646.Paneer Dum Biryani

Guest No.10

         I was supposed to post this last week but the whole schedule got messed up. I had some posts that had to b live on certain dates (that's what happens when you're in too many groups!) and problems with the internet. It rained a lot last week and many places in Mombasa were flooded. 

         My 10th Guest on the blog, its my sister in law Heni. She's married to my cousin Hiren. His mum was my 3rd guest. She had prepared Tangy Creamy Potato Curry. I've not had much opportunity to spend time with Heni, but whatever time we spend together at my dad's home, their home or an outing, its fun. When I first met Heni, she appeared to me as a very friendly, caring, loving and warmhearted person. She is a fun loving person, always smiling and ready to help any time. She is a great cook herself and my hubby loves her non vegetarian curries.She taught me how to make farali theplas. Along with my brother's wife, they both make any party lively. She encouraged my cousin Hiren to travel all the way to Bangalore to surprise my daughter and me.It was a pleasant surprise and am glad that he attended my daughter's wedding. Heni and Hiren share a special bond not only with my brothers and bhabhis but also with me. Its rare to see such a close relationship especially between cousins nowadays. Heni and I share a lot of common interests... movies, cooking, enjoying good wine ;) She also enjoys watching documentaries and loves reading and is eager to learn anything new. She would love to see different countries. My first experience at the Notting Hill Carnival with them was totally fun. 

Over to Heni:

Mayuriben, my eldest sister-in-law is someone who I have spent very limited time with but what little time I have spent with her has been very positive. Kind, generous and very understanding personality but also someone who has a passion for cooking. She is very innovative and has lots of different ideas for making different types of cuisine with a twist.Her relaxed demeanor depicts a very wise and knowledgeable person respected by all that meet her. I have only seen her or met her when she visits her family in London that too for little time as we have a huge family.

My fondest memory of her is our trip to Notting Hill Carnival (can you imagine going to a street carnival with your husband AND his elder sister…?). Walking amongst the crowd we saw many “characters..” and there was a guy dressed up as an Arabian king. Needless to say that was the perfect photo opportunity for Mayuriben to sidle up to him and SNAP… Certainly made me smile.. It was an experience for us all but a day full of fun and laughter and lots of entertainment.

Paneer Dum Biryani

Serves 4-6 people

Ingredients:

1 cup carrot (diced big pieces)

1 cup sweetcorn (fresh or frozen)

1 cup sugar snaps (or pod peas halved)

1 cup peas (fresh or frozen)

1 cup green beans(halved)

1 cup broccoli florets

3 cups of paneer cubes

3 onions (paste)

8 garlic cloves (paste)

2 tablespoons ginger paste

2 tablespoons chilli paste

3 tomatoes paste/finely chopped

1 tea spoon turmeric powder

2 tea spoon chilli powder

2 table spoons coriander and cumin powder

2 table spoon Biryani masala

1 cup yogurt

oil for deep frying

Rice preparation:

3 cups extra-long basmati rice or Biryani Rice

6 cups water

2 bay leaves

4 cloves

4 cinnamon sticks

4 Black pepper

4 cardamom

Biryani layers:

6-7 medium size red onions thinly sliced (for fried onions) you can use readymade fried onions

2 cups chopped mint

1 cup lime/lemon juice

1 cup chopped coriander

4 table spoons of ghee

Method:

1. Wash and soak the rice in the measured water for 30-45 mins.
2. While the rice is soaking, blanch carrots, sugar snaps, broccoli, sweet corn and peas in hot water. I did that in the microwave for 2-3 minutes each, but cooking time will vary depending on the power of  your microwave.
3. Drain out the water from the rice into a saucepan.
4. Boil the water, add the whole spices for rice. Add the rice and let it cook till half done.
5. Drain the rice out of the water. Spread the rice out in a tray and let it cool.
6. Heat oil in a wok, karai or frying pan over medium heat.
7. Fry the paneer until it is golden brown in colour. Keep it on the side till required.
8. In the same oil, fry onions until they are brown in colour. Remove them from the oil and keep it on a kitchen towel so that the excess oil drains out.
9. Heat about 2-3 tbsp oil in a wide pan over medium heat.
10. Add the onion, garlic, ginger and chilli paste and stir fry over low heat till its light golden in colour.
11. Add turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander cumin powder and biryani masala. Add about 2 tbsp water so that the masala does not stick to the bottom of the pan.Mix well and cook for 2 minutes.
12. Add the tomatoes. Cook till the tomatoes become soft.
13. Add all the blanched vegetables, paneer, 1 cup chopped mint and yogurt.
14. Cook the mixture for 5 minutes. The curry is ready.
15. 
    

Layer the biryani

1. First, layer half the curry at the bottom of a deep saucepan or a glass baking tray if you're going to put it in the oven.
2. Cover the curry with half of the rice.
3. Sprinkle half quantity each of fried onions, mint, lemon/lime juice, ghee and coriander.
4. Cover this layer with the remaining curry.
5. Top it with the remaining rice.
6. Finally sprinkle the remaining fried onion, chopped mint and coriander, ghee and lime/lemon juice.
7. Cover the saucepan or tray with aluminium foil.
8. Cover the pan with a tight lid. At this point you can seal it with some chappati dough.
9. If you are using the saucepan method then put the saucepan on a frying pan (thick bottomed).
10. Put the frying pan on high heat for 10 minutes. Then lower the heat and let the biryani cook slowly for 35 minutes. You may need to check halfway to make sure the biryani is not sticking at the bottom.
11. To bake in the oven, preheat the oven to 200°C. 
12. Bake the biryani for 1 hour.
13. Serve the biryani with some raita, salad and papad (poppadum).

Tips:

• Do not over cook the rice.
• Put the fried paneer in water so that it remains soft.
• If you don't want to fry onions at home you can use the ready fried ones available in the stores.
• Use vegetables of your choice like baby potatoes, mushrooms, baby corn etc.

You may want to check out what other guests had prepared:

Chinese Cauliflower Rice

Baba Ganoush

methi and spinach potato curry