Vegetable Bombay Biriyani Recipe

There are a wide variety of biriyanis.
I first learnt to make biriyani from a friend and colleague, Kishwer. She prepared awesome biriyani for a weekend party.
Later inspired by the wonderful taste, I got a Biriyani Masala box, I chose MDH Bombay biriyani masala.
Here I am presenting the recipe followed by my friend which is more or less the same as the one mentioned on the masala box.I replaced the non-veg with the vegetables.

I didn't know the exact difference between fried rice, pulao and biriyani until I first cooked the biriyani myself. To prepare the fried rice the cooked rice is fried with the other ingredients,for the biriyani,one needs to cook the rice first.For the pulao, all ingredients including rice are cooked together.

Initially I would complain that "My biriyani turns out to be a pulao".Cooking biriyani needs great skill and care.Even a minute's extra heat might make it imperfect.

Ingredients:
1. Cut vegetables - Potato, cauliflower,Beans,Carrot - 1 cup each
2. Onion - 1 large
3. Tomato - 2
4. Rice (uncooked) - 2 cups ( preferably Basmati rice)
5. Cashew-nuts - 10
6. Oil - 1/2 cup
7. Salt as per taste
8. Red chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
9. Garlic Cloves - 3
10. MDH Bombay biriyani Masala - 5 tsp
11. Mint leaves - 5

Preparation:
1. Soak the rice is water for 15 to 20 mins.
2. Cut all the vegetables.
3. Fry the vegetables( potato, beans, cauliflower,carrot) one by one and keep them separate. Add oil while frying.
4. Fry the onion until they turn slightly brown.Then add crushed Garlic and tomato. Fry until the water from tomato separates.
5. Add salt and biriyani masala.Mix well.
6. Add all the fried vegetables and mix.Add 2 tbsp water and cook for 5 mins.
7. Now to cook the rice - add 3 cups water ( 1.5 cups water : 1 cup rice) and mint leaves and cook up to 80 %. If you use pressure cooker,cook until one whistle.
8. When the rice is ready.Take a big container and place a layer of rice, followed by a layer of vegetable mix and then again a layer of rice and so on. Pour 1 cup water and cook with the container covered for 5 mins

Biriyani can be garnished with fried Cashew and deep-fried onion.
Once the biriyani is ready the aroma spreads everywhere. Now peacefully relish the biriyani along with raita.