Vegetable Dum Biryani

Biryani is one of my favorite one pot meals. I usually make non-veg biryani and when it comes to vegetable biryani, it is always Vegetable Pulao or Vegetable Bagara. For some reason, I am obsessed with kaccha (raw) biryani, where the meats & rice are cooked together in layers. I wanted to replicate the same process for vegetables. Recently, I tried cooking kaccha vegetable biryani and it turned out pretty good. I cooked the biryani by arranging raw vegetables and partly cooked rice in layers.

One of the exquisite ingredients of biryani is saffron which gives the rice a distinct aroma and flavor.  This month, DK is hosting JFI and the ingredient is Saffron. What better recipe to send her than this vegetable dum biryani to celebrate this wonderful ingredient.  Jhiva For Ingredient (JFI) is an event started by Indira.

Don’t be intimidated by the long list of ingredients and the lengthy preparation. It is not as difficult as it appears to be. A well cooked biryani is when the meat or the vegetables are tender and the rice is completely cooked. The key here is boiling of the rice. Rice should not be over cooked or under cooked. This is one time when extra attention is required during the preparation and how long the rice is boiled determines the texture of the biryani.

Total Time: 1 hr 15 minutes
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 – 35 minutes
Serves: 2

Printable Recipe here

Ingredients:

• ½ cup Oil
• 1 Small Onion Sliced
• ¼ tsp Saffron (few strands)
• ½ cup Milk
• Marinade
  • 1 large Potato diced into 16 pieces
  • 15 strings of Green Beans cut into 1 ½” pieces
  • 1 large Carrot pealed and cut into 1 ½” strips
  • ¼ cup Green Peas
  • 6-8 Green Chilies slit vertically
  • 1 small Tomato Pureed or ¼ – 1/3 cup Tomato Puree
  • ½ cup Cilantro chopped
  • ¼ cup chopped Mint
  • 2 tsp Ginger Garlic Paste
  • 1 tsp Coriander Powder
  • Pinch of Turmeric
  • Salt to taste
  • 3 tbsp or ¼ cup Yogurt
  • Garam Masala OR ½ tsp store bought garam masala
    • 4 Cardamoms
    • 4 Cloves
    • 4 Black Pepper Corns
    • ¼ tsp Caraway Seeds or Saha Jeera
    • ¼” Cinnamon
• Cooking Rice
  • 2 cups Rice
  • 4 Cloves
  • 4 Cardamoms
  • ½ tsp Saha Jeera
  • 2-3 Bay Leaves
  • 1 Biryani Flower
  • ½ tsp Ginger Garlic Paste
  • 1-2 tbsp salt

Preparation:

• Wash Rice and soak it for ½ hour.
• Meantime, cut the vegetables. Prepare garam masala powder by grinding together all the ingredients listed under Garam Masala. Grind tomato to a paste. It doesn’t have to be fine paste. Mix all the ingredients together listed under marinade.
• In a 2 quart pot, bring water to a boil.
• Meantime, continue with the preparation. Heat oil in a pan and fry the onions until golden brown.
• Once water boils, add all the ingredients listed under cooking rice, except rice. Give it a good stir. Drain the rice from water and add it to boiling water. Give it a good stir.
• Let it boil until rice starts rolling over. One good boil is enough. This should take about 3 minutes.
• Drain the rice and keep aside ½ a cup of boiled water aside of later use.
• Arrange vegetables and rice in layers.  In a 2 qt pot, add some oil and arrange the marinated vegetables at the bottom of the pot.  Use the same oil that was used to fry the onions.

• Layer half of the cooked rice on top of the vegetables and sprinkle ½ of the remaining oil and ½ of the saffron milk.

• Layer the remaining rice and sprinkle remaining oil, milk and ½ cup of boiled water.

• Cover the pot with 2 sheets of aluminum foil and cover it with the lid. Carefully fold the foil and seal it around the lid so that steam doesn’t escape when cooking the rice. Also, put a heavy pan or a motor pesto or a heavy object on top of the lid to stop teh steam from escaping.
• Cook for 8-10 minutes on high and 25 minutes on low. Open the pot after 10 minutes and mix it well so that the vegetables and rice are properly mixed.
• Serve hot with raita or any gravy of your choice.

