Name: Hyderabadi Subz-e-Biryani recipe by Sudha Sridhar at BetterButter
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 90 min
Total time: 135 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: Basmati Rice - 2 cups; Paneer - 200g; Thick Curd - 1 cup; Turmeric powder - 2 tsp; Ginger-garlic paste - 2tsp; Red Chilli powder - 2 tsp; Coriander powder - 1 tsp; Cumin seeds - 1 tsp; Green chillies - 4-5; Fresh coriander - a few sprigs; Onion - 1 medium; Beans - 12-15 pieces; Carrots - 1/2; Cauliflower - 10-12 florets; Capsicum - 1 small; Tomato - 2 medium; Cashew (roughly chopped) - 2 tbsp; Saffron - few strands; Milk - 4-6 tbsp; Black cardamom - 4-5; Cloves - 1 tsp; Cinnamon - 2-3 inch-long sticks; Bay leaf - 3-4; Clarified butter (Ghee) - 4-6 tbsp; Oil - 1/4th cup; Mint leaves - a few sprigs; Salt to taste; Water for soaking and cooking rice

Ingredients Serving: 4

Basmati Rice - 2 cups
Paneer - 200g
Thick Curd - 1 cup
Turmeric powder - 2 tsp
Ginger-garlic paste - 2tsp
Red Chilli powder - 2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Green chillies - 4-5
Fresh coriander - a few sprigs
Onion - 1 medium
Beans - 12-15 pieces
Carrots - 1/2
Cauliflower - 10-12 florets
Capsicum - 1 small
Tomato - 2 medium
Cashew (roughly chopped) - 2 tbsp
Saffron - few strands
Milk - 4-6 tbsp
Black cardamom - 4-5
Cloves - 1 tsp
Cinnamon - 2-3 inch-long sticks
Bay leaf - 3-4
Clarified butter (Ghee) - 4-6 tbsp
Oil - 1/4th cup
Mint leaves - a few sprigs
Salt to taste
Water for soaking and cooking rice

Instructions

Wash and soak the rice for half an hour.
Grind coarsely the green chilies and fresh coriander.
Beat the curd in a bowl and add ginger-garlic paste, green chillies-coriander paste, half of the turmeric powder, salt and mix.
Cut paneer into cubes and marinate it in the above curd-spice marinade for half an hour.
String, wash and cut the beans into inch-long pieces.
Wash, peel and cut carrots into inch-long pieces.
Wash, de-seed and cut capsicum into thin inch-long pieces.
Wash and separate cauliflower into small florets.
Wash and finely chop the tomatoes.
Peel and slice the onion very thin.
Soak the saffron in some warm milk.
Heat up a wok and add 1 tbsp of ghee and roast the cashew till golden brown and keep it aside.
Add 4-5 tbsp of oil in the same wok and add the thinly sliced onion and fry it till all of it turns golden brown and crisps up a bit.
Place all the cut vegetables except tomatoes and capsicum in a microwave safe dish, add some water and microwave on high for 6-7 minutes.
In a separate wok add oil enough to shallow fry the marinated paneer in a couple of batches.
Once the paneer has been fried, add tomatoes to the same wok and let it cook. Add the left over curd marinade if any, and cook the tomatoes till they are soft,
The onions should have crisped up by now, so remove them from the wok and keep aside.
Add some oil in the wok and let it heat up. Add the cumin seeds when the oil is hot. Add bay leaf, black cardamom, cloves and cinnamon and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the capsicum and saute it till softens.
Add the microwaved vegetables, rest of the turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder to the above and saute it.
Add salt to the vegetables that are being sauteed. Mix the cooked tomatoes with the cooked vegetables.
Heat a big vessel with lots of water and salt. Drain the water from the soaking rice and add it to the hot salted water.
Keep stirring and monitor the cooking of the rice. Take a few grains and check whether it is cooked by pressing the grain of rice. When it breaks into 3 pieces remove the rice from heat.
Strain the rice through a colander. Let the rice cool down.
Take a heavy bottomed vessel with a wide mouth and heat it up.Pour a couple of tbsp of ghee and swirl it around for the ghee to coat the bottom and the sides of the vessel. Now layer the half cooked rice, fried paneer and vegetables in it.
The bottom most and the top most layers should be rice and between them alternate the cooked vegetables and fried paneer. Sprinkle the fried cashew, finely chopped mint leaves and some of the fried onions in between the layers.
Pour the saffron infused milk over the topmost layer of rice. Sprinkle the last of the fried cashew and fried onions.
Pour a couple of tbsp of ghee all along the walls of the cooking pot to ensure that the rice does not stick to one another or the sides of the cooking pot.
Heat up a heavy tawa and place the biryani pot on top of it and reduce the gas flame to sim.
Close the lid of the cooking pot and let it cook for 20 mins.
Open the lid of the cooking pot after 20 mins and switch the gas off but let the cooking pot sit on top of the hot tawa to keep the biryani warm.
Mix the cooked biryani with a very light hand. Serve it hot with curd or mirchi ka salan.

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