Vegetable Biriyani

Vegetable Biriyani

Vegetable Biryani is a world-famous rice-based dish that consists of layering cooked rice and vegetables, typically in a casserole, before baking it in the oven. However, I have used a crock-pot, as the goal of cooking in a crock-pot is to cook with the least amount of oil and not requiring attention while cooking, well, for most of the time.


Biryani is normally made with basmati rice and flavored with cloves, cinnamon, cardamon, bay leaf, coriander, mint, ginger, garlic and onions. Traditionally, saffron milk was sprinkled on the top of the dish before cooking, so that the rice grains have variable white and yellow-orange color and a subtle saffron flavor.


Coming from Hyderabad (India), we love to cook the biriyani the hyderabadi style i.e. by applying pressure (also known as "Dum"); which means to seal the ingredients in steam so that the flavors remain within the dish. There comes the famous word "Hyderabadi Dum Biriyani"


Biryani is often served with a yogurt-based condiment such as raita. It is good for crowds and a favorite at wedding receptions and typical Indian family dinners.

Ingredients:

1. Rice - 5cups
2. Water - 6cups
3. Onion (Medium)- 1
4. Vegetables according to your choice
5. Mint leaves - 1cup
6. Fenugreek leaves -1 cup (do not add more than a cup to prevent bitterness)
7. Yogurt - 1 cup
8. Biriyani Masala - 2 1/2 tbsps
9. Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp
10. Fried onions - 1 cup
11. Shahi jeera - 1tsp
12. Whole garam masala - 1tbsp
13. Bay leaf-1
14. Ghee - 2 tbsps
15. Oil -1 tbsp

Note- make sure to cut all the vegetables in about the same size to that the vegetables cook evenly.


Preparation Method: Please follow the video.

Banana Bread

It’s a fact that the banana bread recipe is one of the easy ones you can make, but what if I told you that you don’t even need an oven to bake this one? Interesting right? Yes, I made this banana bread with few simple ingredients, a hand mixer and a crock-pot, and homemade fresh banana bread is ready to be served!

Note: The cooking time varies by the size of the crock-pot; usually the smaller it is, the longer it takes. Please verify.

Chole

Chole is a curry made with chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans), is a popular Punjabi curry that goes well with poori or bhatura (a kind of deep fried flat bread), and also goes well roti and rice.

Note: For a thicker consistency, continue to cook for an additional 1 hour in the crock-pot with the lid open.

Ghee (Clarified Butter)

Ghee is a type of clarified butter that is prepared by simmering butter and removing the residue. The texture, color, and taste of ghee depend on the quality of the butter and the duration of the boiling. Ghee is widely used in Indian cuisine, especially goes well with steamed rice and can be dabbed on roti (and Naan as well). Mostly, all Indian sweets are prepared with ghee as their base. Although, ghee may sound high in saturated fats, it is still considered healthy and used as ingredient in most of the Ayurvedic medicines.

Ingredients

Organic Butter (unsalted) – 2 lbs

Preparation:

Add butter to the crock-pot and set it on low for 4 hours 30 mins. Make sure that the lid is partially covered to allow for moisture to be evaporated. After 4 hours 30 mins, turn off the crock-pot and allow the ghee to cool to arrive at room temperature. After the ghee is cooled, transfer to an airtight glass jar and store in room temperature. Optionally, ghee can also be stored in the freezer for longer shelf life. Just remove from the freezer and heat in microwave for about 30 seconds before serving, as you would melt normal butter.

Carrot Halwa

Carrot halwa is a classic indian dessert that goes for any celebrative occasion or season. It’s an evergreen indian dessert made all over india. Simple ingredients such as freshly grated carrots, milk, sugar and ghee make this recipe a great treat for all!

Ingredients:

      1)     Carrots – 2 lbs, grated

      2)     Condensed Milk - 1can (14oz)

      3)     Whole Milk - 1cup

      4)     Milk Mava powder – 2 cups 

               (or substitute with Ricotta cheese, 2 cups)

      5)     Sugar – 1 cup

      6)     Ghee (Clarified Butter) – 4 tbsp

      7)     Cashews – 2 tbsp, chopped

      8)     Raisins – 1 tbsp

      9)     Cardamom powder- ½ tsp

Preparation:

Add 1 tbsp ghee to an empty pot and grease well on the bottom and to the sides. Add grated carrots, condensed milk, whole milk, milk mava powder, 2 tbsp ghee & sugar to the 6 quarts crock-pot. Mix well and set on high for 5 hrs. After 3 hrs briefly stir the contents and continue to cook for 2 more hrs. If you still see moisture left in the crock-pot, remove the lid and cook it on high for another 30 minutes. Finally, fry cashews and raisins in the remaining amount of ghee (1 tbsp) in a separate pan and add to the cooked halwa and mix well. Serve hot or chilled, left in the refrigerator (not the freezer) for about 6 hours.

Sambar

Sambar is a very popular South Indian lentil-based vegetarian stew made with tamarind. You can add choice of vegetables with most common ones that are used in the Sambar being, Carrots, Green Beans, Onions, Tomatoes, Squash (mostly all kinds), Eggplant, Drumsticks etc. Sambar goes well with white rice, or can be used as a side dish for Idly, Dosa etc.

                                                                                

Ingredients:

1. Toor Dal – 1 cup (soaked for 3-4 hours and made into a paste)
2. Tamarind – 1 tbsp (soaked in ½ cup of water and made into a pulp), alternatively you can use concentrated tamarind paste, about 1 tsp.
3. Vegetables – 2 cups, chopped (I used carrots and green beans)
4. Onion – 1, chopped
5. Tomatoes – 1 big or 2 small, chopped
6. Sambar Masala – 1.5 tbsp (available in Indian groceries stores)
7. Garlic – 3 cloves, crushed
8. Red Chili Powder – ½ tsp.
9. Sugar – 1.5 tbsp (if you like more spicy and less sweetly, reduce sugar to ½ tbsp)
10. Water – 7-8 cups
11. Salt to taste
12. Cilantro – for garnish

For Tempering

1. Vegetable Oil – 2 tbsp
2. Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
3. Cumin seeds – 1tsp
4. Hing (Asafoetida) – ½ tsp
5. Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
6. Curry Leaves - about 10 (optional)

Preparation

• Add all ingredients (except tempering) into a 6 quarts crock-pot and put it on low for 8 hours.
• For tempering, heat oil in a small saucepan; add the tempering ingredients and turn-off the heat as soon as you hear crackling sound.
• To finish off, add tempering to the cooked sambar and garnish with chopped cilantro. Server will white rice and ghee (optional).