Vegetable Biryani (South Africa)
- Ready In:
- 1hr 20mins
- Ingredients:
- 20
- Serves:
-
12
ingredients
- 3 large onions, sliced
- 4 tablespoons butter or 4 tablespoons clarified butter
- 6 chili peppers, crushed into a paste (I will use a lesser amount of chili paste or crushed red pepper flakes) or 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper (I will use a lesser amount of chili paste or crushed red pepper flakes)
- 2 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced (2-inch piece)
- 10 garlic cloves, minced
- 1⁄2 cup dry lentils, pre-soaked
- 1⁄2 lb green peas
- 1⁄2 lb carrot, chopped
- 1⁄2 lb green beans, chopped
- 3 large tomatoes, chopped
- 6 whole cloves
- 4 inches cinnamon sticks
- 6 cardamom pods, crushed
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 3 sprigs of fresh mint or 1/2 teaspoon dried mint, pounded
- 2 cups long-grain white rice, uncooked (basamati is good)
- 6 large potatoes, chopped into large chunks
- 1 -2 teaspoon salt
- 5 -6 cups hot water
- yogurt, to serve
directions
- In a large, heavy skillet or stew pot, fry the onions in butter until they are golden brown. With a slotted spoon, remove about 1/3 of the slices and set aside.
- Add to the pot the ginger, garlic and chili paste, and fry for 5-6 minutes, stirring constantly. Then add the lentils, green peas, carrots and green beans. Reduce heat and cook for 15 minutes, adding more butter or a bit of oil if needed.
- Add the tomatoes, spices and mint, and stir for 5 minutes.
- Then pour a cup of hot water, cover, and simmer until vegetables are about half cooked.
- Add rice, potatoes, salt and another 4-5 cups of hot water (use the lesser amount if your vegetables have created quite a bit of liquid). Cover again, and cook for another 20-30 minutes until rice is done and water is absorbed.
- To serve, garnish with the reserved onion slices, and pass around a bowl of yogurt as a sauce.
Questions & Replies
Got a question?
Share it with the community!
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
I'm not as active here anymore, but you can find me playing at the new recipezazz.com. I'm not a great photographer, but I love to take food photos with Freddy Cat to bring a smile to people's day. I love to cook and share good food with other people. I have a very large collection of cookbooks. I used to enjoy being able to look up recipes on Zaar by ingredients I had on hand. I miss the Zaar tag game community. Everyone was so nice, and it was super fun. Ah, the good ol' days.