Presenting to you all an excellent recipe for biryani during this season of Lent. For all the biryani lovers, here is a simple, easy, and quick version of biryani using vegetables that are cooked in a pressure cooker. The total time taken to cook this biryani is only 1 hour. This recipe serves 4 persons.
I used Kaima rice (Jeerakasala rice or small rice) to prepare this biryani. You can add vegetables of your choice. The addition of whole Indian spices provides a wonderful flavor to the rice. Traditional authentic biryani involves layering and slow cooking in a large pot (dum). However, if you are in a hurry, you can easily opt for this recipe, which takes much less time.
Preparing vegetable biryani is actually easier than making a serving of rice because when cooking plain rice, you need to prepare multiple side dishes. Here, the roasted vegetables are mixed with rice and pressure cooked, making it a one-pot meal.
You can make this biryani for lunch or dinner. Serve this yummy biryani hot as soon as it is prepared. It pairs well with raita or pickles.
Ingredients
Main Ingredients:
- Jeerakasala rice (Kaima rice) – 2 cups
- Chopped carrot – 1/2 cup
- Chopped cabbage – 1/2 cup
- Chopped beans – 1/2 cup
- Chopped potato – 1
- Fresh green peas – 1/2 cup
- Soya chunks (boiled in water and cut into 3 pieces) – 1/2 cup
- Onions, chopped – 4
- Tomatoes, chopped – 3
- Ginger – 2-inch piece
- Garlic – 6 pods
- Green chilies – 2
- Fennel seeds – 1 teaspoon
- Turmeric powder – 1/4 teaspoon
- Coriander powder – 1/2 teaspoon
- Chili powder – 1/2 teaspoon
- Biryani masala – 1 teaspoon
- Oil – 4 tablespoons
- Ghee – 2 tablespoons
- Chopped onion (for frying) – 1
- Cashew nuts – 14
- Raisins – 10
- Coriander leaves – 5 tablespoons
- Mint leaves – 15 leaves
Spices Used:
- Cardamom – 4
- Cloves – 3
- Cinnamon – 2-inch stick
- Star anise – 1
- Bay leaf – 2
Method of Preparation
- Wash and soak the rice for 20 minutes.
- Take a pressure cooker and add oil to it.
- Once the oil is hot, fry cashew nuts, raisins, and onion one by one until golden brown. Keep them aside on a plate.
- Add ghee to the remaining oil and sauté all the spices listed above.
- Now add chopped onions and sauté until they become translucent.
- Grind ginger, garlic, green chilies, and fennel seeds to form a paste.
- Add this paste to the onions.
- Then add chopped tomatoes and close the lid of the pressure cooker, allowing the tomatoes to soften.
- Once the tomatoes are fully cooked, add turmeric powder, coriander powder, chili powder, and biryani masala.
- When the raw smell of the spices disappears, add carrot, cabbage, beans, potato, green peas, and soya chunks.
- Sauté everything well until the vegetables shrink, then add 4 cups of water to the pressure cooker.
- Add 2 teaspoons of salt, ensuring the water is slightly salty.
- Add some mint and coriander leaves as well.
- Now add the soaked rice and pressure cook the vegetable biryani for 1 steam.
- Allow the pressure to release naturally.
- Garnish the biryani with fried cashew nuts, raisins, onions, coriander leaves, and mint leaves.
- Serve the biryani hot with raita and pickles.
Enjoy your flavorful and aromatic homemade vegetable biryani!
