Favorite Vegetable Biriyani

TO MAKE THE YELLOW RICE: In a large dutch oven (or other large pot) with a thick bottom put the 2 teaspoons of oil and the 3 cups rice.

Over medium heat stir the oil and rice together until all of the grains of rice are coated with the oil. Add the salt and turmeric and again mix until the turmeric is evenly distributed.

Increase the heat to high and add 5 3/4 cup water. Stir. Bring the water to a strong boil, cover, reduce heat to very low and cook for 20 minutes until the rice is tender and all of the water has been absorbed. Remove the cover and fluff the rice. Let the rice cool.

TO MAKE THE ONION GARNISH: Meanswhile, while the rice is cooking, in a large nonstick frying pan put the 4 Tablespoons of oil. Peel the 2 onions and cut into half rounds. Stir-fry the onions over medium heat until dark brown, stirring frequently. Do not have the heat too high or the onions may burn. It should take about 20 minutes for the onions to be fully cooked and well browned. Put the onions on paper towels to absorb all of the oil.

TO MAKE THE VEGETABLE FILLING: Put the carrot pieces into a small bowl. Add water to generously cover the carrots and a little salt. Put into the microwave for 6-8 minutes until just tender. It may take longer or less time, depending on your microwave. Drain the carrots and put into a medium-size mixing bowl. Next, cook the green beans (or you can use lima beans) in the same way, draining them and adding them to the mixing bowl. The potatoes are cooked next. Add the frozen peas directly to the mixing bowl. The peas do not need to be cooked, they can be added frozen to the mixing bowl.

In the same frying pan that the onions were fried in put 3 Tablespoons oil, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds (optional), cardamom pods, and the whole cloves, and the small dried chili (halved).

Heat over high heat, tilting the pan back and forth frequently for even cooking, until the mustard seeds start popping and pop for about 15 seconds. Turn heat to very low and add the cooked vegetables (from the microwave), 1 Tablespoon ground coriander, 1/2 teaspoon cayenne and 1/4-1/2 teaspoon salt.

Mix the vegetables and spices together until well blended, turn off the heat, and then return the vegetable mixture to the medium-size mixing bowl. You can add more salt if needed.

TO MAKE THE SEASONING PASTE: In a food processor put the diced onion, serrano chilies, garlic, ginger, unsweetened coconut, water, ground cumin and cinnamon. Puree.

In the same frying pan that the onions were fried in, add 4 Tablespoons oil, the pureed seasoning paste, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Heat over medium heat and cook, stirring nonstop (I usually use a spatula) for about 12 minutes, until well cooked.

At this point I usually stir the seasoning paste into the vegetables in the mixing bowl, or you can, when layering the biriyani, put the seasoning paste down on top of the vegetables in a layer of its own.

TO ASSEMBLE THE BIRIYANI: In a lightly oiled one-layer cake pan (9" x 13") , lay down half of the yellow rice. Next put down the seasoned vegetables. The layer of seasoning paste can be put on top of the vegetables as its own layer (unless you already stirred the seasoning paste into the vegetables). Top with the rest of the rice.

GARNISHES: Sprinkle the dark brown onions on top of the biriyani. Next, sprinkle the roasted cashew nuts (I often stir-fry the cashew nuts in ghee (also known as clarified butter) to give them a richer flavor.

Wrap foil securely over the top of the pan and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove foil and add the minced cilantro for the rest of the garnish.

NOTES: I like to serve this with a large bowl of seasoned yogurt or raita. If just using a seasoned yogurt, add a little water to the yogurt to thin it, and then add salt, ground cumin and a little cilantro (optional).

After making this recipe for a number of years, I began adding at least 1 1/2 cups cauliflower florets also to the vegetable mixture. This does then mean that I add a little more of the spices to season the vegetables. I like a higher percent of vegetables in this biriyani recipe.

Cooking time is just the time that it takes to heat the assembled biriyani in the oven.