Vegetable Biryani with Jack Fruit and Fresh Methi

Biryani is a real gem in the rice dishes of the world and the varieties that can be found are really many. The very frequent version is made with chicken and is the most requested dish in my house, but you can also find a variant only based on vegetables. Vegetable Biryani is  easy to make, very yummy and and does not take long to cook.

A few days ago I saw a vegetable biryani on Sangeeta’s blog (Banaras ka khana,) which had fenugreek leaves. The idea of using methi leaves in biryani was totally new to me. We love methi a lot so I thought to try this biryani out. Sangeeta used dry methi in her biryani recipe but I had lot of fresh methi on hand so I cooked mine with fresh methi. You can put any vegetbale but choose that do not contain much water such as  jack fruit, carrot and green beans.

Enjoy!

Vegetable Biryani with Jack Fruit and Fresh Methi

Basic Ingredients:

3 cups basmati rice, 4-5 cups of prepared vegetables, saffron soaked in 2 tbsp. water, Homemade or storebought Biryani Masala, extra virgin olive oil

For the rice:

7 cups water, 2 black cardamom broken, 1-1″ stick cinnamon, 1 bay leaf, 1/2 tbsp. salt

For the vegetables:

1 carrot (3/4 cup diced in any shape),1 can (1.5 cup) of jack fruit evenly cut, 1cup fresh methi (fenugreek) leaves roughly chopped, 2 large tomatoes, diced, 3/4 cup cut French beans, 1/4 cup cashews, 6 chopped Thai green chilies, 1cup sliced onion, 2 tsp chopped ginger,  1tsp salt, 3 tbsp lemon juice,1 tbsp. biryani masala, 2 tbsp. of extra virgin olive oil

For whole spices:

1 tsp cumin seeds, 1/2 tsp black cardamom seeds, 4 cloves, 1/2 tsp coarsely crushed black pepper, 2 green cardamom pounded

Method to make rice for Biryani:

Rinse and soak rice for half an hour.

Bring 7 cups of water to boil with salt and spices (for the rice). When the water starts boiling drain the rice and add to the pot. Let the rice cook for 5-7 minutes or until rice is al dente ( still got some bite to it), rest of it will be cooked when we layer the vegetables and rice by sealing it.

Turn off the heat and immediately drain off the water from rice. Spread it in a flat colander so that it cools down. Throw away the bay leaf and shells of cardamom.

Cooking Vegetables

Soak saffron in water. Cut the vegetables as you prefer.

Heat oil in a heavy bottom pot or Dutch oven. Add whole spices, fry briefly.

Add sliced onions. Sauté until golden brown. Add green chilies and ginger. Sauté for a minute.

Add tomatoes. Cook until soft. Then add the vegetables (carrot, French beans and jack fruit) and cashews. Cover and cook until half tender. Stir for a minute or two. Now add chopped methi leaves, lemon juice, biryani masala, and salt. Cook for another minute.

Remove pot from the heat. Heat a flat iron griddle (tawa) on gas stove.

While it is heating, generously grease the bottom and sides of a heavy bottom pot with oil ( I use the same in which I boiled rice) to assemble biryani.

Add half the rice in the pot and spread it evenly with the back of ladle. Now add the prepared vegetables and spread it evenly. Add the remaining rice on top and spread. Pour 2 tbsp. oil and saffron water all over. Cover with a tight fitting lid.

Place the pot on the preheated tawa (griddle) and something heavy on top (Some people do this by wrapping the lid in foil, or in a wet cloth. The idea is to not let the steam escape).

Cook this on low heat for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave the pot rest for 15 minutes.

Open the lid and  gently mix the rice and vegetable layer from the bottom of the pot.

Enjoy vegetable biryani with plain yogurt or Raita.

BIRYANI MASALA

You can grind your own Biryani masala or get it from store.

Ingredients:

8 cloves, 10 green cardamoms, 4 black cardamoms, 4 (pieces) mace, 3/4 tsp black pepper corns, 4-1″cinnamon sticks, 4 bay leaves, 1-2 tsp. dried pomegranate seeds, 1/2 tsp. black cumin seeds, 1 tsp. dry fenugreek leaves, 1/2 tsp -3/4 tsp kashmiri chili powder, 2 tbsp. ground coriander, 1 tbsp. ground cumin, 1/2 tsp. turmeric

Method:

Toast the first 10 ingredients until aromatic. Grind in coffee grinder.

Add the last four ingredients.

Let cool before  storing in a container.

Grind the masala in small amounts to keep the freshness.This is good for 3-4 times.