Vegetable Biryani

Vegetable Biriyani is a spicy rice based food made with different kinds of spices and vegetables. The word biryani is derived from Persian word called beryan which means fried or roasted. Biryani was brought to the Indian sub-continent by the muslim travelers and merchants. There are many versions of making biryani.
I made this vegetable biryani without  onion and garlic.  I got some tips in making this biryani from my aunt Mrs.Parvathy Dharmarajan and my mom Mrs.Geetha Sundaram. This my husband's favourite dish.

Ingredients
Basmati rice 1 1/2 cup
Ghee- 4-5 table tsp
carrot- 1
beans- 7
potato- 1
cabbage- 1/2 cup (finely chopped)
tomato- 4
paneer- 1/2 cup (small cubes)
green peas- 1/2 cup
cauliflower- 10-15 florets
green chillies- 2 ( adjust according to taste)
ginger- 1 inch
mint leaves- 1/2 a bunch
cilantro- 1 cup (finely chopped)
yogurt- 1/2 cup
corriander powder- 1 tsp
red chilli powder- 1 tsp (adjust according to taste)
turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
garam masala 1 tsp
shahi jeera- 1/2 tsp
fennel seed - 1/2 tsp
cinamon stick - 1 (1 inch)
cloves- 2
cardamom- 3
hing- a pinch
food colour (orange)- a pinch
cashews- 15
Bread slices- 2

Preparation:
Wash and soak the rice for 20 mins. Cook the rice in a pressure cooker with 1 1/2 cup of water and 1 tsp of ghee.
Transfer the cooked rice in to a wide bowl and work on it slowly so the rice doesnt break. Chop carrot and potatoes length wise and evenly. Grind the tomatoes, cinamon stick, cardamom, cloves, green chillies and ginger in a blender to a paste. Heat 2 tsp of ghee in  a wok. Add shahi jeera, fennel seeds. When it cracks add hing and chopped cabbage and fry them till golden brown. Now add the ground paste along with a cup of water. Add the garam masala, turmeric powder, corriander powder, red chilli powder and allow it to cook for 2 minutes. Add the other veggies and salt and allow it to cook for 5-7 minutes. When the veggies are cooked add yogurt and paneer and finely chopped mint leaves and saute them for 2-3 minutes until the water gets absorbed and becomes a thick vegetable curry. Mix the food colur in a tablespoon of water and add it to the rice and mix gently. Take a large vessel and put half of the rice. Then layer it with the vegetable curry. Add the remaining rice and layer it with the remaining vegetable curry. Close the vessel with a lid and shake it nicely upwads and downwards and sideways so that the contents get mixed well. Open the lid and stir it gently. Make sure the rice doesn't break and the veggies doen't get smashed. Pre-heat the over for 10 minutes and keep the biryani in the oven for 10 minutes. Now heat 1 tsp of ghee and roast the cashews. To make bread croutons , cut the bread in to small cubes.  Heat 2 tsp of ghee in a pan and fry them until golden brown. Remove the biryani from the oven. Garnish the biryani with cilantro leaves, roasted cashews and bread croutons. Spicy vegetable biryani is ready. This can be served with any kind of raita.

Note: Normally basmati rice requires 1: 1 1/2 cup of water for cooking. But for the kind of basmati rice I'm using it requires only 1:1 cup of water.

Carrot Halwa/ Gajar Halwa

Halwa is a dense sweet confection served across the Indian subcontinenet. Carrot halwa is one of the most popular traditional Indian dessert. Carrot halwa also known as gajar halwa is made of carrots and cooked with milk, ghee, reduced milk and garnished with dry fruits and nuts. I often make this sweet for ekadashi.
Ingredients
Carrot (grated)- 4 cups
Milk- 4 cups
sugar- 1 cup
ghee- 3 -4 tbsp
broken cashews- 1 tbsp
Raisns- 1 tbsp
blanched almonds- 1 tbsp
pistachio- 1 tsp
cardamom- 1/4 tsp

Preparation:
Fry the dry fruits and nuts in ghee and place it aside. Boil 2 cups of milk in a heavy bottom vessel to make khoa. Boil the remaining 2 cups of milk in a heavy bottom pan. Add the grated carrot in it and cook until the carrot gets cooked and also the milk gets shortened and becomes thick. Keep stirring continuously so that the bottom part is not burnt. Add the khoa and sugar in it and continue stirring until you get a thick consistency.  Add the cardamom and the fried nuts along with ghee and keep stirring for a minute. Remove from heat. You can serve the halwa hot.

Suggestions: Carrot halwa can be served as a topping for ice cream.

Tomato Red Capsicum( Bell pepper) chutney

Chutney is a class of spicy preparation which is usually served as an accompaniment with the main course. Its usually wet have a coarse to fine texture. There are a wide varieties of chutney available in Indian cusine. I tried making chutney with tomatoes and red bell pepper (capsicum).
Ingredients:
Tomatoes- 4
Red capsicum( bell pepper)- 1/2
ginder- 1 inch
green chillies- 2
peanusts- 1 tbsp
cilantro (coriander leaves)- 3 tbsp
cumin seeds- 1/4 tsp
oil- 1 tsp
hing/ asafoetida- a pinch
salt to taste

Preparation:
Heat 1 tsp of oil in a pan. add cumin sedds. when it cracks add a pinch of hing and peanusts and fry them. then add chopped ginger and green chillies and fry them for a minute. Then add chopped tomatoes and red capsicum( bell pepper). Add salt. Fry them until they become tender. Turn of the heat and allow it to cool. Blend them and serve with Buckwheat dosa.

Note: Since I made this chutney on ekadhasi I have not done the seasoning. On non ekadhasi days I used to tamper the chutney with mustad seeds, urad dal a pinch of hing (asafoetida) and curry leaves. This chutney goes well with any kind of dosas or idly.

Cilantro Powder/ Kothamalli podi

It's been a long time that me and Swarnavalli were not blogging .. Now, we are in action again :-)..
Spices podis have always been a favorite one with me. Spiced powders or Gun powders are common terms for podi. There are varieties like Kothamalli podi (Coriander powder), Pudina podi (Pudina powder) ,Tenga Podi (Coconut powder). These are usually had as an accompaniment to our daily meals, idli, yogurt Rice, Plain white rice or Roti. Here is the recipe for kothamalli podi .Coriander (Kothamalli/ Dhania), also known as Cilantro is an annual herb whose leaves, stems and seeds are edible.

Ingredients

Cilantro - 3 bunches
Red Chillies - 3
Tamarind - Tiny marble size (dry)
Salt
Mustard - 1/2 tsp
Hing/Asafoetida - 2 pinches
Gingerly Oil - 1 tbs

Method

Wash the coriander leaves and also the stems, if they are tender, and spread on a cloth to dry, preferably overnight
I used only the leaves with little stem ( if you want you can use the entire stem ).
Dry roast the red chillies . Once coll down , blend red chillies with salt.
Grind the dried cilantro, dry tamarind , powdered red chillies and salt into a paste. Ensure there is no water in the blender ..
In a hot pan add oil , followed by mustard seeds, asafoetida.When mustard seeds splutter, add the blended cilantro masala and fry it often so that it doesn't stick to the pan. Turn off the fire after 10 mins..
Store in a air tight container and refrigerate it.