HYDERABADI VEG DUM BIRYANI !!!!!

I adapted this recipe from the blog "veg. recipes of India". Biryani is a very popular rice item of Hyderabad.

INGREDIENTS:-

The rice:-

basmathi rice - 1 1/2 cup
green cardamoms - 2
black cardamoms - 2
cloves - 2
cinnamon - 1 inch
bay leaf - 1
water - 3 cups
salt

The vegetable gravy:-

gobhi, florets removed - 1/2 medium
carrot, diced - 1 medium
potato, cubed - 1 medium
french beans, chopped - 1 cup
fresh/frozen green peas - 1/2 cup
onion, finely sliced - 1 1/2
green chilly, slit - 1/2
ginger-garlic paste - 3 tbl sp
shahi jeera - 1 tsp
green cardamom - 2
black cardamom -2 
cloves - 2
cinnamon - 1 inch
bay leaf - 1
curds, whisked - 100gms
turmeric pow - 1/4 tsp
red chilly pow - 1/2 tsp
cashew nuts - 2 tbl sp
raisins - 1 tbl sp
almonds, blanches, peeled, sliced - 2 tbl sp
ghee - 3 tbl sp
salt

Herbs and spices for the assembling:-

coriander leaves, chopped - 1/2 cup
mint leaves, chopped - 1/2 cup
curds, whisked - 100gm
saffron strands - few
milk - 1 tbl sp

METHOD:-

Cooking the rice:-

1. Clean the rice in running water. Soak the rice in water for 30 mins.
2. In a pressure cooker, add the pre-soaked rice, all the spices mentioned above, salt. Cook the rice till is almost done and keep it separate.

Making the vegetable gravy:-

1. Traditionally biryani were made in clay pots, known as handis. If you have a clay pot, you could use it. I did not have a clay pot or handi. So, i used pressure cooker,
2. Heat ghee in the pressure cooker.
3. Add the whole garam masala: cardamons, mace, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves. Fry the garam masala till they crackle. 
4. Now add the onions, Fry the onions till golden brown.
5. Add the green chilly , ginger-garlic paste. fry for a minute.
6. Add the turmeric and red chilly pow.
7. Give the mixture a stir.
8. Now add the vegetables and stir for a minute.
9. Add the curd/yogurt
10. Stir and then add 3/4 cup water+salt. Stir the mixture well.
11. If using a pressure cooker for cooking the veggies, then cover the cooker with a lid and pressure cook for 2 mins.
12. If not using a pressure cooker, then bring the entire vegetable mixture to a  boil. Then simmer until vegetables are cooked. Add the dry fruits: almonds, raisins and cashew nuts to the vegetable gravy.
13. Check the salt ,add more if required.

Assembling the biryani and slow cooking it in dum:

1. warm the milk. Add saffron to it. let this saffron milk mixture cool. Add the curd to this mixture and mix well.
2. In the same pressure cooker with the cooked vegetables, sprinkle half each of saffron flavoured curd/yogurt, mint and coriander leaves.
3. Now spread half of the rice.
4. Sprinkle the remaining saffron flavoured curd/yogurt, mint-coriander leaves.
5. Spread the remaining rice. 
6. Sprinkle rose water(optional).
7. Place a moist cloth on top.
8. Cover with a lid.
9. Then seal with wheat flour dough or keep a heavy weight on the lid.
10. This is one technique that you could use for dum cooking if you do not have the wheat flour dough.
11. Place the sealed handi on the gas stove at low fire.
12. Cook for 20-25 mins more. If you think and feel, that you do not want the base to get burnt while cooking the biryani...there is a technique for avoiding this disaster.
13. Right at the begining, before dum cooking the biryani...take a tawa/griddle and heat it on medium flame. Now keep the sealed handi on the tawa. keep the flame to the lowest and cook for 20-25 mins. 
14. For the first 15 mins, i dum cooked the biryani on direct low flame and for the last 10 mins, i placed the pressure cooker on the tawa and cooked on a low flame.
15. While serving, make sure you equally serve the vegetables as well as rice.
16. Serve the yummy veg biryani with your choice of raita.

HAPPY COOKING :))))))