Vegetable Dum Biryani | Hyd Veg Dum Biryani

Biryani is one of the most popular Indian dishes that is relished globally. I am big fan of Vegetable biryani like many and have always wanted to make it from scratch including the biryani masala at home.

So in the process to educate myself I did some research and found that there are different varieties of biryanis that is flavored by different kind of masalas and cooking methods. I found this a very interesting read.

For me the takeaway has been that the ‘Biryani’ is all about the process. When aromatic rice is slow cooked in the the rich masala (of choice) the resulting flavors and aroma that are infused into the dish and the layered texture makes ‘Biryani’ so appealing to the palette. I have attempted the Veg Dum Biryani which has been the most familiar to me with few hits and few misses.

But this time I enjoyed the flavors and the home made masala and the resulting dish and here is the recipe of the same.

Vegetable Dum Biryani |Hyd Veg Dum Biryani

Servings: 2-3
Time: 2 hrs
Difficulty: medium-difficult
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Ingredients:

Rice – 1 cup
Water – 4 to 5 cups
Bay leaf – 1 nos
Cloves – 2 nos
Jeera – 1/2 tsp
Cardamom – 1 nos
Little bit oil and lemon juice.

For base masala:
Carrot – 1/2 cup
Beans – 1/2 cup
Potato – 2 small
Cauliflower florets – 1 cup
Green chilies – 2 slit
Curd – 1 cup +1/2 cup
Homemade Biryani Masala – 2 tsp
Red chili powder – 1 -2 tsp
Coriander powder – 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Turmeric powder -1/2 tsp
Ginger-Garlic paste – 1 tsp
Mint leaves- few
Coriander leaves- few
Butter – 5 tbs

For tempering:
Bay leaf – 2 nos
Cloves – 4 nos
Jeera – 2 tsp
Big Cardamom – 1 nos
Regular cardamom -2\
mint leaves – 10

For assembly
Saffron stands/kumkuma poo/kesar – Few stands of
Warm milk – 3 tbs
(soak the saffron in the warm milk and set it aside)
fried onion – ( optional)

Method:

For base masala:

In a mixing bowl add all the veggies and the curd.
Then add and all the dry masala powders ( Biryani masala 1 tsp , Red chili powder 1 tsp, Coriander powder- 1 tsp Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp, and some Salt ) and mix well.
Also add in the GG paste. Ensure all the veggies are fully coated with the masala, curd and the GG.
Marinate all the veggies in a bowl for 30 to 40 mins.
Once the veggies are marinated its time to cook the gravy.
In a pan (that you want to dum cook the biryani) add 2 tbs of butter and add the Bay leaf – 2 nos, Cloves – 4 nos, Jeera – 2 tsp
and Cardamom -2 nos.
Once the jeera splatters and the aroma of the whole garam masala is released add in the marinated veggies.
Give it a quick stir and add 1/2 more cup of cued and some water as needed. Let the veggies cook in masalas.
This would take about 15 to 20 mins. make sure that the gravy is not too dry. Otherwise the biryani will turn out very dry ( I learnt it the hard way)

For Rice

Around the same time you marinate the veggies sock 1 cup Basmati rice for 30 to 40 mins in water.
Boil 4 cups of water seasoned with shahi jeera, cardamom-1 and bay leaf and a little salt .
Add the drained rice to the boiling water. I added little bit of oil and 1-2 tsp of lemon juice to avoid rice form sticking to each other.
once the rice starts dancing in the water and breakd to the touch the rice is cooked 3/4.
Now drain the rice and spread it in a plate and let it cool.

WHEN THE GRAVY PART IS DONE AND THE RICE IS COOLED FOLLOW THE NEXT STEPS BELOW.

For Assembly and Dum cook.

In the pan that the gravy is cooking in add half of the cooked rice. Keep the flame at low while this assembly.
Then layer it with 1 spoon of the saffron milk and layer it with the half of the mint leaves and the fried onion.
Sprinkle some garam masala and add in the rest of the rice and layer it again with the saffron, fried onions mint and coriander.
Now cover and cook it for 5 to 10 mins.
After 10 mins Seal the pan with dough or aluminium foil to create the dum. The dough is the best option.
If you are using the aluminium foil the cover the pan with couple of towels to make it more compact.
Put a tava on low heat. Now transfer the pan on top of a tava and cook it on top it for 15 to 20 mins.
Once done ( which you can time or tell when the sealed dough is dry) off the heat and let it cool for another 10-15 mins before opening.
To tell if the biryani is done check the rice , it should be cooked well but still separate and the bottom layer should be mosit but not watery.
Serve it with raita or saalan or both 🙂

Note:

Since the Briyani is cooking in low flame for about 45 mins make sure there is enough moisture on the bottom of the pan to avoid burning.
The first attempt I got few mixed feedbacks like needs more salt, some said less biryani masala and some said more masala, and also thet the biryani was slightly under cooked and dry.
Adjust salt and masala to your taste.
To avoid dryness and under cooking ensure that the garvey has enough mositure to cook the rice during the dum process. I fixed that with in my next attempt and the above recipe is of the second attempt that turned out perfect.