Note:

• The cooking times are based on my gas cooking range. When preparing the recipe for the first time, don’t go just by the cooking times I mentioned and use your discretion.
• If you feel vegetables or the rice is under cooked, cover and cook it on low flame for few more minutes and if required, sprinkle some water before cooking it.

I am sending this recipe to DK and also to Srilekha for her EFM:Variety Rice Series.

If you like this recipe, you may also like these:
Hyderabad Chicken Biryani
Hyderabad Mutton Biryani
Shrimp Biryani
Egg Dum Biryani

Cucumber Yogurt Rice

I am back with another cucumber treat from Tarla Dalal, Cucumber Yogurt Rice. I don’t like plain yogurt rice and don’t eat it everyday, which is very uncommon for a south indian. Whenever I am on a guilt trip that I am not getting enough calcium from my diet, I make cucumber raita, spinach raita, tomato yogurt chutney or any chutney or salad that has yogurt in it. This is my only source of calcium rich food. When I saw Cucmber yogurt rice, I was curious to try it, as it is another calcium recipe for me and it seemed like a variation of Daddhojanam, Flavored Yogurt Rice.

I usually have the tendency of tinkering with recipes when I make them and it ends up in a disaster. So this time I stuck to the recipe and used all the ingredients listed in the recipe and made some adjusts to the measurements (bad habits die hard, no matter how hard I try ). Rice was tasty and is very easy to prepare. However, the next time I make it, I would add few more ingredients to the tempering to make the rice more flavorful, such as mustard seeds, chopped ginger and may be little bit of butter.

Total Time: 40 minutes
Preparation Time: 30 minutes (For cooking and cooling of rice)
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Serves: 2

Egg Dum Biryani

I have been procrastinating to blog this recipe for quite some time and today, I had to post it. Today is the last day for the Rice Mela and had to get to work as soon as I woke up. I did not prepare the biryani today, I just had to draft the post, select the picture to include in the post and water mark it. Lot of work, right? It took me almost the same amount or even more time than cooking the recipe from the scratch. So, you see, I had to start working on it, first thing in the morning, to meet the deadline .

Total Time: 1 hr
Serves: 4-5

Ingredients:

• 6 Eggs
• 1/3 – ½ cup Oil
• 1 large Onion sliced
• ¼ cup Mint Leaves chopped
• 2-3 tsp ginger Garlic Paste
• 6 Green Chilies cut length wise
• ¾ cup Frozen Green Peas
• ½ tsp Chili Powder
• ½ tsp Biryani Masala (I Used Shaan biryani masala)
• ¼ tsp Garam Masala (I used store bought Rajah brand)
• ¾ cup Yogurt
• ½ lime juice or 2-3 tbsp lime juice
• ½ cup Cilantro/Kotmir chopped
• 1/3 cup Milk
• Few strands of Saffron
• Soaking the Rice
  • 3 cups Rice
  • 4-6 Cardamoms
  • 3-4 Cloves
  • ½” Cinnamon
  • ½ tsp Saha Jeera/Black Jeera/Caraway seeds
  • 2 Bay Leaves
  • 1 Biryani Flower

Preparation:

• Boil Eggs, peel and make some slits on it or poke it with a fork or a knife.
• Wash rice wash and soak in 4 cups of water. Ratio here is 1cup rice: 1 1/3 cup water. Add all the ingredients listed under soaking the rice. Soak the rice for 10-15. Cook the rice in rice cooker or on a stove top. I prefer rice cooker, because I don’t have to keep an eye on it. Once the rice is done let it sit for 10 minutes before arranging it for dum.
• In a pan add all the oil, keeping aside 2 tbsp of for later use. Fry sliced onion until golden brown and remove ½ of the browned onions and keep it aside.
• To the remaining onion, add mint, ginger garlic paste, green chilies and saute for a minute.
• Add frozen peas and saute for a few seconds.
• Add chili powder, garam masala, biryani masala and boiled eggs. Cook until the spices are well coated to the eggs.
• Add beaten yogurt and saute until oil separates.
• Add lime juice and half of the cilantro and mix well and turn of the heat.
• Add saffron to milk and heat for a minute in the microwave.
• Take a wide sauce pan with a lid and grease the pan with oil.  Spread ½ the cooked rice in it. Transfer the egg mixture to the sauce pan to make the second layer. Follow this layer with the remaining rice. Sprinkle remaining oil, saffron milk, fried onions and the remaining chopped cilantro.  Cover the pan with a well fitted lid.
• Cook it on medium heat for 3-5 minutes until the pan and the rice inside gets warm. Reduce the heat to low and cook it for another 10-12 minutes.  This step can be done in the oven too.  Refer to the 2nd point in the notes section below.
• Serve hot with your favorite raita or gravy.

