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Friday, April 20, 2012

Methi Masoor Briyani (Fenugreek Leaves & Split Orange Lentils Rice)


          Briyanis are very popular in India, it is basically rice cooked with very aromatic spices and vegetables and traditionally cooked in a lot of ghee, but I have kept away from the ghee and used just oil. You can make a variety of briyanis by changing the combination of vegetables or by adding different beans or lentils. I have already given a recipe for the Spinach And Kidney Beans Briyani, today it is a very flavorful briyani with masoor dal (split orange lentils) and fresh methi leaves (Fenugreek Leaves). Both of them lend a distinctive flavor to this briyani, again an one pot meal..

Need To Have
  • Basmati Rice - 2 cups
  • Masoor Dal - 3/4 cup
  • Fresh Fenugreek Leaves - 1 cup chopped
  • Onions - 2 medium chopped
  • Chilly Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
  • Turmeric Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
  • Cashews - 1 tablespoon for garnish
Make A Paste
  • Cashews - 1 tablespoon broken
  • Shallots - 6 chopped
  • Ginger - 1 tablespoon chopped
  • Garlic - 4 cloves
  • Green Chillies - 3
  • Fennel Seeds - 1 teaspoon
  • White Poppy Seeds - 1 teaspoon
  • Cloves - 2
  • Cardamom - 2
  • Cinnamon Stick - 1" 
  • Javentri - 1" small piece
For Seasoning
  • Peppercorns - 1 teaspoon
  • Cardamoms - 2
  • Cloves - 2
  • Bay Leaf - 1


Method
          Soak the rice and dal for half an hour, roast the cashews for garnishing and make the paste with the given ingredients. Heat oil, add the seasonings, once the pepper starts spluttering add the onions, saute it till transparent. Then add the paste and saute till the raw smell goes away (for about 5 mins), add the turmeric and chilli powder, the fresh methi leaves, mix for 2 more mins, add the drained rice and dal, water around 5 and a 1/2 cups and salt. Cover and cook, once the water starts boiling reduce to medium heat and cook till almost all the water is gone but it is still a little wet. Now switch off the heat and leave it covered for at least 1/2 an hour without disturbing. Garnish it with the cashews and serve it warm with some curd or raitha.

Sending it to Divya's Culinary Journey for her Showcase - What's In Your Lunch Box? event and
                to Srav's Cooking Concepts for the CC - Spring Seasonal Food event,



Note
Javentri is an orange flower like spice, use just a quarter of it.
While adding salt to the briyani, taste the water, it should be a little salty, the rice absorbs the extra saltiness when it gets cooked, you don't want to mix salt later after the rice is cooked, you'll end up making it mushy.



41 comments:

  1. biryani looks delicious .......

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  2. Delicious and healthy one pot meal....

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  3. Fresh fenugreek leaves..I sure wish I could get my hands on those-all I have here is the ground. By reading the ingredients, all of these elements really do make rice into something amazing. I never thought of using any type of spice paste, but obviously it works deliciously. Well done!

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  4. Flavourful n delicious looking biryani!!

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  5. Nice - methi biryani - can imagine the aroma in the kitchen.

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  6. Flavorful n uniqe biriyanio.........

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  7. this is a different combo.. have not heard of dal in biryani!

    Ongoing Event : WTML

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  8. what a lovely rice, adding masoor dal is so nice..lovely biryani :)

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  9. Nice and super one-pot meal !!! Very inviting too !!! Thanks for linking to the event !!!!

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  10. Interesting and definitely a super healthy one pot meal..Looks wholesome..

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  11. I love this...sooooooo good...great recipe..:)
    Tasty Appetite

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  12. i have never cooked biriyani with dal, this looks so colourful and pretty

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  13. very unique!.......lovely biryani.and i love the cup !tooooooo cute!

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  14. How aromatic and delicious this looks and sounds! feeling like having some now :)

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  15. Love the look of the rice. I am sure it is very flavourful :)

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  16. Wow! I would love to try this methi version of biryani with the goodness of masoor dal. It looks lovely and your clicks look gorgeous :)

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  17. very healthy recipe ..apt for lunch box

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  18. good recipe...ongoing event : Fruit of the month - Grapes event

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  19. Hi. There is an award waiting for you at my space. Do visit.
    http://lavanyasrecipes.blogspot.com/

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  20. Hi,
    Just to pass my congratulations for your Versatile Blogger Award :)

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  21. That sounds healthy n yumm,never thought of this combo..Hema could u pls tell me the friend's name, R u located in PA?

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  22. wow...very flavorful n healthy one pot meal...loved your combo n recipes Hema...too good...very tempting clicks:)

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  23. wonderful rice, very unique too, sounds great!

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  24. Nice aromatic and healthy combo of rice, methi and masoor dal. Will surely try this out. Thanks.

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  25. heyy hema.. where have u been? Haven't see u in the blog world for a few days now.. hope all s well :) tc

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  26. Hema what an interesting Biryani and that too veg! Wonderful and tempting!! Loved the recipe.

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  27. We love briyani rice, and these sounds great with fenugreek leaves!

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  28. I love biryani's and I love this vegetarian version with lentils and methi. It looks very yummy!

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  29. Oh cool, I've never had this. Will try making, with dried leaves though. Fresh ones in this season are too expensive!
    I also saw your eggplant rice. Gonna try that too, Hema, that also is new to me!

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