Created by samiksha on July 23, 2020
Step 1: Wash and soak long grain basmati rice in three cups of water for at least half an hour. Now drain the water and keep rice aside.
Step 2: Keep all the required spices and ingredients ready.
Step 3: Cut all the vegetables and keep them aside.
Step 4: Dissolve saffron in warm milk and set it aside.
Step 5: Heat sufficient oil in a kadhai and deep-fry one thinly sliced onion until it turns golden brown.
Step 6: Drain the fried onions onto an absorbent paper/paper towel to remove excess oil. This is a completely optional step.
Step 7: Keep a flour dough ready for sealing handi/pot lid, completely optional step.
Step 8: Add four cups of water and salt in a kadhai or pot, bring to a boil, add soaked rice into it and cook it until the rice is three fourth done.
Step 9: Drain the excess water from the rice and spread the rice out on a plate to cool down.
Step 10: Heat a pot or kadhai; once heated now add oil/ghee into it.
Step 11: Once oil / ghee is heated; add star anise, bay leaves, caraway seeds, cloves, black and green cardamoms and cinnamon sticks. Saute these whole spices for 1 to 2 minutes.
Step 12: Add thinly sliced onions, fry onions until they turn golden brown. Now add green chillies, stir it a few times.
Step 13: Add ginger paste, garlic paste and saute it until the raw smell has gone.
Step 14: Add freshly made tomato puree and cook it until the raw smell has gone. This is completely an optional step. You can skip this step if you don’t like or prefer tomatoes in veg biryani.
Step 15: Add all the cut vegetables one by one starting from potato cubes, cauliflower florets, carrot cubes, french beans pieces and then green peas. Saute it well for 2 to 3 minutes.
Step 16: Add paneer cubes, red chili powder, coriander powder, biryani masala powder or garam masala powder, salt as per your taste, mix everything very well.
Step 17: Now, add yogurt, give it a good stir; add coriander leaves, mint leaves. Mix and saute everything well for the next 1-2 minutes.
Step 18: Divide cooked rice into two equal portions. Take a thick bottom handi, transfer the one portion of rice into a handi, spread it evenly. Layer the cooked vegetables evenly over the layer of rice. Spread a second portion of rice evenly over the vegetables layer.
Step 19: Sprinkle the remaining biryani masala/ garam masala, mint leaves, coriander leaves and the fried onions. Garnish with cashew nuts, almonds if you would like. Garnishing and sprinkling fried onions is completely optional.
Step 20: Sprinkle saffron milk on the top layer, now place a moist cloth on top and close the lid.
Step 21: Place the sealed handi on the top of a tawa and cook biryani on very low flame for 20 to 25 minutes. Cooking biryani on very low flame brings out the flavors of vegetables and all species.
Step 22: Hot veg biryani / veg dum biryani is now ready to serve with raita or salan and papad.