Vegetable Biryani (Veg Biryani)

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For certain dishes,I always prefer homemade to restaurant ones like pulaos and vegetable biriyani. Ammas vegetable biriyani and sambar is always everyones favourite among our circle of friends and relatives. When guests arrive for lunch, its sure to be vegetable biriyani, those who have tasted it before even request amma to specifically make it.

Hubby usually takes the short route of not eating on sunday mornings in the name of fasting ;) and then have chicken biryani for lunch to full tummy, he always says he should skip the before meal when its biriyani for lunch. Having watched amma making it for so many years, I've started recreating it though not 100% to her taste, it is sure tasty :)

Vegetable Biriyani Recipe - Ingredients :

• Basmati Rice - 1 cup (I used seeraga samba rice variety)
• Coconut milk - 1/4 cup
• Water - 1 and 3/4 cups
• Onion - 1 chopped finely
• Tomato - 1 cubed
• Ginger Garlic paste - 1.5 tbsp
• Curd - 2 tsp
• Ghee - 1 tbsp + 2 tsp
• Oil - 1/2 tsp

To temper:

• Cloves - 2
• Cinnamom - 1/2 inch piece
• Cardamom - 1
• Bayleaf - 1

Vegetables:

• Carrots - 2 medium sized chopped finely
• Beans - 6 chopped finely
• Peas - a little less than 1/4 cup

To grind to a paste:

• Mint leaves - 1/4 cup
• Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup
• Green chillies - 2

Note : The rice : water ratio is 1:2 including coconut milk

Method:
1.Grind the ingredients listed under 'to grind' with little water to a fine paste.Set aside. Take thick coconut milk and make it ready.

2.Heat oil and 1tbsp ghee in a pressure cooker, add cinnamom, cloves, cardamom and bayleaf one by one and saute for a min then add onion , tomato saute till it turns mushy.Add ginger garlic paste saute till raw smell leaves.

3.Now add the puthina paste, curd and saute 3mins till raw smell leaves.Then add the vegetables, mix well and saute for 2mins. Now add the rice and mix well with the veggies for a minute.

4.Add coconut milk, 1 and 3/4 cups of water and pressure cook for 3whistles and switch off.Once pressure releases, open and fluff it up with a fork.Add remaining ghee and mix once again taking care not to make the rice mushy.

Serve hot with onion raita the best combination with vegetable biriyani or kurma.