One Pot Veg Biryani

The kitchen. Scent of cumin, ajwain and cardamom. On the table, a little pile of nutmeg. Thick, oily vapor rose from the pot on the stove. – Chef Jaspreet Singh

A one pot meal with a no fail recipe, on a day when I was in a “béjar”* mood to do any elaborate cooking. The kitchen however, smelled so good that everyone came down to check what was cooking.

Instant Pot** Veg Biryani ***

Prep
Soak 2 cups basmati rice in water for 20 minutes

1. Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a 6 quart Instant pot
   Season with
   1 tsp cumin seeds
   1 tsp saunf – fennel
   4 whole green cardamom
   1 black cardamom
   4 cloves
   10 whole black pepper
   2 bay leaves
   2 inch cinnamon
   1 piece of mace
   1 star anise
2. Add to this
   1 large serrano pepper sliced into two
   2 cups thinly sliced onions
   10 to 15 curry leaves
   1 tsp salt
   Saute till onions are brown
3. Half way through onions browning, add
   1 cup cubed paneer
   Brown along with onions
4. Add 4 cups of any chopped vegetables
   1.5 tsp kashmiri chilli powder
   1 tbsp garam masala
   2 tsp salt
   2 tsp ghee
   Dash of turmeric
   Saute vegetables for 5 minutes till they are well coated in oil and spices
5. Add the soaked and drained basmati rice
   Mix everything well.
   Make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pan. If it is, deglaze with a couple tbsp of water
   Flatten the rice vegetable mixture so it’s all at one level in the pot
   Add 2 and 1/4 cups of water, making sure all is submerged
   Pressure cook for 5 minutes
6. Exactly 5 minutes after the cooking process is done, release pressure.
   Some of the top may look uncooked.

7.Add 2 tbsp of ghee
Drizzle
Few drops of Orange food coloring dissolved 2 ounces water for the authentic some biryani rice colored look🎨
GENTLY fold the rice^ so that the uncooked looking rice goes to the middle of the pot.
Shut and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes for flavors to develop and uncooked looking rice to fluff up 🙂

8. Garnish generously with
   Chopped mint and cilantro
   Fried onions^^
   Enjoy !

• Tamil Slang for irritated
  ** I have Fagor- an European Brand, which is the mother of the Instant Pot 😄 and preceeds it by a couple years!
  ***tweaked from Ministry of Curry recipe
  ^ Do not break the rice !!!
  As my favorite Vah Chef puts it – biryani rice should look like seed pearls🍚
  ^^ I use Deep or Swad brand – readymade