Subz Biryani



Like I said, today I made a lunch menu which included this biryani, dal, raita and papad.  A small combo meal.  Believe me; this it was so heavy that I thanked myself for not including a dessert.  I so badly wanted to make something sweet.  Its ok there's always another time.  So without further ado, here is the how this subz biryani was made.

Serves: 4
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time/assembling time/: 10 minutes + dum (baking) time 10 minutes

Ingredients:

Main ingredients:

Rice (long grain basmati)	3/4 cup
Coriander leaves	Handful
Mint leaves	15-20 leaves
Kewra essence (screw pine water)	1/2 tsp
Saffron	A pinch
Ghee	1 tbsp

For the subz gravy:

Onions	2 medium
Carrot	1
French beans	15
Potatoes	1 big or 2 medium
Cloves	3 nos
Cinnamon	1 small stick
Cardamom and mace powder	1 1/2 tsp
Whole Cardamom	2
Green chilli, garlic and ginger paste	1 tbsp
Yoghurt	1/2 cup
Water	1/4 cup
Ghee	1 tbsp
Salt	1 1/2 tsp

Method:

1.       Wash the rice and cook it till 3/4th done.  You do not want to overcook the rice.  It should be 3/4 done as it will get cooked when you cook it by the dum method.

2.       While the rice gets cooked.  Slice the onions thin and long.  Peel the carrots and cut them long too.  Cut the French beans side-ways so as to get a diamond shape out of it.  (I know I should have, taken step by step pictures, but in a bid to finish off cooking soon, I missed taking them)

3.       Soak the saffron in a little warm milk.  Add the Kewra essence to it.  Reserve.

4.       In a kadai add ghee; once it is hot add the clove, cinnamon and cardamom.  Add the ginger, garlic and chilli paste.  Sauté. 

5.       Add the onions and cut veggies.  Mix well again.  Add the whisked yoghurt and blend well again.  Add the cardamom and mace powder.  Adjust the salt and add a little water.  Cover and cook the veggies till just about done.  Do not overcook them either.  The vegetable should have a semi-gravy consistency.

6.       To assemble, take a handi.  Put about a tsp of ghee below and add a layer of rice.  Then add a layer of the cooked vegetable with gravy.  Add this stage; add the chopped coriander and mint leaves and the milk, saffron and Kewra essence.  Then a layer of rice again.  Next a layer of vegetable gravy again. And so on.  The last and final layer being that of rice.

7.       For the dum method.  Wrap the handi with flour dough in a circle and cover the lid tightly.

8.       Place a griddle on high flame.  Once it is hot, lower it to a medium flame and place the handi on a griddle for minutes.

9.       After ten minutes, remove the handi from the griddle and remove the dough wrapped around it. Add another tsp of ghee over it.

10.   Serve hot with the accompaniment of your choice.  Here I have served it with dal, raita and papad.

NOTES:

1.       Since I just had these veggies at hand, I have used carrots, French beans and potatoes. You can add cauliflower and peas too.  It will enhance the taste even more.

2.       This biryani is very mildly spiced.  If you do like it spicy, you could add little more green chilli paste.   

3.       Using the same method of preparing the biryani you could substitute the veggies with chicken.  Though I will be putting up a chicken biryani in the near future.
4.       The measurements given in this recipe is for 3/4 cup rice, so increase the amount of spices, if making more quantity, accordingly    
5.       Green chilli, garlic and ginger paste together is 1 tbsp.