Vegetable biriyani

Ingredients

For paste: 

• Cinnamon- 1 inch stick
• Cardamon- 2
• Cloves- 2
• Peppercorns - 1 tsp
• Star anise - 1
• Ginger - 1 small piece
• Garlic - 3 cloves
• Tomato - 1
• Fennel seeds - 1 tsp
• Cumin seeds- 1 tsp
• Coriander leaves - 1/2 cup
• Mint leaves- 1/4 cup
• Green chillies - 2 (As per your taste)
• Fresh coconut- 2 tblspn (Optional)

Other Ingredients

• Basmati rice - 1 cup
• Water - 1 cup
• Mixed vegetables - 1 cup (Carrot, beans, potato, cauliflower, capsicum, etc)
• Bay leaf - 1
• Ghee- 1 tblspn
• Coriander powder - 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
• Curd- 2 tsp
• Garam masala powder- 1 tsp
• Fried onions - to garnish
• Coriander leaves- to garnish
• Salt - as per taste

Method

• Wash and soak basmati rice in some water for approximately 20 minutes. Do not soak it longer time as the rice will turn very mushy after cooking
• For the paste, Dry roast cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, star anise and peppercorns until you get a nice aroma. Make sure not to burn it. Keep the flame in medium.
• Grind it along with the other ingredients under the "For paste" heading. Keep it aside
• In a pressure cooker, pour the ghee. When it is hot, add bay leaf and sliced onions. 
• Once the onion is slightly cooked, add the paste (Step - 2). Fry it for 2 minutes or until the raw smell of the spices disappear.
• Add all the veggies and mix well. Add salt, turmeric powder, Coriander powder and garam masala
• Drain out water from the rice and add it to the pressure cooker. Give it a good mix. Make sure not to mix it vigorously as doing so might break your rice.Fry it for a minute. Pour in the curd and water.
• Check for salt at this stage and adjust it.
• Close the pressure cooker and cook it just for 1 whistle. Do not over cook.
• Once the pressure is released, open the lid and garnish with coriander leaves and fried onions.
• Your vegetable biriyani is now ready. You can serve it with any raitha.

Notes

• If you are using dry green peas, soak it over night or for 6 hours in water, Pressure cook it and then add it to biriyani,
• Do not over mix the biriyani when it is hot, as it will spoil the consistency. Just fluff it with a fork.
• Adding coconut is completely optional. It will give a nice sweet taste if you add.
• Fried onions is also not a must. If you like the taste, you can add it.
• You can skip the turmeric powder if you dont like yellow colour biriyani.