Note:

• Green peas can be substituted with ones choice of vegetables or with cashews and raisins. I personally don’t like nuts in my biryani. If one likes nuts and raisins, it can be substituted with green peas.
• Last step of the cooking can be done in the oven too. Pre-heat the oven to 400F. Arrange the rice and egg mixture in layers in an oven proof dish.  Cover the dish with an aluminum foil.  Once the oven is pre-heated, reduce the temperature to 350F and bake the rice for 20 minutes or until done. Oven temperatures vary from oven to oven so check the rice before removing it from the oven.

If you like biryani, you may also like

Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani

Hyderabadi Mutton Biryani

I am sending Egg Dum Biryani, Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani and Hyderabadi Mutton Biryani to Rice Mela, hosted by Srivalli.

Chana Dal Khichdi

It has been a while since I last blogged.   Today I am here to share with you a quick and easy, one dish meal.  Chana Dal Khichdi is a quick and easy recipe that can be served anytime of the day.  It can served for breakfast,  if one doesn’t mind eating rice for breakfast, or for brunch, lunch or dinner.   It can be served with omelet or pachi pulusu.  Pachi pulusu is raw tamarind water seasoned with fresh roasted green chilies, onions and ginger chopped, and tempered with mustard, cumin, garlic and turmeric.  I will share the recipe for pachi pulusu very soon.  I usually eat my khichdi  without any side dish and it tastes just fine. 

I am sending this khichdi to Srivalli, for her Rice Mela, to Taste Palettes for her Vegan Ventures and to Briciole for her My Legume Love Affair event, started by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook.

Total Time: 25 – 30 minutes
Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 20-25 minutes
Serves: 2

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp Oil
• 2 Cardamons
• 2 Cloves
• ½” Cinnamon Stick
• ½ tsp Saha Jeera or Jeera
• 1 Bay Leaf and Biryani Flower
• 1 small Onion sliced
• 4 – 6 Green Chilies slit vertically into half (adjust to taste)
• 1 ½ tsp Ginger Garlic Paste
• Pinch of Turmeric Powder
• Salt to Taste (according to taste)
• 1 ½ cup Rice washed (measuring cup that comes with the rice cooker)
• ½ cup Chana Dal (measuring cup that comes with the rice cooker)
• Cilantro for garnish

Preparation:

• Wash rice and soak it. In a separate microwave safe bowl, wash chana dal and microwave for 4-5 minutes until dal is semi cooked.
• Slice onions and cut the green chilies.
• In a pan, heat oil and add cardamon, coves, cinnamon, saha jeera, bay leaf and biryani flower.
• Add onion and saute until translucent.  Add green chilies and ginger garlic saute until rawness of ginger is gone.
• Add turmeric, salt, rice and chana dal and saute for a minute or 2.
• In an electric rice cooker container, add 3 cups of water and transfer the rice mixture to the vessel.  Rice+Chana dal and water ratio is 1 cup of rice+chana dal : 1½ cup water.   Sprinkle cilantro on top of it and switch the cooker on.  One can cook the khichdi on stove top too.  I prefer the rice cooker because I don’t have to keep an eye on it while it is cooking.  Once the cooker shuts off and khichdi is done, let it sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Note:

• Yesterday, I didn’t soak the rice before cooking. When I am not in a hurry, I usually soak the rice for at least 10-15 minutes and no more than 30 minutes. When I soak the rice, I reduce the quantity of water I use to cook the rice. I use 1 cup rice+dal : 1 1/3 cup water.

