Vegetable pulao

I prefer calling this pulao, and not biryani. For biryani is a very divine dish, with lots of hardwork involved. What I'm blogging here can be made real quick.

Version 1 - Healthy and tasty

Ingredients:

Pictorial version first. :)

1. Basmati rice - 1.5 cups
2. Vegetables - carrot, potato, beans, green peas, etc etc
3. Onion - 1 medium size
4. Green chillies - 3,4 (depends on the heat of the chillies)
5. Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
6. Whole garam masala (cardamom #3, cloves #3, bay leaves #3, cinnamon 1 inch stick)
7. Biryani masala (any brand) - 2 tbsp

Method:

1. Wash and soak the rice for 20 minutes
2. Cut the veggies into inch long pieces. Heard that adding potato causes the pulao/biryani to become sticky/mushy when you finally mix the biryani before serving. But still, I can't do without aloo.
3. Onion needs to cut into thin and long pieces
4. Slit the green chillies vertically
5. Heat a tbsp oil and fry the whole garam masala. Don't add too much oil in this step as the GG paste (added next) takes up all the oil that you add.
   
6. Fry the GG paste in oil, followed by onions and chillies
7. Add some ghee, little more oil and fry the veggies. Cover the pan and let the veggies cook on medium flame for 5min
8. For 1.5 cups rice, add 1 tbsp salt and biryani masala
9. Drain the water from rice and add it to the veggies. Stir fry everything for another 5 min
10. Pan to cooker plus water (as reqd)
    

Serve hot with yummy raitha (curd+onions+cucumber+salt).



Version 2 - Less healthy but more tasty

Drop all the masalas above (ginger garlic, whole masala and the garam masala powder) and use Parampara Biryani Mix instead. This is a semi-solid paste made with a whole bunch of spices and is sold in most Indian grocery stores.



For making "parampara" biryani, fry the onions - then the paste (half packet for 1.5 cups rice) - & then the veggies followed by rice - add salt (a little less 'coz the paste already has salt), water & cook.

Since the paste is oily, and has been made long before we use it, I call this a "less healthier" version of the veggie pulao recipe I wrote above. But, taste-wise, I have to admit, it's amazingly delicious!!! Almost like the one served at Hyderabad House. If you want to prepare authentic hyderabadi biryani without much effort, Parampara comes to your rescue!