vegetarian Dum Biryani

The recipe goes like this:

Ingredients for Savory warm water

Water: 5 Cups
Nutmeg powder: 1/4 teaspoon
Whole Cinnamon 3" Broken up: 1
Whole Cloves: 6
1 Black whole cardamom
6 green cardamons:
Fennel seeds: 1/4 teaspoon
Bay leaves: 3
Black peppercorn: 6
Salt: 1 teaspoon
1 2 Star Anise
1 Mace

Ingredients for Sweet aroma milk

Milk: 1/2 cup
Cardamom powder: 1/2 teaspoon
Saffron strands: 6
Kewra Essence: 1/2 teaspoon
Rose essence: 1/4 teaspoon (not necessary)

Ingredients for Rice Layer

Ghee: 1/4 cup
Long grain Bamati: 2 Cups
Savory warm water

Ingredients for Vegetable layer

2 Tablespoons Ghee/Clarified Butter
Onions Chopped: 1/2 Cup
4 Cloves
Turmeric powder: 1/4 teaspoon
Cumin powder: 1/2 teaspoon
Coriander powder: 1/2 teaspoon
Potatoes Peeled and cubed: 1 cup
Carrots Peeled and diced: 1/2 cup (you may want to use carrot cut like chowmein also but essentially in biryani vegetable are chopped )
Cauliflower cut into small flowerets: 1/2 cup
Salt to taste
Whole-milk yogurt: 1/2- 3/4 cup mixed with 1/2 - 1 tsp garam masala depending on how much is needed to coat the vegetables.
Water: 1/2 cup
Green peas: 1/2 cup
2 Tomatoes, Diced. (Not necessary)
1/2 cup Paneer Diced into small pcs. Or Grated.
10-11 Cashew
10-11 Makhana
1 tbsp Kismis
1 stick Cinnamon
3 Star Anise
You may use pineapple if you want to 1-2
1/2 teaspoon whole cumin seeds

Ingredients for Garnish layer

Ghee: 1/4 cup
Onions thinly sliced vertically: 1 Cup
Almonds sliced: 1/4 cup (not necessary)
Cashews halves: 1/4 cup
Fresh Ginger sliced into thin sticks: 1 Inch
Fresh Cilantro chopped: 1/4 cup
11-15 makhanas
Few Kismis

Method

Step 1: Savory aroma water.

1. Bring water to a boil, add Nutmeg, Mace, Cinnamon, Cloves, Black & green cardamoms, Fennel seeds, Bay leaves (Tej Patta), Black peppercorns, star anise and salt to taste.
2. Turn down heat to simmer.
3. Keep covered for 20 minutes.
4. If you want, you may put all the spices in a cheese cloth folded three times. This way you can remove the whole spices after the savory water is ready.

Step 2: Sweet aroma milk

Warm milk to 100º F. Add dry ingredients. Stir and cover.

Step 3: Rice

1. In a heavy bottom pan, heat ghee. Don't wash rice. Stir-fry rice till it turns opaque, then brown giving off nutty aroma.
2. Add 3 cups of savory warm aroma water.
3. Bring it to a boil. Simmer covered for about 10 minutes or till almost all the liquid is absorbed. The rice should be more than half way cooked. Keep it covered.

Step 4: Vegetables Layer

1. Wash and cut vegetables to your liking.
2. Heat a heavy bottom pan. Add and Heat ghee.
3. Add onions, and sauté till clear.
4. Add ginger, turmeric, cumin, cloves, cinnamon and rest of the spices mentioned in Vegetable Layer.
4. Continue stir frying but don't burn spices.
5. Add tomatoes till mixed properly with onions (if using tomatoes).
6. Add potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, salt and pepper. Sauté till the potatoes start to turn brown. Add yogurt and water.
7. Cover and simmer till the vegetables are tender. Stir in Green peas.

(I fried potates, cauliflower and paneer. kept some paneer for decoration)

8. Add Curd mixed with garam masala to the vegetables and mix properly.

Step 5: Garnish Layer

1. Now we need to prepare items for the garnish layer. Keep all items separate.
2. Sautee onions in Ghee till they are brown and caramelized.
3. Stir-fry Almonds and Cashews and makhanas so they start to turn brown. Add Kismis/Raisins at end.

Step 6: Creating Layers and Assembling

1. Choose a deep pot to assemble Biryani.
2. Remember the top and bottom layers are always Rice.
3. Lay a layer of rice.
4. Add a bit of savory water and milk in circular motion, add a layer of vegetables, add a "garnish layer".
5. Now start over with the layer of rice.
6. If it is the top layer of the rice, add the savory warm and milk as before and the garnish layer. Seal the Biryani pot with Aluminum foil.

Step 7: Dum the Biryani

1. Preheat oven to 425º F.
2. Place the Biryani pot in the oven for ten minutes.
3. Turn down the oven temperature to 275º F.
4. You can remove the pot after 15 minutes. You can also use this as a holding temperature for about one hour. Remove the pot from the oven 15 minutes before service. At the time of service, break the seal (remove the aluminum foil).

What makes a good Biryani? Everyone has there own little list. My list is simple and in order of priority follows:

1. Aroma. It should have both sweet fragrance and herbal warm aroma.
2. It should be savory, but not spicy
3. Finally, it should meet the age old test. Drop a handful of Biryani on a hard floor. No two grains of rice should be stuck to each other.

I don't remember if I used tomatoes or not. I think you can make both ways, using tomatoes and not using tomatoes.

;) Enjoy.