Hyderabadi Mutton Biryani

As I mentioned in my earlier posts, Biryani can be cooked in two ways. One is the raw meat method in which the rice and the meat is cooked together in layers, and the other is cooked meat method in which pre-cooked meat and rice are cooked together in layers. I follow the raw meat method for Chicken Biryani and Shrimp Biryani, and pre-cooked method for mutton biryani. Here is the recipe for mutton biryani…

Total Time: 1 hours
Preparation Time: 30 minutes (excludes marination time)
Baking Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4-5

Ingredients:

• Marinade
  • 2 lbs Goat meat cut into pieces
  • ¾ – 1 cup yogurt
  • 2 tbsp Ginger Garlic Paste
  • 2 tsp Chili Powder
  • 14 small Chilies split into two (adjust to your taste)
  • 1 cup chopped Mint Leaves
  • 1 cup chopped Cilantro
  • Salt to Taste (sufficient for the meat)
  • Garam Masala Powder
    • 10 Pepper Corns
    • 10 Coves
    • ½ tsp Cardamom Seeds
    • ½ tsp Sahajeera or Black Cumin
    • 1” Cinnamon Stick
• 1 Large Onion sliced
• 1 Lime
• 1 cup Oil (can use half oil and half ghee)
• ½ tsp of saffron strands
• ½ cup milk
• 4 cups Basmati Rice soaked for 30 minutes (rice cooker measuring cup) 
• Spices for boiling rice
  • 6 Cardamoms
  • 3 Cloves
  • 2 Bay Leaves
  • 1 Bay Flower or Biryani Flower
  • 1 tsp Sahajeera
  • ½ tsp Ginger Garlic Paste
  • 1 tbsp of Oil
  • First Full of Salt

Method:

• Clean and cut the goat meat.
• Grind all the ingredients listed under garam masala to a fine powder.
• Mix all the ingredients of the marinade and marinate for at least 2 hour , preferably overnight in the fridge.
• Cook the meat with ½ the oil in a pressure cooker. Don’t add any water when cooking. In my cooker it takes 6-7 whistles and 5 minutes on low flame to cook. Once the pressure in the cooker goes away, open it and cook it until all the water evaporates. OR
• Can cook the meat on the stove top until tender. This will take about an hour. I prefer the pressure cooker to avoid all the cooking odor when cooking on stove top.
• Squeeze the lime juice on the meat and mix well.
• In a pan, heat oil and fry the onions until light golden brown.
• Soak saffron in hot milk.
• In a big pot bring water to a boil, add all the spices required for boiling rice and mix well.
• Add rice and continue to cook until the rice is almost done. It takes about 7-8 minutes on my stove. Drain the rice and keep aside.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Now its time to arrange rice and meat in layers. Grease large baking tray with oil, layer half the rice at the bottom. Sprinkle some oil, fried onions and ½ the saffron milk. Layer the rice with meat followed by a layer of remaining rice. We should have 2 layers of rice and one layer of meat. Top it off the remaining oil, fried onions and saffron milk. Cover the tray with aluminum foil.
• Bake the biryani for 10 minutes on 400 degrees F and 20 minutes on 350 degrees F.
• Mix the rice and serve it hot with raita or chicken shorva /mutton shorva

This is my entry for RCI: Authentic Hyderabadi Cuisine hosted by Mona.

I am also sending it to Rice Mela.

Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani

Biryani is one of the most popular dishes in Hyderabad, India. To make Hyderabadi Biryani, the meat and the rice are cooked in an air tight pot on very low flame, so that the rice is cooked in the flavors of meat and gets the aroma of the meat. The meat gets the direct heat from the flame and the rice is cooked with steam generated by the air tight method of cooking, also known as Dum method. It is a length process but the taste is worth going thru the elaborate process.

There are two ways to prepare Hyderabadi Biryani. One is, precooked meat method and the other is raw meat method. In both the methods, meat and half cooked rice are arranged in layers, and cooked until the rice and the meat are fully cooked. For Chicken Biryani, I use the raw meat method and for Mutton Biryani I use the precooked meat method.

