Spicy Andhra Vegetable Biriyani

Biriyani a one pot meal which is a mixture of rice, meat or chicken or fish or with mixed vegetables. This complete meal is brought to India by Presian people and developed in Mughal period. In Andhra Pradesh Biriyani is brought by Nazam's and developed in different regions according to there taste. In coastal Andhra people like there food spicy so in this region biriyani recipe turned out spicy. Usually in coastal Andhra like all other cuisines Biriyani is made by chicken, But in some functions like marriage we do not eat meat we at that time we replace chicken biriyani with vegetable biriyani. 
                                        In Hyderabadi cuisine Biriyani is made in two versions  one is Kchchi Biriyani (raw style cooking) . In this version vegetables or chicken, masalas and rice cooked together in a heavy bottom pan on low heat. The second version is Pakki Biriyani this version is well known as Dum biriyani also. In this version rice will be cooked separately with whole spices and gravy with chicken or vegetables is made separately. Then made layers by gravy and rice in a heavy bottom pan cooked with a seal of dough. Todays my recipe is in kachichi style.   So let's check the recipe for Spicy Andhra Biriyani 
INGREDIENTS:----
Basmathi rice --- 2 cups
Onion   --- 1 big
Green chillies  -- 3 slit
Paneer   --- 50 gms
Carrot  --- 2 medium size carrot ( you can use any other vegetables like beans, cauliflower, potato along with carrot)
Salt to taste
Ghee ---  1 tab sp extra 1 tea sp for frying paneer, cashew and raisins.
Oil  --- 1 tab sp
Cloves  --- 6
Cinamon -- 1inch pieces 4
Cardamom -- 6
Star anise (anasa puvu) -- 3
Bayleaf -- 3
Coconut milk  --- 1 cup
Water  --- 3 cups
Cashew nuts -- 10 broken
Raisins  --- 20
TO GRIND:-----
Paste  one :---
Poppy seeds  --- 1 tab sp
Cumin seeds  --- 1 tea sp
Cashew nuts  --- 6
Coconut (fresh) -- 1 tab sp grated
Add little water and grind all above ingredients in to smooth paste
Paste two :---
Ginger -- 1 inch piece
Garlic cloves -- 8
Green chilies  --- 6 or you can reduce them according to your taste
Mint leaves (pudina) --- 10 leaves
Coriander leaves  --- 1 tab sp chopped
Lemon -- 1
Grind all above ingredients with lemon juice in to a smooth paste
Slice onion in to very thin slices
Slit green chillies
Cut paneer in to small cubes add little salt, few drops of lemon juice, 1/4 tea sp of paste two mix well and set a side.
Cut carrot in to small cubes
Soak clove, cardamom, cinamon, star anise  in coconut milk this you have to di before half an hour you start cooking. This enhances the flavour of the spices
Soak Basmathi rice in 3 cups of water for ten minutes. Drain the water in to other bowl, do not trough this water, we are going to cook biriyani with this water so set this water and rice a side.
Now heat a heavy bottom pan add ghee and oil then add bayleaf sliced onion, green chillies fry till onion turn in to pink color.
Take out the spices from coconut milk and add them to onion fry for a while.
Now add carrot cubes, green peas give agood stir.
Add paste two with a tab sp of water mix well then add paste one, fry till the masala leaves the oil from sides.
Now add rice give a good stir to combine every thing, then add waterand coconut milk, salt to taste mix well cover and cook till done.
In the mean whail heat 1 tab sp ghee in a small pan fry paneer pieces  till they turn in to golden, fry cashew nuts and raisins in the same ghee remove from heat
Remove the cover mix well once in between means this you can do in five minutes. Again cover reduce the heat in to low.
Heat a dosa pan place biriyani pot on this heat dosa pan reduce the heat in to very low cook for 20 minutes.
Open the cover add fried paneer, cashew, raisins to biriyani again cover.
If you like to cook this in a preasure cooker then cook for 3 whistles in a medium heat.
Switch off the heat and let it sit for 15 minutes then mix well.
Serve this spicy Biriyani with raita, usualy we serve this with aloo kurma or chicken kurma in frist serving. In the second serving we serve onion raita(perugu pachadi).
This is my first recipe with the theme of Biriyani/ pulao for blogging marathon 18 th edition at Vallis spice your life lets check blogging marathon page .