Vegetable Dum Biryani: A Flavoursome Meal You Can’t Miss

The opulent and regal dish, known as biryani, may quickly transform your meal into something to salivate over. Even on an expensive, elegant lunch or dinner menu, the only dish using rice as its foundation would always be the main course. The Mughlai and Awadhi cuisines, where it has its roots, as well as the Muslim community, are where biryani first appeared. Over time, though, it has travelled across borders and is now a beloved dish in many countries with many iterations to suit various tastes. The timeless staple of biryani hardly needs an introduction.

The mouth-watering biryani is the one dish that all Indians agree on enjoying from the country's vast culinary offerings. One is spoiled for choice when it comes to tasting this mashup of flavours because local and hyperlocal variants have developed into unique varieties of biryanis. Despite having the appearance of being Indian cuisine, it really has foreign roots. Biryani is derived from the Persian words Birinj, which means rice, and Birian, which means "fried before cooking." It is widely acknowledged that biryani originated in West Asia, despite the fact that there are several beliefs regarding how it arrived in India.

The predecessor to the biryani is thought to have been carried to India's borders by the Turko-Mongol conqueror Timur in 1398, according to legend. A clay pot containing rice, spices, and any available meats would be buried in a heated pit before being finally unearthed and delivered to the soldiers. This is thought to have been Timur's army's diet throughout the military campaign.

Here’s the recipe for Vegetable Dum Biryani.

Preparation time: 20 mins

Cooking time: 40 mins

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

  • 3 tsps ghee 
  • 1 tbsp oil 
  • Basmati rice cooked
  • Saffron water
  • Fried onions
  • Biryani masala
  • Coriander leaves
  • Mint leaves
  • To marinate the vegetables:
  •  ½ cup curd 
  • ¼ tsp turmeric powder 
  • 2 tsps chilli powder
  • 1 tsp coriander powder 
  • 1 tbsp biryani masala 
  • 1 tsp salt 
  • 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste 
  • 2 onions (sliced)
  • 1 green chilli (chopped)
  • 2 tomatoes (chopped)
  • 1 carrot (chopped)
  • A few beans (chopped)
  • 1 potato (chopped)
  • 1 cup of cauliflower florets (chopped)
  • ¼ cup of green peas 
  • A few fried onions
  • A handful of coriander leaves
  • A handful of mint leaves

Method:

  • Add the curd, salt, ginger-garlic paste, and spice powders needed for the marinade to a bowl and combine thoroughly.
  • Mix thoroughly after adding the veggies to the curd mixture.
  • Give it 20 minutes to marinate.
  • Meanwhile, give the rice a 20-minute soak.
  • When the rice is 3/4 cooked, drain the water from it and set aside.
  • Heat ghee and oil in a pan.
  • Sauté the veggies with the marinade for 5 minutes.
  • Close the lid now and cook on medium heat for 15 minutes.
  • Cook until the moisture has totally disappeared.
  • Separate half of the vegetable masala for later use.
  • Place one layer of veggie masala over the cooked rice.
  • Add more rice on top and then the remaining vegetable masala.
  • Add the fried onions, mint leaves, coriander leaves, biryani masala powder, anD saffron water at the very end.
  • Shut the lid and simmer the mixture for 15 minutes on a low flame.
  • Let the biryani sit for about 15 minutes after turning off the burner.
  • Present the Veg Dum. A hot bowl of raita beside the biryani.