Veg Soya Biryani

Name: Veg Soya Biryani
Total time: 5400 s
Yield: 3-4 servings
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: 1 cup soya chunks; 1 cup yoghurt (dahi); 2 Green chillies; 2 teaspoons ginger garlic paste; 2-3 teaspoons kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves); 1 tablespoon garam masala (Bombay mix biryani masala/Shan biryani masala); 2.5 teaspoons Turmeric,; 2.5 teaspoons red chilli powder,; 2 teaspoons coriander powder,; 1 tablespoon salt; 2 teaspoons oil

Rinky Achtani @cook_25271296

Australia

#Biryani is a very famous Indian/Pakistani/Persian dish and all the countries have their own version of Biryani. The word “biryani” comes from the Persian word “birian” which means “fried before cooking.” One could conclude that the biryani originated in Iran (modern day Persia). Another interesting story traces the origins of the dish to Mumtaz Mahal(1593-1631), Shah Jahan's queen who inspired the Taj Mahal. (https://indiacurrents.com/tracing-the-history-of-biryani/).
There are many stories and debates on the invention of Biryani, but for now, let's look at my invention :)
#VegBiryani #Vegsoyabiryani #Biryani

Rinky Achtani @cook_25271296

Saved

Ingredients

1 hr 30 mins

3-4 servings

1 cupsoya chunks
1 cupyoghurt (dahi)
2Green chillies
2 teaspoons ginger garlic paste
2-3 teaspoonskasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
1 tablespoongaram masala (Bombay mix biryani masala/Shan biryani masala)
2.5 teaspoonsTurmeric,
2.5 teaspoons red chilli powder,
2 teaspoons coriander powder,
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons oil

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Steps

1 hr 30 mins

1

Add 2-3 cups of water in a cooking pot and bring it to a boil. Then add soya chunks in the boiling hot water and cook it for 5 minutes or until soya chunks have doubled in size. Remove the soya chunks and drain the excess water. Wash it with cold water and press it hard to remove the excess water. Now take a bowl and marinate the soya chunks with yoghurt. Add turmeric, coriander powder, red chilli powder, garam masala, kasuri methi, ginger-garlic paste and green chillies. Mix all the ingredient
2

Take 2 small bowls of rice (serving 4 people) and soak it in water for 15-20 mins. Wash the rice 3-4 times before cooking. Take a cooking pot and add 3 glasses of water and bring the water to boil. Take a muslin cloth or a clean handkerchief and add all whole spices in the cloth. 2-3 cloves (laung), 4 peppercorn (kalimirch), 1 green cardamom (elaichi), 1 black cardamom (badi elaichi) and 1 cinnamon stick (dalchini). Tie the cloth and put it in the boiling water. You can add whole spices directly
3

Take a deep circular non-stick cooking pot with a flat base. Add 2 tablespoons oil, add 1 teaspoon cumin seeds and let it splutter. Then add 2 medium sized thinly chopped onions. Saute the onions until fully golden brown (caramalised onions). Once cooked,remove the onions and keep it aside.
4

In the same pan add 1 teaspoon oil and then add the marinated soya chunks and cook for 5-6 minutes until the oil separates or when the curry starts leaving colour. You will see the colour change. Do not dry up the curry or else the soya chunks might burn from down. Now add little caramelized onions, add coriander leaves, mint leaves and little garam masala powder. You can add little extra spices at this stage, if you want it more spicy.
5

Now add a full layer of cooked rice on top of the soya chunks. Then again add the remaining caramelized onions, coriander leaves, mint leaves, 3-4 teaspoons ghee (unsalted butter) and sprinkle little garam masala on the top. Take 1 tablespoon milk, add turmeric in the milk, mix well and pour it over the biryani. This gives a nice colour to the biryani. You can add salt at this stage if you think the rice is less salty. Then cover and cook on low flame for 10-15 mins. Check once after 7 minutes
6

Tips and Variations: Vegans who do not consume dairy products, you can marinate the soya chunks in tomato puree instead of yoghurt.
Non vegans, you can replace the soya with chicken/mutton/beef