Kitchen Experiments : Light-and-Fragrant Pudina Biryani

I was recently taken over by an urge to cook something high on flavour, but low on oil-and-spice. And vegetarian. (I think healthy eating is worming its way into my heart - and tummy!)

And as though by miracle, this recipe came like a flash to me - no research, no homework, and crystal-clear with all ingredients and steps listed in order on the screen of my mind's eye. So much so, that I dont feel I can take credit for this recipe - it just CAME to me.

The end result is divine - light, delicately-spiced biryani, heady with the fragrance of pudina. Best enjoyed straight from the pot, with the warm, mint-scented curls of steam wafting about you!

Ingredients:

For the rice:
1 wati/katori/cup basmati rice, washed
1 loose handful pudina (mint) leave - fresh
1 half-stick cinnamon, 2 peppercorns, 2 cloves, 1 bayleaf, 1 pod green cardamom, 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
3-4 cups water

For the masala:
2-3 handfuls (tightly packed) fresh pudina (mint) leaves
2-3 handfuls (tightly packed) fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves
2 green chillies
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon garlic paste or 2 cloves peeled garlic
salt
Mixed veggies, washed and chopped - I used cauliflower, carrot, boiled potato, French beans and capsicum
1 tomato, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon garlic paste, or 4-5 cloves peeled garlic
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
2 teaspoons oil

For the assembly:
a pinch saffron, lightly crushed and mixed with 2-3 teaspoons warm milk
1 teaspoon ghee
A few pudina leaves


Method:

Cook the rice with the whole spices and pudina leaves in a covered pot till just-done. (Test every minute after 12 minutes or so of cooking time).

Drain away the excess water. Cooking the rice in plenty of extra water means the starchiness is washed away, leaving you with soft-yet-with-a-bite grains of rice which stand separate from each other rathe than clumping around each other in a sticky cake-like form.
Keep the cooked rice covered to keep it warm.

Blend the mint, coriander, green chillies, 1/2 teaspoon garlic paste, 1/2 teaspoon cumin and salt (first 6 items in the 'Masala Ingredients' list) with some water to make a smooth paste. Should be zingy.


Lightly boil the veggies (except the potato, which is already boiled) till they are cooked but retain their crunch- 5 minutes, tops.


In a wok/kadhai, heat the 2 teaspoons oil till very hot. Add 1 teaspoon cumin seeds and let them splutter.

Add the finely chopped onion and stir for 30 seconds. Add the 1 teaspoon garlic paste and stir well.


Once the onions are transparent, add the garam masala. Stir for a minute.

Add the chopped tomato, and stir well in a mashing motion - if your onion and tomato is finely chopped enough, at this stage the mix in the wok will start looking like a thick gravy.

Let it cook till the oil starts separating at the sides.

Add the green chutney (that's what the mint paste is, effectively).


Rinse the blender with a teeny amount of water to get out every bit of paste from the nooks and crannies and reserve the minty water to dilute the masala later, if needed. (Waste not, want not!)

Cook till the mix starts heaving and bubbling like molten lava.

Throw in the boiled veggies and mix well. Add the water from the blender if you think the green gravy is too thick to coat the veggies properly.


Adjust the seasoning, and let it cook for a minute.

In a copper-bottomed pot or a brass/copper stockpot, spoon out the vegetable masala to make a thick layer.


Add the boiled rice on top, evenly.
Pour the milk-with-saffron on top.
Add dots of ghee evenly on the top, especially near the sides (where the melted ghee can trickle down easily till the bottom once the pot is hot)
Strew on the mint leaves.


Cover with a tight-fitting lid (any lid will do, but a tight fitting lid is ideal), and cook a low flame till little curls of steam start escaping from the sides of the lid. The kitchen will start being scented by the fresh scent of mint.


Remove from the flame, serve (ensuring that you scoop out till the bottom, to get even portions of rice and veggies) hot.

Enjoy!

Unlike most biryanis which take ages to prep and cook, this one is done from start to finish in a little over an hour. Provided you have fresh mint leaves at hand! :D