Easy Vegetable Dum Biryani

Easy Vegetable Dum Biryani

Author: Rumki Paul
Course: Main
Cuisine: Indian
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 60 minutes
Total time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings: 6 Persons

Hello friends, today I am going to share one of my most favourite and most popular rice recipes around the world- Vegetable Dum Biryani. It is one of the authentic Nawabi recipes which is a perfect conglomerate of variety of vegetable, spices, Ghee and Basmati Rice.

The name Biryani itself an epic and tells so many stories of different regions, cultures and cuisines. Biryani is one of the most popular one pot meals in Asia. Every region has their own style to prepare this dish. There are many types of biryanis around the world like Hyderabadi Biryani, Kolkata Biryani, Awadhi Biryani, Kacchi Biryani, Sindhi Biryani, Thai Biryani, Srilankan Biryani, Iraqi Biryani, Singapore Biryani, Kashmiri Biryani and many more.

Biryani is one of the most versatile rice dishes I have ever seen in my life. It can get prepared in multiple ways using different key ingredients. It can be Chicken Biryani, Mutton Biryani, Beef Biryani, Pork Biryani, Lamb Biryani, Paneer Biryani or Vegetable Biryani, Egg Biryani and more. I can’t finish it on count.

It can get prepared in Tawa, in Handi, in pressure cooker or in Kadai. Few people prepare it in Dum process, whereas few others prefer to prepare it by stir fry. Some people also prepare it by combining both the processes. When prepared properly all of these varieties has its own mouth-watering taste.

In this recipe, I have prepared Vegetable Dum Biryani in Kadai. To make the preparation easy I have used few of my own steps. I hope it is going to help you to prepare this dish. Normally, in preparation of Vegetable Dum Biryani, rice gets cooked about 70% to 75% in a different utensil. I think it sometimes becomes very confusing for someone to understand when rice has reached level. As a result of this, sometimes either rice gets overcooked or undercooked.

To overcome from this trouble, I have come up with a new idea. I have not taken any separate utensil to cook the rice. I have explained all the steps in the “Method” section of my recipe. If you follow the steps properly then you will get fluffy rice with tender vegetables in the Biryani.

In this recipe, I have used few of my favourite vegetables. I have used Potatoes, Carrots, Bell Peppers, Cauliflower and Peas in this preparation. You can add some more vegetables or remove some of them as per your taste and preference.

Preparing Vegetable Dum Biryani is a slow process of cooking. But it is completely worth to spend time on it because the outcome of the hard work tastes heavenly. You can prepare Instant Vegetable Biryani in pressure cooker and it gets ready within half an hour. It tastes good but tastes completely different from Vegetable Dum Biryani. I will share that recipe too very soon with you.

One of the key ingredients to prepare a Vegetable Dum Biryani is fried Onions. To reduce both time and effort, I have used ready-made fried Onions which I purchased from the supermarket. Even homemade fried Onions work same for this preparation. But you would need to put some extra effort for this.

In Vegetable Dum Biryani, rice is completely overloaded with the flavours of spices and Ghee. At the same time, it has the goodness of vegetables. It does not require any other companion to complete the meal. Just a piece of Lemon and Onion takes the taste of the dish to the seventh sky.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups of basmati Rice
• 4 Onions, sliced
• 1 cup Cauliflower florets
• 2 large Potatoes, large pieces
• 2 medium Carrots, medium pieces
• 1 large green Bell Pepper, medium pieces
• 2 Tomatoes, deseeded and finely chopped
• 1 small cup Peas, fresh or frozen
• 2-3 green Chillies
• 4-5 large cloves of Garlic, finely chopped
• 1 and ½ inches of Ginger, grated
• 5 tablespoons Cilantro, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons fried Onions
• ½ teaspoon Cumin seeds (Jeera)
• 1-2 Bay leaves (Tejpatta)
• 5 Cloves (Lavang)
• 2 Cinnamon sticks (Dalchini), broken
• 2 teaspoons Turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red Chilli powder (Optional)
• 3 teaspoons Biryani masala
• 1 teaspoon Garam Masala
• ½ teaspoon Cardamom powder (Elaichi)
• 1 tablespoon Rose water
• 2 tablespoons Yogurt
• Salt to taste
• Oil for cooking
• 1 tablespoon ghee
• Cilantro for garnishing

1. Wash the Basmati rice and soak it in water for 30 minutes.
2. Strain the water and keep it aside.
   

3. Add 1 teaspoon Garam Masala and 1 teaspoon Biryani masala into Yogurt and beat it thoroughly.
4. Add 3 tablespoons of Oil into the pan.
5. Once the Oil is hot, add Potato pieces and fry until they become golden brown.
   

6. Take it out in a kitchen tissue.
7. Add Cauliflowers into the pan and fry them until they become golden brown.
   

8. Take it out in a kitchen tissue like Potatoes.
   

9. If oil required add some oil into the pan.
10. Once the oil is hot, add Cumin seeds (Jeera), Bay leaves (Tejpatta), Cinnamon sticks (Dalchini), Cloves (Lavang) and allow them to crackle.
    

11. Add Garlic into the pan and cook till they become golden in colour.
    

12. Add Onions and fry them for 2-3 minutes in medium high flame till they become translucent.
    

13. Add Carrots and cook it for couple of minutes.
    

14. Add green Bell Pepper, green Chillies and Tomatoes and stir well.
    

15. Cover the pan and cook it for 2-3 minutes in medium low flame.
16. Add Peas and stir it.
    

17. Cook it for another 1-2 minutes with cover in low flame.
18. Add Salt and Turmeric powder and mix it well.
    

19. Cook it for a minute and then add Potatoes (Step 6).
    

20. Cover the pan and cook it for 2 minutes in low flame.
21. Add Cauliflower (Step 8) and mix it well.
    

22. Remove the lid and cook it in medium flame for a minute.
23. Add 1 teaspoon Biryani masala and mix it well for few seconds.
    

24. Add Yogurt (Step 3) into the pan and give a nice mix.
25. Cover the pan and cook it for another 2 minutes in medium flame.
26. Stir occasionally.
27. Add 2 tablespoons of Cilantro and mix it well.
    

28. Switch off the flame and transfer the vegetables on a plate.
    

29. Add Ghee into the same pan and allow it to melt.
    

30. Add Basmati rice (Step 2) into the pan.
    

31. Stir continuously for 1-2 minutes.
32. Add 1 teaspoon Turmeric powder and mix it well.
    

33. Add 6.75 cups of boiling water into the pan.
    

34. Add 1 teaspoon of Biryani masala, Rose water and Salt into the water and mix it well.
35. Cover the pan and cook it for 5 minutes in medium high flame.
36. Add rest of the Cilantro, fried Onions and cook it for another 5 minutes in lowest flame.
    

37. Remove the cover and give a light mix.
38. Spread the vegetables over the rice and cover the lid.
    

39. Cook it for 5-7 minutes in lowest flame.
40. Remove the lid, mix it carefully and switch off the gas.
    

    Tip: Basmati rice is very delicate. Over mixing can break the rice. Always handle the rice with light hands.