Vegetable Biriyani

This was one of my first Biriyani. It is heavy in masala with all the mint and cilantro leaf ground. The house gets over-powered with these fragrances!
I would advice you to try some of my newer biriyani recipes if you like things milder and more sophisticated like the Baluchi Biriyani or the Kozhikode Vegetable Biriyani.

Ingredients:
Basmati Rice - 1 1/2 cups washed and soaked
Oil/Ghee - 4tbsp
Clove-2
Cardamom - 2
Cinnamon stick - 1inch broken into pieces
Cumin seed (jeera) - 1/2tsp
Ginger paste - 1/2 tsp
Garlic paste - 1/2 tsp
Tomato -2 medium - ground into pulp
Salt - 1 tbsp
Vegetables (Carrot, beans, cauliflower, potato) - 4 cups - cut into big chunks and parboiled with a pinch of garam masala

To be ground into paste (masala)
Mint leaves - 1 cup
Coriander leaf/Cilantro - 1 cup
Onion - 1 large
Red chillies - 2
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Cloves - 3
Pepper - 6
Cardamom - 2
Star anise - 1/2 star
Cinnamon - 1 1/2"
Cumin seed - 1tsp
Ginger - 2 "
Garlic - 6 pods

Garnish:
Onion - 1 big sliced into thin strips and fried till brown/crisp
Cashewnuts- 2 tbsp fried
Raisins - 1 tbsp fried
Milk - 1/2 cup
saffron - 1 pinch

Method:
Boil 2-3/4 cups of water with a tsp of salt in another vessel and add to the former. Cover and reduce flame to minimum. Turn off after 10 minutes, but DO NOT OPEN lid.
After about 20 minutes, open lid and fluff up the rice with a fork.

Heat the oil/ghee in a thick bottomed vessel with heavy tight lid. Saute the whole spices till aromatic. Add the masala paste to this and fry on medium flame till raw smell goes.

Then add the tomato pulp with salt.
Cook till fat separates.
Add the parboiled vegetables .Cover and cook on slow flame till the vegetbles are done well, but do not lose shape. Taste for salt.

Layering:
In the heavy bottomed deep serving dish melt a tsp of ghee.
Layer half the rice on this. Press down and top with vegetable curry.
Top with rest of the rice. Press down slowly.
Drizzle the milk mixed with saffron evenly over the rice.
Garnish with a pinch of garam masala and some of the fried onion, cashew and raisins.
Cover tightly and put over the stove on the lowest flame. Cook for about 20 minutes till heated through and the lid feels hot.
Garnish with the rest of the fried onions, cashew and raisins.
Serve hot with Raitha, Pappad and Salaan.