Baby potato biryani recipe
This baby potato biryani is a vegetarian biryani lover's dream come true. It's very flavourful and filling, perfect for a weekend meal.
Ingredients
- Baby potatoes - 250 gm
- Basmati rice - 1.5 cups
- Ghee - 3 tbsp
- Cinnamon - a small piece
- Cardamom - 5
- Cloves - 6
- Bay leaf - 1 crushed
- 1 tsp - cumin seeds
- Coriander leaves 2 tbsp chopped
- Mint leaves - 2 tbsp chopped
- Onions - 1 cup sliced
- Coriander powder - 2 tsp
- Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp optional
- Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp or to taste
- Biryani masala - 1 tsp I use Eastern brand
- Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
- Plain curd or yogurt - 1/4 cup
- Salt to taste
Grind together:
- Tomato - 1
- Green chillies - 2-3 or to taste
- Ginger - a 2” piece
- Garlic - 1 tsp minced or 4 cloves
- One fat bunch of coriander leaves
Instructions
Step One - Preparing the rice
- Wash and soak the basmati rice in a pressure pan or rice cooker pan for 20 mins
- Heat 1 tbsp ghee in a pan and add the whole spices - cumin seeds, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, and bay leaf
- On low heat, roast for 30 seconds or until browned and fragrant
- Take the soaked rice - I use 1:2 ratio of rice:water to cook it to the right consistency
- Add the roasted spices over this along with 3 tbsp of chopped coriander and mint leaves
- Cook for 10-15 min in the pressure cooker or as usual in the rice cooker. I always use the rice cooker since it's hands-off and you don't worry about when it's done, overcooking, etc
Step Two - Cooking the potatoes
- You can follow any method you prefer to cook the potatoes. The options are to pressure cook them for 2 whistles, steam or boil in water until a fork inserted goes in smoothly
- Cool, peel, and set aside
Step Three - Making the spice paste
- Grind together - tomato + green chillies + ginger + garlic + a fistful of coriander leaves to a smooth paste.
- Set aside
Step Four - Cooking the biryani
- Heat the remaining 2 tbsp of ghee in a large pan
- Add the peeled potatoes and toss and saute until the potatoes turn a light golden brown
- Drain and set aside the potatoes
- Add the sliced onions to the remaining ghee and on medium-low heat, fry until golden brown
- Set aside some fried onions for garnishing later
- Add the ground masala paste to the remaining onions. Mix well.
- Now add the curd and mix again, keeping the heat low
- When the mixture begins to bubble, add the spice powders - chilli, turmeric, coriander, cumin, and biryani masala
- Mix and cook for 3-4 mins, adding salt as well
- Add the fried potatoes and mix again well until they are coated with the masala
- Now add the cooked rice to this and mix gently to combine
- Pat down the biryani in the pan itself, turn off heat, and keep covered for 1-2 hours or until ready to serve
- Before serving add more chopped coriander leaves and the reserved fried onions on top