Vegetable Biryani

Vegetable Biryani

Brought the Babies to a birthday party this morning and we of course had potato chips and gelato en guise de lunch. Hub went to Media Markt with the Teenager for his Apple mouse and then to McDonald's for burgers. After that they went to play golf and surely had more junk food for tea. I had to cook us a proper dinner and decided on a Vegetable Biryani.

At the party I met IRR's whole family who came from Barcelona, Granada and Munich for her girl's 8th birthday. A nice bunch of ladies (they were 3 sisters) and very pretty too. Got myself an invitation from her mum to visit her in Granada - we could almost have been neighbours in the past when I was living in Jaén. My Spanish still sucks. Didn't improve overnight.

Vegetable Biryani :

The Biryani :

60g Butter

1 small Onion (sliced)

2 Garlic cloves (sliced)

2-cm piece Ginger (julienned)

1 Cinnamon stick (broken into large pieces)

5 whole Cloves

1 Tsp Mustard seeds

1 Tsp Cumin seeds

5 Green Cardamoms

1/2 Tsp whole Black Peppercorns

1/2 Tsp ground Turmeric (or be more generous and use saffron instead)

1 Tsp ground Coriander

1 Tsp ground Red Chilli

2 Bay leaves

2 cups Basmati rice (soaked 30 minutes in cold water and drained)

2 Tsp Salt

1 cup Water

The Vegetables :

2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil

1 Onion (sliced)

2 Garlic cloves (diced)

2-cm Ginger (shredded)

Half a Cinnamon stick

1/2 Tsp Mustard seeds

1 Tsp Cumin seeds

A few Black Onion seeds

1-2 Black Cardamoms

1 Tsp ground Coriander

1/2 Tsp ground Turmeric

1 Green Chilli (sliced)

2 Carrots (cubed)

1 Potato (cubed)

A few French Beans (chopped)

Half a Yellow Bell Pepper (chopped)

Half a head of Cauliflower (small florets)

1 Tbsp Golden Raisins (optional)

1 Tomato (cubed)

300ml hot Vegetable stock

1 Tsp Salt

1 small pot of Yoghurt

2 Tsp ground Garam Masala

2 Tbsp toasted sliced Almonds or whole Cashew Nuts

Fresh Coriander leaves for garnishing

Heat the butter in a non-stick pot and fry the onions, garlic, ginger, whole and ground spices till fragrant. (If you wish, can also grind the ginger and garlic into a paste first)

Add the bay leaves and soaked, drained rice. Thoroughly coat the rice with the butter and spices.

Add the salt and pour in the hot stock. I used only half the usual amount of liquid as we do not want the rice to be too cooked.

Cover the pot and lower the heat. Cook the rice till it's barely cooked.

At the same time, in another pot, heat the vegetable oil and fry the onions, garlic, ginger, whole and ground spices.

The vegetables have to be cut into small pieces so that they will cook in 5 minutes. Add the green chillies, the potatoes, carrots, green beans, bell pepper and then the cauliflower. Stir fry for a minute.

Add the raisins (if using them), chopped tomatoes, salt and vegetable stock. Mix well, cover and cook on medium heat for 5 minutes.

Stir in the yoghurt taking care not to leave any lumps. Add the spiced rice into the vegetable curry and gently stir to mix well. Sprinkle the garam masala on top of the biryani. Cover and simmer on the lowest heat till the rice is cooked.

Garnish with the toasted nuts and fresh coriander before serving. I served the biryani with Tandoori Chicken and its spicy yoghurt sauce.