Total Time: 1 hours
Preparation Time: 30 minutes (excludes marination time)
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4-5

Ingredients:

• Marinade 
  • 2 lbs Chicken cut up into 2” pieces
  • ½ cup Yogurt
  • 1 1/2 tbsp Ginger Garlic Paste
  • 2 – 3 tsp Chili Powder
  • 2 tsp Coriander Powder
  • 12 small Chilies split into two
  • 1 cup chopped Mint Leaves
  • 1 cup chopped Cilantro
  • ½ tsp Turmeric
  • Garam Masala Powder
    • 10 Pepper Corns
    • 10 Coves
    • ½ tsp Cardamom Seeds
    • ½ tsp Sahajeera or Black Cumin
    • 1” Cinnamon Stick
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • Salt to Taste
• 1 Large Onion sliced
• 1 cup Oil
• ½ tsp of saffron strands
• ½ cup milk
• 4 cups Basmati Rice soaked for 30 minutes
• Spices for boiling rice
  • 6 Cardamoms
  • 3 Cloves
  • 2 Bay Leaves
  • 1 Bay Flower or Biryani Flower
  • 1 tsp Sahajeera
  • ½ tsp Ginger Garlic Paste
  • 1 tbsp of Oil
  • First Full of Salt

Method:

• Clean the chicken and cut it into 2” pieces. Wash the chicken and squeeze all the water from it. This is very important that you squeeze all the water away from the pieces or put it a colander to let water drain away.
• Grind all the ingredients listed under garam masala to a fine powder.
• Mix all the ingredients of the marinade and marinate for at least 1 hour or overnight in the fridge.
• In pan heat oil and fry the onions until light golden brown.
• Soak saffron in hot milk.
• In a big pot bring water to a boil, add all the spices for boiling rice and mix well.
• Add rice and continue to cook until you get a one good boil, i.e rice should roll over with boiling water. It takes about 2 ½ – 3 minutes on my stove. Drain the rice and keep aside.
  

  One good boil after adding rice

• Now its time to arrange chicken and rice in layers, one layer of chicken and two layers of rice. In a heavy bottom sauce pan, pour ½ the oil at the bottom, arrange the chicken pieces and sprinkle some oil on top of the chicken.
• Arrange ½ the boiled rice on the chicken pieces, sprinkle some oil, ½ the fried onions and ½ the saffron milk.
• Repeat the above step for the last layer, I.e, arrange the last layer of rice. Spread the rest of the rice, sprinkle all the oil, fried onions and the saffron milk.
• Now, we need to seal the the container and make it air tight so that the steam doesn’t escape when we cook. In India, flour dough or a big cloth is used to seal the container and the cover together. Here, I use an aluminum sheet. take 2 sheets of aluminum foil (the sheets should be bigger than the diameter of the sauce pan) and place it on top of the sauce pan and then cover it with the lid. We will have aluminum sheets between the pan and its lid. Since we took the sheets bigger than the diameter of the pan, we will use that to seal the pan and the lid.
• Put a heavy object (motor pesto or heavy pan or skillet) on the top of the container, so that the steam doesn’t escape easily. 
  

  Cooking dum biryani with a sealed sauce pan and a heavy object on it

• Cook biryani for 8-10 minutes on high until stream escapes from the foil seal.  Then reduce the flame to medium low and continue to cook for another 20 minutes. 
 Let it sit for 10-15 minutes before opening it. 
• Mix the rice and serve it hot with raita or chicken shorva or mutton shorva.

 

Chicken Biryani

I am sending this recipe to Rice Mela.

Spinach Rice

Rice can be cooked in many varieties such as Biryani, vegetable pulav, green peas rice, green chana rice, spinach rice and so on. I cook all the above mentioned rices very often in my kitchen except spinach rice. Any variety of rice served with raita is a feast to me. When I saw the Mixed Rice Varieties Event, spinach rice came to my mind. All the other varieties are very common to me and this would be a good excuse to try out my mom’s recipe and a perfect entry to the event.

