Paste
1 small Eggplant
1 medium carrot
3-4 medium Okra
1 small Onion

Method
Chop all vegetables into 1-inch pieces.
Ina pressure cooker pan, add 2 tbsp of Til oil and let the mustard seeds splutter.
Add methis seeds and roast until golden brown.
Add the Chundakkai Vathal and Curry leaves until dark and add the onions.
Saute for about 5 mins before adding the rest of the vegetables.
Cook for about 10 mins or until all the vegetables are half cooked.
Dissolve the ta marind paste in about 8 cups of water.
Add in 2 cups of Sona Masoori rice and the tamarind water.
Add the turmeric, hing, salt, jaggery, sambar powder and kuzhambu powder.
Close the cooker and cook for about 4 whistles.
Wait until the pressure is fully released before opening the cooker.
Garnish with Ghee and serve.

Bagala Bhath

Ingredients

Main	Spices/Tadka	Generic
3 cups Cooked Rice	1 tsp Mustard Seeds	Oil
2 cups Low-Fat Yoghurt	1 tsp Urad Dal	Salt
1/2 cup 2% Milk	1 pinch Hing
1/2 cup Sour Cream	3-4 Curry Leaves
	1-2 Green Chillies
	2-3 Mor Milagai

Method
Mix the rice, milk, yoghurt and sour cream with a spoon or by hand until well blended and creamy.
In a skillet, add 1 or 2 tsp oil and let the mustard seeds splutter.
Add the urad dal and roast until golden.
Add the hing and curry leaves.
Spicing it up with roasted green chillies or mor molagai is optional.
Add this seasoning and some salt to the creamy rice and mix well.
Season with fresh dhania leaves and grated carrot and serve.
Adding some finely chopped cold cucumber to the curd rice tastes great too.