Vegetable Biryani/Veg Biryani - The Hyderabadi Way

Happiness is Homemade Biryani :) !! A plate full of this hot, aromatic colorful biryani is a feast to the eyes, and it's yummy for the tummy :). I've seen people who could eat biryani every day. I should say am one among them :p. My family is a biryani lover!! We make biryani's on special occasions, whether it's treating friends or a family feast. Most of the time I cook Chicken Biryani and Mutton Biryani. It's toothsome. If you're a non-vegetarian, you should definitely give it a try! Here, in the preparation of the veg biryani one could use a choice of veggies, peas, cauliflower, mushrooms, corn, etc. I made the biryani with whatever veggies I had on the time.  Feel free to adjust the seasonings according to your tastebuds.

To Make This Recipe, You'll Need : 

Basmati  Rice	500 Grams
Choice of mixed veggies	400 Grams
Green Cardamom/ Elaichi  Powder	1 Teaspoon + extra for layering
Biryani Masala Powder	2 Teaspoons
Garam  Masala Powder /G.Masala	½ Teaspoon + extra for layering
Turmeric  Powder	¼ Teaspoon
Red Chilli Powder	2 Teaspoons
Salt	2 Teaspoons (or) To Taste
Mint / Pudina Leaves	½ Bunch
Cilantro/ Coriander Leaves	½ Bunch
Dried Fenugreek Leaves/ Kasuri  Methi	1 to 2 Tablespoon
Ginger – Garlic Paste	1 ½ Tablespoon
Lemon/ Lime Juice	Juice of 2 medium sized
Clarified Butter/ Ghee	1 Tablespoon
Fried Onions	2 medium-sized onions, sliced and deep-fried in oil
Yogurt/ Curd	1 Cup
Oil	6 Tablespoons
Green Cardamom/ Elaichi	3 Nos
Bay Leaves	2 Nos
Cloves	4 to 5 Nos
Cinnamon Stick	1 No

Method : 

Begin by soaking the cleaned and washed rice in the water. Next, add about 3 tablespoons of oil to the biryani pot (or) handi, when the oil goes hot, add elaichi/ green cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaves, and cloves. Saute them in the oil until they get swollen, next add the veggies, followed by the dry masala powders (Elachi powder, garam masala powder, biryani masala powder, turmeric powder, red chili powder, and salt.) Also add the ginger- garlic paste, mint/ pudina leaves, and cilantro/coriander leaves, and cook the veggies until done.

To the cooked veggie mixture add the yogurt/curd, fried onions, dried fenugreek leaves/kasuri methi, about 2 teaspoons of lime/lemon juice, mix well and let it sit aside for a while. 

Taste this veggie mixture, add if any seasonings required.

Now, in a large pot add water, followed by green cardamom/ elachi, cloves and cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of lime/lemon juice, and salt(water should taste very salty, like seawater). You could add shahi jeera or your choice of spices here at this point. Let the water come to a rolling boil, to this add the soaked basmati rice, cook until the rice is 80 percent done.

Strain the rice immediately, layer the strained rice over the veggie mixture, sprinkle fried onions,garam masala, elaichi powder, and pour the lemon juice around.  Next, add another layer of rice and repeat the same process. After completing the layers, add 3-4 tablespoons of oil(which was used to fry the onions), if you have saffron add the soaked saffron. Cover the lid and cook on high flame for 3 minutes, next switch to sim and cook for further 10 minutes. (If your biryani pot's bottom is not heavy, place a tawa beneath it). After 10 minutes, your Veg Biryani - Hyderabadi way is ready to relish!

Enjoy! 

How did I make Dried Fenugreek Leaves/ Kasuri methi powder?

Even though the leaves are dried, these leaves don't easily turn into powder when sandwiched between our palms. The easy way is to dry roast the leaves(until it's aroma comes), rub them between your palms. You could see the powder now! 

Notes : 

1. One could add cashew nuts/kaju, almonds, and raisins

2. One could add coriander and mint in the layerings as well

3. In each layer 1 teaspoon of elaichi and garam masala was added. Mine were 2 layers which makes a total of 2 teaspoons of each.

Thank You For Visiting Blessy's Kitchen :) 

Egg Fried Rice

Egg fried rice is a quick and easy recipe. One can make fried rice with leftover rice. Important things to be noted when making fried rice is to have perfectly cooked, non-sticky rice. So pre-cook the rice, let it sit in the open air, let the moisture get evaporated before making it. One can also use regular rice instead of basmati rice. This recipe has no specific measures, you could add all according to your taste. M.S.G (Monosodium glutamate china salt or tasting salt), Soy Sauce, and Plain Vinegar is supposed to go in with little quantity. You want the light flavor of them, not to overpower the dish. Many are worried about using the M.S.G. Using it in little quantities won't bring any harm. However, families who have kids below 5 years and pregnant women skip M.S.G in their diet. I  suggest you do the same though it's not proven scientifically!! So, let's get back to the recipe! 

To Make This Recipe You'll Need : 

Cooked  Rice

Eggs

Carrots

Green Bell Pepper / Capsicum

Cabbage

Salt

Pepper Powder

M.S.G

Soy Sauce

Plain Vinegar

Oil

Spring onions

It's better to use Aged Rice. It expands more and does not stick. 

Taste while you cook, don't add seasonings accordingly to this picture. 

