Vegetable Briyani

          Vegetable Briyani, I had made this so many times, but it has made it to the blog only now. Sometimes, I couldn't take pictures, sometimes, the pictures were not good and most importantly, I couldn't get that delicious Briyani flavor which I had got long time back, the main reason for that ( I learned later) is the amount of ghee used in the dish. The ghee gives that rich flavor to the dish, of course for today's dish, I have used a mixture of oil and ghee, but more ghee than oil and I have used a little more than 2 tablespoons of fat on the whole. The dish turned out perfect, and we had it with some cucumber raitha and potato chips for a rich and delicious weekend lunch..

Need To Have

• Basmati Rice - 1 cup
• Green Beans - 15, chopped
• Carrot - 1 small one, chopped
• Potato - 1 medium, diced
• Fresh Green Peas - 1/2 cup
• Tomato - 1 small, chopped
• Bay Leaves - 2 small ones
• Cashews - 5, broken
• Onion - 1 medium, sliced
• Green chilly - 1, slit
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Chopped Coriander Leaves - 2 tablespoons

To Grind

• Onion - 1 medium
• Garlic - 3 big cloves
• Ginger - 1" piece
• Mint Leaves - 10-15
• Coriander Leaves - 1/4 cup
• Green Chillies - 2
• Grated Coconut - 1/4 cup
• White Poppy Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Fennel Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Cloves - 2
• Green Cardamom - 2
• Cinnamon - 1" piece

Method

          Wash and soak the basmati rice in a little water for about 30 minutes. In the meantime, take all the ingredients given under ' to grind ' and make a smooth paste and keep.

          Chop the vegetables and keep. Heat oil and ghee, add the bay leaves and the cashews and saute till the cashews turn golden, then add the sliced onions and green chilly and saute till the onions turn golden.

          Now add the beans, carrot, potato, peas and tomato and saute well for 3 to 4 minutes. Drain and add the rice and keep sauteing for another 2 minutes, then add the ground paste and turmeric powder.

          Saute for another 2 to 3 minutes, then add 3 cups of water and salt, bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover and cook. Once the rice is done and when there's no more water, add the coriander leaves, switch off and leave it covered without disturbing for at least 15 to 20 minutes.

Note
You can use only ghee for cooking, the flavor will be very good and can use up to 3 tablespoons.
Instead of adding coconut while grinding, you can replace half the water added for cooking with coconut milk.
Don't try mixing the Briyani when it's hot, the rice will break.
Personally I like to leave the briyani for at least an hour or more after cooking before eating it, the flavors are well absorbed by the rice.
We like the Briyani to be soft, but if you like it to be cooked al dente, then reduce the water added to cook to 2 and 3/4 cups instead of 3 cups.