Hyderabadi Veg Dum Biryani Recipe

Step By Step Instructions for Hyderabadi Veg Dum Biryani Recipe

Preparing Birista

Thinly slice onions and separate the strands with your hands. Then add them to hot oil.
3 Large Onions, 1/4 Cup Cooking Oil
First fry the onions on medium-high heat for 5-8 mins to remove their moisture.
Then reduce the flame and fry them on low heat till they turn golden brown and crispy.
Remove them from the pan and place them on an absorbent paper towel. Save the oil used for cooking them for the gravy of the biryani.

Cooking the rice

Wash and rinse rice with water 3-4 times. Soak it in 1 cup of water for around 20 minutes.
1 Cup Basmati Rice
Take 2 cups of water in a pot. Add shah jeera, bay leaf, cinnamon stick, cloves, green cardamom, black cardamom, mace strands, star anise salt and oil. Bring the water to a boil.
1 Teaspoon Shah Jeera (Caraway Seeds / Kala Jeera), 1 Bay Leaf (Tej Patta), 2 Inch Dalchini (Cinnamon Stick), 4-5 Laung (Cloves), 4 Green Cardamom (Hari Elaichi), 2 Black Cardamom (Badi Elaichi), 2 Javitri (Mace Strand), 1 Star Anise (Chakr Phool), 3 Teaspoon Salt, 1 Tablespoon Oil or Ghee
Add the rice and cook it till it is 75% cooked. Do not overcook the rice as it will be cooked again later on.
When the rice is cooked, drain the excess water in a colander and gently fluff the rice with a fork. You can remove the big pieces of whole spices from the rice and let it cool down.

Preparing the curry

Wash all the vegetables. Peel and chop the potatoes and carrot into cubes. Cut the cauliflower into florets and beans into medium sized pieces. You can use fresh or frozen peas. You can parboil the potatoes.
1 Large Potato, 1 Cup Cauliflower Florets, 1 Large Carrot (Gajar), 1/4 Cup Green Beans, 1/2 Cup Green Peas (Matar)
Heat ghee in a pan. Add cinnamon stick, bay leaf, black cardamom, green cardamom, cloves and mace.
2 Inch Dalchini (Cinnamon Stick), 1 Bay Leaf (Tej Patta), 1 Black Cardamom (Badi Elaichi), 2-3 Green Cardamom (Hari Elaichi), 3 Laung (Cloves), 1 Javitri (Mace Strand), 2 Tablespoon Ghee
Put the chopped and prepared vegetables to the pan.
Add ginger garlic paste along with slit green chillies to the vegetables.
2 Inch Piece of Ginger, 4 Garlic Cloves, 4 Green Chillies
Then add red chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, biryani masala and salt.
1 Teaspoon Red Chilli Powder, 1/2 Teaspoon Turmeric Powder (Haldi), 1 Teaspoon Coriander Powder (Dhaniya Powder), 1/2 Teaspoon Cumin Powder, 1/2 Teaspoon Biryani Masala, 2 Teaspoons Salt
Mix all the spices well with the vegetables and roast for 1-2 minutes.
Take half of the prepared birista and add it to the vegetables.
Add beaten curd to the vegetables.
1/2 Cup Plain Curd (Yogurt)
Then add finely chopped coriander and mint leaves.
2 Tablespoons Coriander Leaves (Cilantro or Dhaniya), 2 Tablespoons Mint Leaves (Pudina)
Mix everything and cover and cook the vegetables till they are tender.
Then add paneer cubes to the gravy. Paneer should be added at the end so that it doesn't break. You can also add roasted cashews.
1/4 Cup Paneer, 10-12 Cashew Nuts (Kaju)
Fold gently to mix the paneer with the gravy.

Layering the biryani

To prepare for assembling the biryani, add 7-8 Saffron Strands to warm milk or water and let them sit for 2-3 minutes. Also finely chop the mint and coriander leaves.
1/3 Cup Mint Leaves (Pudina), 7-8 Saffron Strands (Kesar), 2 Tablespoon Milk, 1/3 Cup Coriander Leaves (Cilantro or Dhaniya)
Divide the gravy and rice into 2 parts. Add the first layer of vegetables at the bottom of a pressure cooker or a deep pot.
Then add a layer of half of the rice.
Add half of the mint & coriander leaves, half of the remaining birista and half of saffron strands soaked in milk. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon kewra and 1/4 teaspoon of biryani masala on top.
Then add the remaining vegetables in the third layer.
Make the fourth layer from the remaining rice and finish similarly with mint & coriander leaves, birista, saffron milk and kewra. I have made 4 layers but you can make anywhere between 2 to 6 layers depending on the width of your pot and the quantity of vegetables and rice. Add a generous dollop of ghee on the top.
Now there are various methods for cooking the biryani. The traditional way is to cover the pan with a tight fitting lid and seal the edges with dough. The dough is difficult to clean later on so I do not prefer this method. Instead of this you can seal the vessel tightly with aluminium foil.
Cover the pot with a heavy lid and place it on a griddle / tawa. Alternately, you can also place in a hot water bath, which reduces the chances of it burning from the bottom.
Cook the biryani on medium heat for 10-15 minutes and then remove the lid.
While serving the biryani make sure to scoop it vertically ensuring that all the layers are included. Serve the biryani with mirchi ka salan and mint raita, onion tomato raita or boondi raita.