Dindigul Thalapakatti Biryani is a famous South Indian biryani from Tamil Nadu and comes from the Dindigul Thalapakatti region. It has a tangy taste and made with local rice and ingredients. The rice used for this biryani is called Seeraga Samba rice which is a short grain rice.
The tiny-grained seeraga samba gets its name from its resemblance to cumin, which is known as seeragam in Tamil Nadu, and is the most expensive rice grown in that southern India and is 1/3 the size of Basmati rice. Seeraga samba is main ingredient in Dindukal biriyani. (online sources)
I try to make Biryani often as weekend lunch as I have managed to create two more biryani fans 😃😃…. I always am looking to learn and try new varieties of biryani. I tasted this variety, Dindigul Thalapakatti Biryani, for the first time here in the US ( yes, did not know about this until now 🙈🙈) when I first visited the Dindigul Thalappakatti Restaurant few years back. Never got a chance to revisit again and with many biryani places coming up since kind of forgot about it. I was taking to a colleague about South Indian biryani masala and wanted to try this at home.
I always try to research to understand the difference between the different biryanies before I try making it. I learnt that this biryani is not cooked in the famous Dum method but instead made by cooking the vegetable or meat with the rice and masala.
The masala is also sort of unique where mint is ground with onion and green chillis. This gives its unique taste. The biryani masala is also has a special ingredient – black pepper that adds to the spiciness. This dish is not as spicy as the Hyd Dum Biryani . Also check out my other biryani recipies – Kolkata Aloo Biryani, Avakkai Dum Biryani, and Ulavachaaru Paneer Biryani.
I adapted this recipe from multiple source, mainly masala paste recipe by Chef Dhamu and the authentic description from Kannama cooks . I modified the recipe into vegetarian version and adjusted ingredients to suit the taste and liking of our family. I made this vegetarian version in InstantPot.
Once you prepare the masala paste and the biryani powder and this only takes close to 40 mins there after in IP. You can also marinate the vegetables a day before if you want quicken the process. I marinated it as the first thing while I prepared the rest of the items.
I made this over the weekend and it turned out super amazing. It was very flavorful and tasty if I myself may say so. We had a heavy serving of the biryani with cucumber raita and had a super relaxing afternoon 😴😴😴……
Dindukal Veg Biryani – InstantPot recipe
Equipment
- InstantPot
Ingredients
For Dry Masala
- 3 green cardamoms
- 1 inch cinnamon
- 2 single strands of mace
- 10-12 small cloves
- 10 -12 whole black pepper
- 1 tbs fennel seeds
- 1 bay leaf
For the Masala Past
- 3-4 medium shallots OR 1 cup chopped large onion
- 2 green chillies
- 1 jalapeno
- 3 clove garlic
- 1 inch ginger
- 2 tbs chopped mint leaves
Remaining Ingredients
- 2 cups seeraga samba rice enough water for soaking rice
- 2 tbs ghee
- 4 tbsp Oil
- 1/2 tbs turmeric powder
- 1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin-coriander powder
- 1 large tomato
- 3-4 cups mixed vegetables Cauliflower, Beans, Carrot, Peas, Potato
- 1 cup fresh curd
- 4 cups water
- salt as required
Instructions
Preparing the rice and vegetables.
- Rinse and clean 2 cups seeraga samba rice. Then soak rice in enough water for 30 minutes while you prep the rest of the items.
- Cut the veggies into medium size pieces and marinate it in Curd.
- Add Turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander-cumin powder and Amchoor powder to the veggies and mix well and marinate it for 30-40 minutes.
Preparing dry masala and paste
- Dry roast all the whole ingredients – Fennel, cardamom, cloves, blackpepper, bayleaf,
- Grind it all in to a fine powder in a grinder.
- For the paste, grind the raw onion, mint leaves, ginger and garlic along with green chilies, into a fine paste .
- There is no water required as the water in the onion is enough to grind.
Making Biryani
- Heat 4 tablespoons oil in your Instant pot on saute mode. Then add 1 tsp jeera, cardamom and cloves and let it saute for a few seconds.
- Then add in the cut tomatoes and let it cook for 2-3 minutes. Now add the ground masala paste.
- Mix it well and saute the paste 5 -6 minutes . Keep stiring every few minutes while sautéing to avoid burning of masala
- Let the color change to dark green and oil separates from the sides
- now add 1/2 to 3/4th of the biryani masala that you had prepared
- Then add the marinated veggies to the pot. Mix well and saute the veggies for 3 -5 minutes.
- Season with salt and mix again. To ensure the rice gets enough water taste the stock and ensure it is slightly salty.
- Let the veggie cook for quick minute and then add in the 4 cups of water.
- Now add the rice and gently mix.
- Now switch to pressure cook mode from saute mode.and set it to manual pressure cook for 7-8 minutes.
- Let the pressure release naturally and then open the instant pot and serve the aromatic biryani with you choice of raita
Notes
- The pepper corn and Cloves add a underlying spiciness along with flavor but if you need more spicy simply add more green chilies to the masala paste.
- You can also use basmati rice or sona masuri rice instead of seeraga samba rice, if its not available. But recommend to try it with Seeraga samaba to experience the authentic taste
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Yummy