Total Time: 30 minutes
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 3    

Ingredients:

• 1/8 cup Oil
• 4 Cardamoms
• 2 Cloves
• ½ tsp Sahajeera
• Bay Leaf
• Bay Flower
• ¼ “ Cinnamon
• ¼ tsp Methi Powder
  
• 10 Mint Leaves chopped
• 1 small Onion sliced
• 6 Green Chillies slit into 2
• 1 tsp Ginger Garlic Paste
• 6 oz or 4 cups of chopped Spinach
• pinch of Turmeric Powder
• 1 medium sized Tomato chopped
• Salt to Taste
• 2 cups of Basmati Rice soaked in water for ½ hour
• Cilantro for garnish

Method:

• Heat oil in a sauce pan. Add cardamoms, cloves, sahajeera, cinnamon, bay leaf, biryani flower, mint leaves and methi powder. Fry until mint leaves change color. Then add onion and fry till translucent.
• Add green chillies, ginger garlic paste fry for a minute.
• Add chopped spinach and cook for a couple of minutes. Add tomatoes, salt and cook until soft and water if any evaporates.
• Add a turmeric powder and rice and fry for a minute.
• Add 3 cups of water (rice to water ratio of 1 : 1 ½ ) and bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat and cook until rice is done.
• Garnish with cilantro and serve hot with raita or any gravy of your choice.

Note:

• If you wish to use an electric cooker, after frying rice, transfer it to the rice cooker container, pour 3 cups of water, add cilantro and turn the cooker on. 

Spinach Rice goes to Mixed Rice Varieties Event

Shrimp Biryani

Biryani is one of the most popular dishes in India. Mutton and Chicken Biryani are the most popular Biryanis, but these days Kheema, Fish and Shrimp Biryani are also gaining popularity. However, for me, even today, when someone mentions Biryani, I still expect it to be either Mutton or Chicken Biryani. To make this item, the meat and the rice are cooked in an air tight pot on very low flame, so that the rice is cooked in the flavors of meat and gets the aroma of the meat. The meat gets the direct heat from the flame and the rice is cook with steam generated by the air tight method of cooking, also known as Dum method. Biryani is the only item for which I don’t mind spending 1 ½ – 2 hours in the kitchen preparing it. Taste of it is worth the time spent in the kitchen.

The first time I tasted Shrimp Biryani was 3 years ago in Eluru, at my brothers wedding. After that I cooked Shrimp Biryani a few times at home, but not in recent months. I was thinking of posting the recipe of the Biryani on my blog, but I never thought it would be Shrimp Biryani, at least not before posting the recipes of Mutton and Chicken Biryani. I made Shrimp Biryani for dinner today and decided to post it on the blog right away.

Total Time: 1 ½ hours
Preparation Time: 1 hour (includes marination)
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 3-4    

Ingredients:    

• Marinade
      
  • 2 lbs Shrimp raw and shell on
  • ¾ cup Yogurt
  • 1 1/2 tbsp Ginger Garlic Paste
  • 1 ½ tsp Chili Powder
  • 1 tsp Coriander Powder
  • 12 small Chilies split into two
  • 1 cup chopped Mint Leaves
  • 1 cup chopped Cilantro
  • ½ tsp Turmeric
  • Garam Masala Powder
        
    • 10 Pepper Corns
    • 10 Coves
    • ½ tsp Cardamom Seeds
    • ½ tsp Sahajeera or Black Cumin
    • 1” Cinnamon Stick
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • Salt to Taste
• 1 Large Onion sliced
• 1 cup Oil
• ½ tsp of saffron strands
• ½ cup milk
• 4 cups Rice soaked for 30 minutes
• Spices for boiling rice
      
  • 6 Cardamoms
  • 3 Cloves
  • 2 Bay Leaves
  • 1 Bay Fower or Biryani Flower
  • 1 tsp Sahajeera
  • ½ tsp Ginger Garlic Paste
  • 1 tbsp of Oil
  • First Full of Salt

Method:

• Peel the Shrimp, wash and squeeze all the water from the shrimp.
• Grind all the ingredients listed under garam masala to a fine powder.
• Mix all the ingredients of the marinade and marinate of 1 hour.
• In pan heat oil and fry the onions until light golden brown.
• In a big pot bring water to a boil, add all the spices for boiling rice and mix well.
• Add rice and cook for 2 ½ minutes, one good boil, I.e rice should roll over with boiling water. Drain the rice and keep aside.
• Soak saffron in hot milk.
• Now its time to arrange shrimp and rice in layers, one layer of shrimp and two layers of rice. In rice cooker container, pour ½ the oil at the bottom, arrange shrimp and sprinkle some oil on top of the shrimp.
• Arrange ½ the boiled rice on shrimp, sprinkle some oil, ½ the fried onions and ½ saffron milk.
• Repeat the above step for the last layer, I.e arrange the spread the remaining rice, sprinkle all the oil, fried onions and the saffron milk.
• Cover the cooker and switch on the rice cooker.
• Put a heavy container on the top of the cooker lid so that steam doesn’t escape.
  
