# Life Style Club > Desi Recipes >  4 delicious biryani recipes

## *Saira*

The biryani, made by cooking rice and vegetables together in different blends of spices, is a hot favourite all over India. This two-in-one hottie is a mouthwatering dish, enjoyed by one and all. 
The only problem many face is making a tasty biryani. Rediff.com offers you easy steps to make a simple biryani. 

Chicken Biryani 

~Ingredients: 

1 1/2 kg chicken
1 kg basmati rice
1 kg onions, finely chopped
1 tsp red chilly powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 cup ginger garlic paste
2 cups sour curds
2 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp garam masala powder
5 tez patta (bay leaves)
2 dalchini cinnamon pieces
5 cloves
2 big cardamoms
2 small cardamoms
Salt 

Method: 

Mix the curds, lime juice, and two tablespoon ginger garlic paste. 

Marinate the chicken in this mixture for an hour. 

Fry the onions with half of the whole spices till golden brown and keep them aside. 

Fry the remaining ginger garlic paste, add turmeric and chilly powder and salt. 

Add the chicken and cook till it is tender. 

Wash and boil the rice with salt and the remaining whole spices. 

Put the chicken and rice in layers, sprinkle some fried onions and garam masala powder. 

Cook till the rice is done. 

Serve with raita. 



Vegetable Biryani



~Ingredients 
400 gms basmati rice
250 gms cauliflower, cut into flowerettes
100g ms green peas, shelled
100 gms carrots, cut into 2.5 cm long pieces
100 gms french beans, cut into diamond shaped pieces
3 potatoes, cut into four pieces each 
2 black cardamoms
4 green cardamoms 4
4 cm cinnamon stick
4 cloves
8 black peppercorns
1 tsp Shahjeera
3 bay leaves
3 tbsp ghee
Few strands Saffron


For the masala

250 gms onions, sliced 
3/4 cup curd
4 tsp chilli powder
3 tsp ginger-garlic paste
2 tsp mint paste
1 1/2 tspgaram masala powder
1 1/2 tsp coriander-cummin powder
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying onions 

For the garnish

2 tomatoes, sliced
2 capsicums, sliced
2 onions, sliced and fried till crisp
Few mint leaves
Some cherries


~ Method 

For the vegetables

Wash the vegetables and dry them well. 

Mix all the ingredients for the masala well, and marinate the vegetables in it for an hour. 

Heat oil and deep fry the onions till well-browned. Remove from pan and strain well. 

When cool, grind to a paste and add to the vegetables. 

For the rice 

Wash the rice. Cook it in double the quantity of water. 

Add few drops of lemon juice, one tablespoon ghee and salt to taste. Cook for 5-7 minutes. 

When half-cooked, remove the rice and spread it in a plate. Keep aside to cool. 

Lightly roast the saffron, garam masala powder and sprinkle over the rice. 

For the biryani 

Heat the remaining ghee in a pan and season it with the whole spices. 

Add the vegetables and saute for five minutes. 

Add a little water and cook the vegetables till they are done. By now, the vegetables should be almost dry. 

In a baking dish, arrange alternate layers of rice and vegetables. 

Top with garnish, except cherries and mint leaves and bake in a moderately hot oven for 20 minutes. 

Before serving, add the chopped cherries and mint leaves. 

If you don't have an oven, you can arrange the rice and vegetable layers in a flat-bottomed vessel. 

Keep one flat tawa on gas. Heat well. 

Turn the gas flame to low and keep the tightly closed vessel on tawa. 

Heat it for 20 minutes. 

Serve hot with raita and roasted papad. 



Vegetable Biryani -- a variation



~Ingredients: 
1 kg basmati rice
1 1/2 kg cauliflower, beans, carrots
1 small katori garlic pods
1 finger-sized piece ginger
10-12 sprigs coriander
15 green pepper, chopped lengthwise
8 large sized onions
1 bunch mint leaves
4 medium tomatoes
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp cardamom
1 tsp peppercorns
8 tez patta (bay leaves)
Salt
Oil for frying

Method: 

Slice the eight large onions. Heat oil and fry with whole spices. 

Grind ginger, garlic, coriander and mint. 

Chop tomatoes. 

Add 1/2 tsp haldi to the sauteed onions, garlic, tez patta and then ground paste and saute further, till the mixture is well done. 

Add tomatoes and green peppers. 

Add salt, approximately two teaspoon. 

Add vegetables that have been cut in biggish pieces. 

Mix thoroughly. 

Let vegetables boil. 

Then lower heat and cook till vegetables are done. 

Cook the rice with nearly double the amount of water (i.e. per cup rice, 1 1/2 cups water). 

Boil till parboiled. 

Then mix with vegetables and cook again in the oven or on a very slow flame on the stove till done. 



Mutton Biryani



~Ingredients: 
1 kg rice
1 kg mutton
2 tomatoes
7 large onions
5 tbsp oil
2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
150 gm curd
10-12 cloves garlic
10-12 black peppercorns
4 bay leaves
2 black cardamoms
7-8 green cardamoms
2 cinnamon sticks, 1 inch each
3 green chillies
1 1/2 tspn red chilly powder
1 1/2 tspn coriander powder
1 1/2 tspn jeera (cumin) powder
1 tspn turmeric powder
1/2 tspn chat masala
A few strands of saffron


Method: 

Heat three tablespoons of oil in a pressure cooker. 

Fry six sliced onions till pinkish brown, add mutton pieces and stir for two minutes. 

Add ginger garlic paste, whole masala (cloves, black pepper, bay leaves, cardamom, cinnamon) and pressure cook on medium flame upto three whistles. 

Add remaining ingredients except curd and stir. Add curd, cook for two minutes and keep aside. 

Separately cook rice with 15 glasses of water. When the rice is half cooked, strain the remaining water and keep aside. 

While boiling rice you can add few black pepper corns, cinnamon, cardamom and bay leaves to give it a flavour. 

Layering 

Place a layer of rice in the vessel topped by a layer of cooked meat. Continue in this pattern ending with a layer of rice. 

Dissolve saffron in two tablespoon of water and pour other the rice. 

Fry one sliced onion in two tablespoons of oil till golden brown. Pour onions along with the oil over the rice. 

Cover the vessel completely and let it cook on low flame for 15 minutes till it gives out a tempting aroma. 

Serving 

While serving always remove biryani layer-by-layer starting from one side. 

Tips: To give your biryani a royal edge you can add whole cashew and almonds with the powdered masala and curd.

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## RAHEN

:applaud; yummy..today i also made a chicken biryani....bahut kaam hota hai is mein...lekin end result mein sub khushi khushi jab khate hain....tau acha lagta hai...thanks f sharing all these recipes...keep it up....:up;

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## friendlygal786

yes, maine kal banai thi ammi ke saath..mostly we eat chicken biryani but vegetable one looks good too. Thanx 4 sharing Saira

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## Muzna

i love biryyani thank u for sharing saira  :Smile:

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## fari123

saira thanx ....4 sharing there yummy baryani ......

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