Vegetable Biryani

Ingredients:

For Rice:
1 cup long-grain rice, preferably Basmati
2 cups water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon oil
2 pinch saffron
2 tablespoons milk

For Vegetable gravy:
2 tablespoons oil
1/4 teaspoon asafetida (hing)
1 teaspoon cumin seed (jeera)
4 medium chopped tomatoes
1 green chili finely chopped
1 tablespoon fine shredded ginger
1 cup yogurt
1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 cup cubed paneer
2 cup sliced cauliflower
1/2 cup sliced carrots
1/2 cup chopped green beans
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
2 tablespoon cashew nuts broken into pieces
1 teaspoon salt adjust to taste
2 tablespoon chopped mint leaves

For Garnish:
1 teaspoon garam masala
4 tablespoons melted butter
2 tablespoons sliced almonds

Method:

Rice:
Wash rice gently changing water several times until the water appears clear.
For fluffier rice, the rice should be soaked for at least 15 minutes prior to cooking.
Drain the rice and put it into the saucepan. Add water, oil, and salt, and bring to a boil. Once the water is boiling reduce the heat to low and cover the pan.
Cook about 15 minutes, or until the rice is tender and the water has evaporated. Turn off the heat and fluff the rice with a fork.
For a few minutes soak saffron in warm milk then gently fold the milk into the cooked rice.

Vegetable And Gravy:
Blend tomatoes to make a puree.
In a bowl add yogurt, ginger, green chili, salt, turmeric, chili powder – mix it well.
Add all the vegetables (cauliflower, beans, bell pepper, carrots, paneer, cashews, ginger and green chili) to the yogurt. Mix it well then let it marinate for 10 to 15 minutes.
Heat the oil in a saucepan. Test the heat by adding one cumin seed to the oil; if seed cracks right away oil is ready. Add asafetida and cumin seeds.
After the cumin seeds crack, add the tomato puree, and cook on medium-high heat. While cooking the tomato puree cover the pan so gravy does not splatter all over the burner. Cook until tomato mixture starts leaving oil and reduces to about half the volume.
Add the marinated vegetables to tomato puree. Let it cook covered for 10 to 12 minutes on medium heat until vegetables are tender but not mushy. Stir the vegetables in between so they cook evenly.