And Oil, Vinegar, Spring Onions ( No Pictures) 

Method : 

Begin by beating the eggs, on the other hand, heat the kadai or wok on a high flame, add around 3 tablespoons of oil ( coat the whole kadai or wok with the oil), let the oil heat up, and add the beaten egg mixture. Let it get cooked slightly and gently fold in the egg mixture as shown in the pictures below and gently scramble it. ( Now, you could season your eggs with salt and pepper )

Add, the veggies to the cooked egg quickly (work fast, your on high flame ) toss them for 1 minute, now decrease the flame to low, cook the veggies with the lid covered for about 2 minutes if you're not used to eating semi-cooked veggies. Next add the cooked rice, followed by salt, pepper, M.S.G, Soy sauce, and Vinegar. Toss well together (High flame again). Check for seasonings and serve !! 

Mix well, add spring onions ( my favorite) :) .... Serve !!! 

Mutton Biryani (Kacchi Biryani Style)

I just can't resist Mutton Biryani. It's something I loved eating as a child too. Adding a couple  spoons of Ghee to my biryani while marinating the meat and also at the end, which makes the biryani even better. I followed the same steps which I did for Chicken Biryani. I used mint and coriander puree for chicken biryani, but today for this Mutton Biryani I'm using mint and coriander leaves. You can also use purees. Be free to adjust the seasonings according to your taste.

For easy understanding, I divided the recipe into 3 parts.

The first Part is about marinating the meat
The second Part is about cooking the rice
The third part is about layering the rice and infusing it with extra flavors.

So, for the First Part you will need the following ingredients :

Mutton (With Bone)	800 Grams
Mint Leaves	½ Cup (or) 25 Grams
Coriander/ Cilantro Leaves	½ Cup (or) 25 Grams
Green Chillies ( Chopped)	1 ½ Tablespoon
Medium Sized Onions (Sliced) (Fried Onion)	2
Turmeric Powder	½ Teaspoon
Biryani Masala Powder (Badshah (or) Eastern)	1 Tablespoon
Yogurt/ Curds	1 Cup
Ginger Garlic Paste	4 Tablespoons
Red Chilli Powder	1 ½ Tablespoon
Salt	1 ¼ Tablespoon (or) To Taste
Lemon Juice	1 ½ Tablespoon

                                             

                                     

                                     

           

                                     

                              

                                       

            

                                       

Method : 

To the cleaned and washed Mutton pieces add the above ingredients, mix well and marinate it overnight in the refrigerator. 

Note: Use half of the fried onions for the marinade.  

Next, for Second Part you will need the following ingredients : 

Basmati  Rice	800 Grams (or) I Kg
Bay Leaves	2
Kapok Buds	2
Green Cardamom	4
Shah jeera	½ Teaspoon
Cloves	6 to 7
Cinnamon sticks	2
Water	Enough to cook 1 Kg of rice (No Picture)
Salt	3 Tablespoons (or) As required, water should be salty ( No Picture)
Oil	1 Tablespoon (No Picture)

(You can use other spices like Star anise, Black Stone flower (raathi puvvu))

Water, Salt, and oil. 

Method : 

Wash and soak the basmati rice for about 15 to 20 minutes.

To a big rice pot, add 1 Tablespoon of oil and add the spices to the hot oil and fry until you get the aroma of the spices (spices like cardamom, cloves, Kapok buds should get swollen)

Next add water, salt and let it come to a boil.

Note: Water quantity is not measured in this case because we are straining the rice in the end. So basically we need to add more quantity of water than the rice.

When the water comes to a boil add the soaked basmati rice and cook until it's 70% done. 

Drain the rice using a colander and follow the Third Part. 

(Cook the rice until 70% done)

The Final Part i.e, the Third part is simple. Check out the ingredients :

Biryani Masala Powder	To sprinkle on each layer (Less than ½ Teaspoon for each layer)
Lemon Juice	To drizzle on each layer (1 Teaspoon for each layer)
Fried Onion	To Sprinkle on each layer
Mint Leaves	To spread on each layer
Saffron food color	To pour on the top layer (few pinches of color powder+ 3 to 4 Tablespoons of water
Oil	More than Half cup ( No Picture)

                                      

And oil (I used the oil which I fried the Onions)

Method : 

In this part, we are going to assemble the Biryani.

First, add the marinated mutton  to the pot in which you are going to make the biryani. 

Next, add a layer of rice, sprinkle some biryani masala, spoon lemon juice, spread mint leaves, sprinkle the fried onions and again add a layer of rice and continue to add the third Part related ingredients(except oil and color (optional) until you finish the rice.

Now, for the final layer, add oil and saffron/ color. 

Cover it with aluminum foil, place the lid on it and cook on high flame for 15 minutes. After cooking on high flame for 15 minutes, place a tawa underneath the pot and further cook for further 45 minutes on low flame.

After 45 minutes Mutton Biryani is ready to serve :)!!

Serve the Biryani with salan, raita, and salad. I served my biryani with salan, Gongura Chicken(Sorrel leaves chicken/ Saag Chicken), and onion raita.

(Some pieces of the mutton may get slightly colored. Don't worry it tastes good )

(Uncolored  Mutton piece on the left side - Slightly colored Mutton piece on the right side)

Notes: If you don't want to marinate the meat for one whole night, simply marinate for at least 2 hours by adding 3 Tablespoons of Raw Papaya Paste.
Generally, I add equal quantities of meat and rice. Here I have used more quantity of rice( 800 grams of meat and 1 Kg of rice) which is not a problem. If you end up with rice and no pieces left in it, add scrambled egg to it for a simple new dish:)

Enjoy :)