Biryani rice and crunchy brussel sprouts

This post is long overdue, but I finally uploaded a bunch of pictures from my camera and wanted to start with this delicious recipe for Biryani. Biryani typically refers to a highly seasoned cooked rice that can be made with meat or vegetables. My favorite biryani thus far has been a small hole in the wall place in Delhi that a coworker had dragged us to during my summer interning at the South Asia Human Rights Documentation Center. Our group was somewhat put off by the place(flies everywhere!) and made our sentiments known, but all that quickly disappeared as soon as our food arrived. The biryani was served in individual copper pots that were closed off with muslin cloth. As I untied the cloth, the fragrance emanating from the pot was nothing like I had ever experienced before. I don't remember much of what happened later, but I do know that the contents of the entire pot disappeared in about 4 minutes.

This recipe is one that I swear by. My mother has a few cookbooks by Tarla Dalal and her recipes are excellent for Indian food. This one is delicious but also quick and easy.

Ingredients:
Rice
2 cups basmati rice
1/4 tsp saffron

Other ingredients
1 cup yogurt
2 large onions, sliced
2 tbsp tomato puree
2 cups mixed boiled vegetables (carrots and peas)
a pinch sugar
5 tbsp butter or ghee
salt
mint leaves to garnish


To be ground into a Paste
4 red chillies
2 green chillies
4 cloves garlic
1 inch piece ginger
1 tbsp cashewnuts
s tsp coriander seeds
3 cardomoms

1. Cook the rice. Mix in the yogurt with half the rice. Mix in the saffron in about 2 tbsp of water and mix in the saffron with the rest of the rice.  Keep the two portions separate.

2. Heat the butter/ghee. For those who are unfamiliar with ghee, it is a staple in Indian cooking, often demonized for its high fat/cholesterol content, but is highly flavorful and brings out a unique taste. Fry the onions in the butter/ghee until they turn a golden brown. Keep the onions aside.

3. Sautee the ground paste in the remaining ghee/butter for about 2-3 minutes. Add the tomato puree, and vegetables  and cook for around 5 minutes. Then add the yogurt, the sugar and the salt.

4. Butter a baking dish and add some of the fried onions on the bottom. Alternate between the vegetable mixture, the saffron rice and the yogurt rice.

5. Bake for 20 minutes at 450 F.

6. Turn upside down and serve with the mint as a garnish.

I also made brussel sprouts with the biryani. This is also a quick and easy recipe. The brussel sprouts get slightly caramelized and work well with the roasted almonds.

Ingredients:

Brussel sprouts quartered
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp roasted almonds
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt

1. Marinate the brussel sprouts in the olive oil with the sugar.

2. Sautee the brussel sprouts in high heat until the sides of the sprouts are caramelized.

3. Add in the salt and the roasted almonds.