Well, this place is all about cooking by trial and error, and this one goes right into the error section!

I made this great looking, wonderfully aromatic biryani last week. The final baked biryani looked like the Moon! When I opened it, the aroma was so wonderful. My hopes were sky high, and then I gave it a gentle stir and tasted a spoonful. That’s when the balloon burst. I was expecting a great biryani and this was just an ordinary one. I needn’t have gone through the pain of making a separate masala, layering the rice, sauteing the onions separately and all that. It tasted no different from my all-in-one quick biryani.

I was out of aluminium foil, so I just covered the biryani with chapati dough. I saw this in one of the videos by Vahrehvah chef. The dough turned out to be like crisp pita chips and was yummy when I scooped the rice with it. That was really wonderful.

This one is not a disaster, just a disappointment. After all the effort that went into it, I thought it might turn out to be a bit different from what I usually make.

Still noting the recipe down, in case some one gets a better result than me!

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice : 1 cup
Mixed Vegetables : 2 Cups (Potato, Carrots, Beans, Cauliflower, Broccoli, Peas, Tomato)
Paneer : 100gms, cubed
Fried Onions : 1/2 to 3/4 cup
Yogurt : 3 to 4 tbsp
Ginger paste : 1 tsp
Coriander powder : 1 tsp
Chilli powder : 1 tsp
Cumin powder : 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder : 1/4 tsp
Coriander chopped : 1/4 cup
Mint leaves chopped : 2 tbsp
Oil : 4 tbsp
Butter : 1 tbsp
Salt : to taste
Juice  from 1/2 of a lemon

Method:

1. Clean and soak the rice for at least half an hour. Add a spoonful of oil and required salt for the rice. Cook in 2 cups of water till the water is absorbed. Set aside.
2. In another pan saute the Paneer,if using, till light brown. Remove and add the other vegetables and saute for 2 to 3 minutes. Turn off the heat. Add the chilli, cumin, coriander and turmeric powders, ginger paste, salt, yogurt and lemon juice and mix. Let it marinate for 15 minutes.
3. In an oven proof dish, layer the rice. Add half of the fried onions. Add all the marinated vegetables on top of the onions. Add all the chopped coriander and mint leaves. Cover this by another layer of rice. Sprinkle the remaining onions. Add a tbsp of butter.
4. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.