Steamed Vegetarian Biryani

Makes a lot of food!

Blended Prep

1 bunch of cilantro

1.5 bunches of fresh mint

10-15 green chilis, destemmed and chopped (to taste!)
0.5 cups of cold water

2 medium tomatoes

Place all of ingredients except the tomatoes in a blender and blend until very pulpy. Put into a bowl. Then blend the tomatoes and place into a separate bowl.

Vegetable Prep

Vegetable or canola oil, probably 4-5 cups.

1 cauliflower, cut into thumb sized pieces

2 cups or 200g of green beans, chopped

1.5 cups carrots, diced small

4-5 medium golden yukon or yellow potatoes, diced into 1cm cubes

Heat oil until there are small bubbles around the side of the pan. Deep fry each of the vegetables in turn. Make sure not to overfill the pan. Set aside on some paper towel.

Base

7 tbs canola or vegetable oil

2 tbs cumin seeds

4-5 medium onions, diced

2 tbs garlic paste

1.5 tbs ginger paste

1 tbs turmeric powder

4 tbs coriander powder

1 tbs red chili powder

1 tbs garam masala

¾ cup plain yogurt

1 cup peas

Optional

Meat - chicken, pork, mutton - diced and raw

Lamb - boil in water until half cooked. Reserve water for rice.

Heat the oil on a high heat. Add cumin seeds and onions and saute until golden brown. Move the onions over to the side and add the garlic and ginger paste directly onto the bottom of the pan (so you heat them up very quickly), then stir into the onions. Once the onions are transparent, add cilantro and mint mix. Once some of the water has boiled off (around 7-10 minutes), then add turmeric, coriander, chili powder, garam masala, and yogurt. Cook for 2-3 minutes, then add blended tomatoes. Then add your fried veggies, peas (if using, not fried), meat (if using) or 2-3 tbs salt. Bring to boil and simmer until the oil starts to rise up and settle on the top of the sauce.

Here you can see the oil settling on the top of the curry

Rice

100g rice/person (basmati or other delicious type)

4-5 cloves

Cinnamon bark (not ground cinnamon)

5-6 peppercorns

2 bay leaves

4-5 black cardamom

1 tbs oil

½ tsp salt

Juice of ½ of lemon

Wash rice until water runs clean and soak for “some time” (5-10 minutes). In a big pot, add the spices and lots of cold water. Once the water is boiling, add rice, oil, salt, and lemon juice. Boil until you can take a grain of rice and squish it between your fingers and you don’t feel any lumps (around 6-8 minutes). Drain the water.

Layer

Optional

2 tbs canola oil

2 tbs ghee

1 tbs milk

4-5 drops of orange food colouring

In a saucepan, layer curry/rice/curry/rice - 4 layers! Add optional colour to rice layers if desired to look fancy! Cover with lid and put back on a low/medium heat to finish off the rice. When you lift the lid and get a face full of steam, it’s done (note: steam is hot, be careful and don’t burn yourself!!)

***TOP TIPS***

You can make the vegetable base and freeze some for future use!!

Remember to wash your hands thoroughly after chopping chili’s before doing this like touching your face or going to the washroom...