Yes, you’re officially allowed to grill the next person who
says ‘veg biryani doesn’t exist’ or ‘it’s just pulao’.
Well, something I can assure for sure, is that it is
definitely not pulao, cause we don’t add sugar or fry the rice before its
cooked. The authentic procedure of making any form of Biryani is followed here,
and you can simply just substitute the koftas with mutton, chicken or fish (preferably
hilsa) according to the protein of your choice, and follow the exact same ingredients
and process as used here. So here we go!
Keep those drools on!
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| Pic © Shreya Mitra |
Ingredients ( for 4 servings)
Preparation time ( 40 minutes to as long as you can
persevere)
·
For the Koftas
1)
Paneer grated 200 gms
2)
Beetroot: 1
3)
Carrot: 2
4)
Potato: 2
5)
Green peas: 10-15 pods
·
For Rice:
1)
Basmati Rice: 300 gms
2)
Onions: 3
3)
Garlic: 8-10 cloves
4)
Ginger: 3 cubes
5)
Tomato puree: 6 tbs
6)
Curd: 4 tbs
7)
Fresh cream: for garnishing
8)
Keora, rose water: 2 tbs each
9)
Saffron/ kesar soaked in milk: 5 tbs
10)
Mitha atar: 2 drops
11)
Beresta or brown fried onions: half cup
12)
Ghee: As much as your conscience permits
13)
Salt according to taste
14)
Coriander/ dhania leaves for garnishing
15)
Whole Spices:
i.
Whole jeera (Cumin seeds): 2 tbs
ii.
Whole dhania ( coriander seeds): 4 tbs
iii.
Shah jeera (caraway seeds): 2 tbs
iv.
Shah marich (white pepper): 2 tbs
v.
Whole kali mirch (Black pepper): 1 tbs
vi.
Kabab chini (piper cubeba) : 2 tbs
vii.
Mouri/ saunf (Fennel seeds): 2 tbs
viii.
Sukha laal mirch (Dried red chilli): 3
ix.
Jaifal (nutmeg): ½
x.
Jaitri (mace): 3-4
xi.
Elaichi (Cardamom): 5-6
xii.
Darchini (Cinnamon): 2-3
xiii.
Laung/lobongo (cloves): 4-5
xiv.
Tej pata (bay leaves)- 2
16)
Powdered/paste masala
i.
Jeera powder
ii.
Haldi powder
iii.
Red chilli powder
iv.
Kasmiri mirch powder
v.
Garam masala powder
vi.
Dahania powder
vii.
Cashew paste
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| Pic © Shreya Mitra |
·
Preparation:
1)
Koftas
First of all, roast and grind the whole spices to make a
fine powdered mix.
In a bowl, mix the paneer and all boiled veggies and all the
powdered masalas according to your estaimate, and make balls out of the paneer
veggie dough. Add cornflour or normal flour as needed. Deep fry those
balls/koftas and keep aside. You ccan add ginger/garliuc paste to it to enhance
the flavours.
Now for the gravy, mix ghee an oil in a pan, after they heat
up, add the ginger garlic paste, tomato puree and 1 tbs sugar to caramelize,
the give the thing a nice red colors, add the onions, and all the powdered
masalas and cashew paste. Add curd, salt and let it simmer till the oil separates.
Lower the flame, add the koftas, rose water, keora water, a drop of meetha atar
and sprinkle a pinch of garam masala and coriander.
2)
Rice
Firstly, you need to prepare the akhani water tto boil the rice.
Add half of a whole onion, ginger, 2-3 garlic cloves and all whole
masalas, tie them in acloth like a potli, and add it in the water in which you’ll
cook the rice and let it boil. As the water bubbles, take out the potli, add
salt, whole gara,\m masal, and ghee to the water (so that the rice doesn’t
stick). Then add your washed rice. Cook till the rice is half-cooked. You don’t
want the whole portion of rice to boil, as biryani will be half cooked in the ‘dum’
or steam part that follows.
Take out the rice and starin out all the waters. Now comes the most artistic
and tedious part of the biryani game.
Take the handi and dab oil throughout it’s inner surface. Now add a layer
of the kofta mix, followed by a layer of half cooked rice. Add saffron milk (You
can add the atar and rose water in this mix itself), ghee, salt, coriander and
beresta over the top. Keep on repeating the process of layering till the last.
Now top it up with the lid, and wrap it with flour dough so that the vapor
cannot escape the utensil.
In an oven, or a double boiler if you’re cooking in gas oven or induction cook
top (like I did), place the handi and let it cook. Each 5 minutes, shake the
whole thing so that the layer is topsy-turvied. Let it cook for like 15-20
minutes.
Switch off the flame and let it rest. And now, you can dig in with a side
of any gravy, curry or raita.
You’re welcome. Happy lunching or dining!
© Shreya
Mitra
