I have wanted to make a biryani for such a long time following the recipes my dad had given me a while ago.  I wish I could just jet set off to S. Africa for dad’s briyani – however, my jet was jetted off. Joke 🙂  so I decided to make the briyani with a twist by adding shrimp in the end. It turned out lovely actually. In this dish, I cut down on oil by adding more water to the dish to cook the veggies.  This is a nice Sunday dish or dish to make for friends/family over the weekend who love spicy rice dishes.

Sharing the recipe with you.

Ingredients:

• one big white onion
• 1 big carrot
• 3 medium-sized potato
• oil
• 2 medium heat chilies
• 1/2 tsp of fennel seeds
• 1 cardamom stick
• 2 elachi pods
• 2 small bay leaf
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1/4 garam masala
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp of dried curry leafs
• a pinch of safran
• 2 tablespoons of finely chopped mint leaves
• 1/2 cup of small red lentils
• under 1 cup rice
• A tsp of salt
• 1 tsp masala powder.
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 4 tablespoons of sour milk
• 1 tablespoon garlic ( 4 cloves of garlic) and ginger paste.
• 1 -2 cups of water.
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 4 boiled eggs

Method: 2 hrs and 30 minutes.  Serves 2 -3  people.

Fry onions in oil. Remove half of them and keep aside. Then add green chilies. fennel seeds, mustard seeds, cinnamon stick, elachi pods, bay leafs, and cumin seeds – all the seeds. Fry in big pan or pot, for a few minutes. Then add the dry spices and garlic and ginger paste including curry leaves, mint leaves and saffron. Cook for about 5 minutes. Then add the chopped carrots and potatoes with lentils. Add water covering the vegetables. Let everything simmer on low to medium heat. After about 45 minutes if the potato has softened – add the sour milk. Let all of this goodness simmer for about 20 minutes. Heat the oven in the meanwhile.  Have your cooked rice ready. Turn the stove off. Add the rice to the mix – sprinkle the remaining onions ( it should be sweet in taste) on top of the pot or big pan. Add the boiled eggs and grilled shrimp. Cover with kitchen foil paper and put in the oven for 30ish minutes. Add some mint to the dish on top.

Serve with Dhal and salad… 🙂