Vegetable layered/Dum Biryani

I always make biryani in a pressure cooker and I find this method to be  more easy and it takes very less time to cook.Last week I wanted to try this Layered/dum biryani.Though it takes lots of time to prepare this dish the final taste and flavour is too good and it is worth trying out this dish..

For the recipe please click READ MORE below..


INGREDIENTS:

Serves:4

For the rice:
1.5 cups of Basmathi Rice
1 Cup of water(For basmathi rice)
1 no. of Cinnamon
2 nos of cloves
2 nos of bay leaves
3 nos of cardamom
A drop of oil
Salt to taste

For the veg gravy:
2 nos. of big onions,sliced thinly.
1 No. of medium sized tomato, chopped
2-3 Nos. of Beans,chopped into small pieces
1 no. of carrot,chopped into small pieces.
2-3 florets of cauliflower.
Handful of green peas
1 No. of potato chopped into small cubes.
2 green chillies(Optional)
handful of mint leaves
2 Tbsp of Thick curd
2 Tsp of ginger garlic paste
1 Tsp of Red chilli powder,heaped
1/2 Tsp of Cumin powder/jeera powder
Salt to taste


Few strands of Saffron
1 Tbsp of milk-for soaking saffron.
A drop of Yellow/orange colour-Optional-I didn't use it.

To Temper:
2-3 Tbsp of oil/Ghee or a mixture of both
2 nos of cloves
2 nos. of cinnamon(each of 1 inch length)
3 nos of cardamom
2 nos of star anise

For garnishing:
few nos of roasted cashewnuts
1 Tbsp of fried onions
Finely chopped coriander leaves

PROCEDURE:

Soak rice for 20-25 minutes.
Then drain off the water.Add the rice to the pressure cooker.
Add water,cinnamon,bay leaf,cardamom,clove,a drop of oil,salt.

Pressure cook for 1 Whistle.Keep the cooked rice aside.Let it cool.

In the mean while in a tbsp of milk add few strands of saffron.Let it get dissolved.If u are going to use food colour then add a pinch of it to the milk.

 

 

In a pan add oil and ghee(Optional)

Add Bay leaf,cinnamon,clove,cardamom and saute it

Then add sliced onions and saute it well.

Add ginger garlic paste and saute it.

 

 

Add sliced tomato and saute it till onion and tomatoes get mixed well.
Then add chopped vegetables and saute it.
Then add chilli powder,jeera powder/cumin powder,salt and saute it.

Saute it well.Sprinkle some water so that the vegetables get cooked well.
Close the pan and cook till vegetables get cooked.
Then add some mint leaves and saute it.

Add thick curd and saute it.
Saute it well and keep it aside.
So now the gravy is ready,rice is ready and the saffron water is ready.

Roast the cashews and keep it aside.
Fry some sliced onions and keep it aside.

In a oven proof bowl first spread a layer of cooked rice.Then sprinkle some saffron water on it.

Then spread a layer of the vegetable gravy over the rice layer.
Again on it spread a layer of cooked rice.
Again sprinkle some saffron water on it.
Repeat the steps till ur gravy and rice gets over.

Then bake it for 10-15 minutes at low temperature.I kept at 100 degrees C in convention mode.

Then garnish it with fried cashewnuts and onions.
Mix it well after it gets baked and serve it hot with Onion raita.

For the normal Dum:

If u don't have a oven/Microwave then follow the following steps for keeping the biryani in dum.
Take a thick heavy bottomed pan and arrange layers of rice and gravy as instructed above ..
Then close the pan with a plate so that the flavour remains inside..
In the mean while heat a thick Dosa tava/Skillet(preferably made of iron) for 5 minutes.
Then reduce the flame to low.On it keep the pan in which the biryani is layered.
On the plate keep another vessel into which hot water is poured and closed.
So there is heat on both the sides for the biriyani.
Keep it in such settings for 5 minutes.
Earlier I had demonstrated the dum on a stove top in my Ambur biryani post.Please refer to the post for keeping dum on stove top.

HANDY TIPS:

• Don't keep it for long time in dum on stove top.
• This tastes different to that of the normal cooker biriyani.
• Non-vegetarians can substitute chicken for vegetables.But add more chilli powder and allow the chicken to get cooked well.
• Instead of basmathi rice u can use raw rice too.For this add (Rice:Water)1:1.5 cups of water.