  
• When the rice is cooked and the cooker turns of , let it sit for at least 10-15 minutes before opening the cooker.
• Mix the rice and serve hot with raita or chicken/goat curry

Note:

• If using frozen shrimp, make sure it is completely thawed before marinating it.
• You can use store bought Biryani mixes to substitute for the spices. I have used Shan Biryani mixes before and it tastes good. You can substitute 3-4 tsp Shaan mix for the garam masala and adjust the chili powder and the chillies to your taste.
• The same recipe can be followed to prepare Chicken Biryani. In this recipe, I cooked the raw shrimp and rice together. There is another way of cooking Biryani, cook the meat first and then arrange the meat and rice in layers and then use the Dum process to finish it. I will use that method for Mutton Biryani, which I intend to post it on the blog very soon. Please be patient till then.

Vegetable Bagara

Total Time: 35 minutes
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 25 minutes
Serves: 4-5

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp Oil
• 4 Cloves
• 6 Cardamons
• 1 Bay Leave
• 1 Bay Flower
• ¼” Cinnamon stick
• ½ tsp Sahajeera
• ½ bunch Mint chopped (opt)
• ½ cup Methi chopped (opt)
• 1 medium sized Onion sliced
• 2 tsp Ginger Garlic Paste
• 2 long Carrots cut into 1″ length
• 10 Beans string cut into 1″ length
• 1 medium sized Potato diced
• pinch of Turmeric Powder (for color)
• ½ cup Lima Beans
• 3 cups Rice soaked in water for 30 minutes
• Cilantro

Cooking:

• Heat oil in a pan.
• Add cloves, cardamoms, bay leaves, bay flower, cinnamon, sahajeera, mint.
• Add methi, onions and fry until light brown.
• Add ginger garlic paste and fry for 2 minutes.
• Add the vegetables and turmeric powder and fry for 2 minutes.
• Add rice and fry for 2 minutes, add salt.
• Add 4 1/2 cups hot water and bring to a boil.
• Reduce the heat the cook until rice is done.
• Add Cilantro and serve hot.

Poni/Popu Annam (Indian Fried Rice)

This is a very good recipe to use leftover rice.

Total Time: 20 minutes
Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• Oil: 2 tbsp
• Cardamoms: 2 (opt)
• Cloves: 1 (opt)
• Bay Leaves & Flower: 1 (opt)
• Sahajeera: 1tsp (opt)
• Curry Leaves: 3
• Methi Powder: ¼ tsp
• Onion: 1 medium sliced
• Green Chillies: 3-4 slit into 2
• Ginger garlic paste: 1 tsp
• Coriander powder: 1 ½ tsp
• Turmeric: ½ tsp
• Green Onion: 1 chopped (opt)
• Cooked or Leftover Rice: 2 cups of raw rice, cooked
• Chili Powder: 1 tsp
• Salt to taste
• Eggs: 2 (opt)
• Cilantro chopped

Preparation:

• Cut the vegetable. Mix chili powder and salt to rice.
• Beat the eggs in a bowl with some chili powder and salt.
• Make an omelette and cut into small pieces.

Method:

• In a pan heat oil, add cardamoms, cloves, sahajeera, bay leaves, curry leaves and methi powder.
• Add onion and fry until translucent.
• Add green chillies and ginger garlic paste and cook for a minute or 2.
• Add coriander powder, green onions, turmeric and cook for ½ a minute. 
• Add rice and fry for 5 minutes stirring occasionally.  
• Add omelet and continue coking for another 5 minutes.   
• Add chopped cilantro and serve hot.