Vegetable Biryani

I got this idea from Vaseem, the assistant director of the computer and information center at PSU. We were on the same Emirates flight from Riyadh to Dubai last October and while we were waiting for our departure, we talked about Indian food. I asked him on how to prepare vegetable biryani and he said the proper way to cook it is like cooking kitcherie... you cook the rice and the vegetables together... though the lazy man's version is to cook the rice and vegetable curry separately and just mix them together after... and guess what? That's what I did!

For the Vegetable curry:

• 1 medium potato, cut into cubes
  
• 1 carrots, cut into cubes
  
• 1 cup cauliflower
• 1/2 yellow bell pepper (the other half I used for my kitcherie the other day)
• 1/2 cup cashews
• 1.5 tsp Shan Vegetable curry mix
• 1 vegetable stock cube
• 1 clove crushed garlic (omit this if you want something sattvic)
• 1/2 onion, sliced (again, omit this if you want)
  
• ghee
• 1 cup water
  
• salt and pepper to taste

Heat a tablespoon of ghee in a small saucepan, add the garlic and onion. Fry for about one minute over low heat... add everything in... mix well and let it boil for a while before reducing the heat. Cover and wait until the vegetables are cooked. I nuked all the vegetables from 30-60 seconds. Potatoes, cauliflower and carrots for 1 minute each and the bell pepper for 30 seconds only. Makes life easier, hahaha. Once ready, turn off heat and add about 3 cups of steamed white rice... use basmati or brown if you like... mix well and your vegetable biryani is ready to serve.

Came across a vegan blog (Pamela Cooks) as well as I was searching for an image of Shan Vegetable Curry mix. She got some wonderful vegan recipes and photos as well. Check it out.