Vegetable Biryani

Vegetable Biryani, hmmmmm, the first time i ate it, i fell in love with it. This was in hyderabad at a local biryani house. It was so delicious and i never got that taste later. Then once, years latermy roommate at work made it and it tasted the same....i asked her the recipe and got to know her secret ingredient. I never thought mint would taste soooo good in rice.
Anyway, here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

2C basmati rice, boiled
1/2 bunch mint
1/2 bunch cilantro
2 onions
3-5 cloves
3-4 bay leaves
1C cauliflower, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1/2C peas
1/2 bell pepper, chopped
1/2C paneer, chopped
1C milk
2 tbsp ghee
1 green chili
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp garam masala
salt to taste

Method:

1) Boil the rice with a spray of oil and salt until they are half cooked.

2)In a pan, heat ghee and let it melt, add cumin, cloves and bay leaves. Let them fry for a while.

3) meanwhile in a grinder add, 1 onion, mint, cilantro and green chili. Grind to form a paste.

4) Add this paste to the saute pan with ghee and let it roast for about 2-3 mins. To this add, salt, garam masala, turmeric powder, chili powder and all the chopped vegetables except for paneer.

5) Simmer, add milk and let the vegetables cook , add paneer when vegetables are half cooked. Simmer and cook for about 15 mins till the vegetables are completely cooked and the milk is reduced to half.

6) Pour the masala into the boiled rice and mix it well. The rice will become moist because of the mik. Cover the biryani and cook on low flame until the rice is completely cooked.

7) Serve hot with yoghurt

Serves:4-5