Shehenshayi Biryani

I am a food lover and nothing better than having a great meal, which consists of Biryani. I must confess that I am a vegetarian. But, I have had the occasion of having Non-Vegetarian Biryani as well … mainly Chicken Biryani. But, we don’t make non-vegetarian food in our house. I enjoy Chicken Biryani only outside! I also like Prawn Biryani as well! … Chicken 65 is the best non-vegetarian food according to me!

Not only do I specialize in eating food … I also specialize in making food … whenever I am alone in my home! I specialize in making Vegetarian Biryani … not Non-Vegetarian Biryani!

Some day’s back … I was alone in my home … and I had to make arrangements for my lunch. I had the option of eating outside, but decided against that. So, I decided to make my own Biryani.

I went to the kitchen … early in the morning … and found some Potatoes, Carrots, Beans, Mutter, Brinjal, Ginger, Garlic, Green Chilies, Pudina Leaves, Chana Seeds, and some other Seeds (Don’t ask me the names of the seeds … I just don’t know!).

So, here is my Recipe for the Biryani, I set out to make myself …

First … Take one cup of each of the seeds or Indian Pulses … like Chana Seeds … into a separate vessel … put some water in that vessel … and soak the seeds … wait till some 3 hours …

Second … when seeds become “healthy” with water … put one table spoon of salt in that vessel and cook the seeds for 10 minutes … so that the seeds become soft when you crush them in between your fingers … After that drain the water out of those seeds …

Vegetables

Third … cut One Big Potato, One Big Carrot, Handful of Beans and One big Brinjal … into small and minute pieces … and keep aside …

Fourth … take a handful of Pudina Leaves … and chop them minutely … and keep aside …

Ginger, Garlic and Green Chili

Fifth … Take one inch of Ginger and cut into minute pieces … take 6 cloves of Garlic and peal the outer skin … and cut into minute pieces … and take some 3 Green chilies and cut them into minute pieces. Now crush all the three under a stone to make a paste … (we have the option of taking the help of a mixer … but its too cumbersome for me to do that!)

Sixth … take a glass full of Rice … clean it with water … and strain the water …

Procedure for making Biryani … Take medium sized Hawkins Pressure Cooker … put it on Gas Stove … and pour 8 table spoons of Refined Oil in it … after some time … put the Garlic-Ginger-Green Chilies paste into the oil … stir a bit … then put finely chopped Pudina Leaves into it … stir a bit … then put all the vegetables which have been finely chopped in the cooker … fry them for 3 minutes … then put the soft seeds that have been cooked in salt water into the cooker … fry them for 3 minutes … then put one table spoon of Haldi … one table spoon of Jeera seeds … and one and half table spoon of Red Chili Powder into the cooker … and fry for 3 minutes … then put the rice which had been kept aside after cleaning … and mix the whole mixture for 3 minutes … then pour 2 glasses of water into the cooker … and salt to taste … close the cooker … Now, after steam comes out of the top of the cooker put the knob of the cooker … wait till you get 5 whistles of the cooker … and turn off the cooker …

Vegetable Biryani

After the steam of the cooker is gone … open the lid of the cooker gently and put it under a fan for some time … that is do not mix the Biryani immediately … wait till 10 minutes … and your Biryani is ready!

For raitha … cut one medium sized onion into minute pieces … don’t forget that you will be greeted with tears while you do it! … Cut one green chili into minute pieces … take a little coriander leaves and chop them finely … add all these in a previously taken cup of curd … and add some salt to taste … your Raitha is ready!

I would want to have Butter Milk after having Biryani … so take one glass of Butter Milk … add finely chopped Small piece of Ginger Piece … some finely chopped green chili … some finely chopped coriander leaves … and salt to taste …

So … my lunch is ready … Biryani … Raitha … and Buttermilk … it must be understood that if one does not have the cooking acumen, then the whole exercise may turn out to be a disaster in a cooker!

I call this Shehenshayi Biryani … because one can use any ingredients he/she finds in the kitchen … no hard and fast rule in regard to the ingredients to be used … of course, using spices like ginger, garlic, green chili and red chili is a must as it gives the flavor to the Biryani!

For my Non-Vegetarian friends … you can use medium sized pieces of chicken … those should be fried previously with oil … and after that can be added with the vegetables in the cooker … while making the biryani …

Finally … the measurements of ingredients mentioned in this recipe is for 2 people … but I enjoy the Biryani made for 2 people myself!

Vamsi Krishna Karra