I had quite a few biryanis/pulav recipes for alphabet ‘V,’ and I wasn’t sure which one to pick. While I was browsing through my recipe archive, I realized that my vegetable biryani recipe that I posted in 2011 needs some good pictures. (Yes, I am republishing my old post with new pictures and content) Content is always gold, and here I am refreshing the same and posting it for the alphabet “V.” You can call this as vegetable biryani or Vidhya’s vegetable biryani (I can hear your ahem, ahem) Hey, I refined my mom’s recipe; I think I can take some credit. Anyways, let’s talk about the vegetable biryani now.
Back in my native, all the restaurants aka hotels add fried bread to the biryani, and I love it. The joy of digging the biryani to find those soft bread pieces loaded with the biryani flavor is pure bliss. Also, I don’t remember relishing super grainy dum biryani back in my native. They use only short grain rice (not sure if its seeraga samba) and serve it on a banana leaf with raita and korma. I used to annoy amma for korma and biryani. My mom makes korma often but biryani occasionally. She makes it with regular raw rice, and she always adds that fried bread for me. :-) I started using basmati rice and other varieties after coming to the US only. And in the US, I began to refine my mom’s recipe and tried to replicate the hotel style vegetable biryani. After a lot of trails, I nailed down the method. When I posted in 2011, I used basmati rice for this recipe. I wasn’t aware of seeraga samba back then. This time, I used seeraga samba, and that added all that magic. I know you might think that I am exaggerating about seeraga samba, but believe me, folks, try it once, and then you will realize its magic. Ok, let me stop here and share the veg biryani recipe. :-)
Ingredients:
2 tbsp ghee, unmelted 1 cup bread or bun, chopped into small cubes(I used one pav bun chopped) 1 tbsp oil ½ tbsp fennel seeds 2 tsp ginger-garlic paste One green chili, cut into two One onion, chopped One tomato, chopped 2 tsp coriander powder 1 tsp red chili powder ¼ tsp turmeric powder ½ tsp garam masala 1.5 tsp salt 20 mint leaves, roughly chopped ¼ cup cilantro leaves ½ cup grated coconut 1 cup mixed vegetables (I used peas, corn, cauliflower, and carrots) 1.25 cup + 2 tbsp water 1 cup seeraga samba rice, washed and soaked for 20 minutes and drained
Prep-Work:
Grind the coconut coarsely by adding 2 tbsp of water. Wash the rice and soak it in water for about 20 minutes and drain the water. Cut all the vegetables including onion and tomato and set aside. Chop the bread or bun into small cubes.
Steps:
Heat a pressure pan or cooker and add the ghee and let it melt. When the ghee is hot, add the cubed bread pieces and fry it until it turns slightly crisp and brown. Remove it from the pan and set it aside.
In the same pan add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the fennel seeds and fry for 20 seconds. Then add the onion, green chili, and the ginger-garlic paste. Cook until the raw smell goes off.
Next add the tomatoes and all the spices – coriander powder, red chili powder, turmeric powder, garam masala, and salt. Mix thoroughly.
Add the mint and cilantro leaves next and cook until they wilt for about 2 to 3 minutes.
Now add the coconut paste and mix again.
Then add the vegetables. After adding the vegetables, mix thoroughly and make sure to scrape the bottom of the pressure pan.
Now add the rice and water.
Mix gently.
Close the pressure cooker lid and put the weight on — Cook for one whistle over medium heat.
Allow the pressure to release naturally. After opening the pressure cooker lid, allow the rice to cool for 5 minutes and then add the fried bread and mix gently.
Serve hot with raita and kurma.
Recipe Notes-
Adjust the salt and spices according to your preference. Instead of seeraga samba, you can use basmati or regular white rice. If you are using basmati rice, then you can use the same amount of water, else increase the water by ½ cup. Add vegetables according to your preference.
📖 Recipe
Update Notes: This recipe was originally posted in 2011 but now updated with new photos.
