Baby Potato Biryani

Come Sunday morning and I am surrounded by a variety of smells in my kitchen.No not from my kitchen but the surrounding ones.While I am whipping up our late breakfast,I hear people pounding and mixing and getting ready to make their elaborate Sunday lunches.Most people I know make Biryani on Sundays mainly because it takes a long time to get done and people usually do not mind waiting to eat something as delicious as a Biryani.

 
Keeping this in mind,I decided I should try making something elaborate too.My Biryani and pulao is anything but elaborate,taking only about half an hour of my time and few minutes in the pressure cooker.So I chose this recipe from Prathibha's blog,which I had bookmarked ages ago.

The Biryani by itself is delicious and paired with some simple salad and papad makes for a great meal.All I wanted after finishing my lunch was a long nap!

Baby Potato Biryani Recipe

Recipe source - Mallika Badrinath

Ingredients

Basmati Rice - 1 cup

Baby Potatoes - 200 gms(15-16 potatoes)

Onions - 2 big,thinly sliced

Fresh curds - 1/4 cup

Tomato juice - 3/4 cup,freshly extracted from 2-3 tomatoes

Water - 1 cup

Garam masala - 1/4 tsp

Fresh coriander leaves - 1/2 bunch(approximately 1 cup loosely packed)

1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves for garnish

Salt to taste

Oil - to deep fry/shallow fry

Ghee - 1 tsp

To roast and grind

Coriander seeds - 1 tsp

Red chillies - 4

Grated dry coconut -  2 tbsp

Green chillies - 2

Fresh Ginger - 1' piece

Oil - 1/2 tsp

 
Method

To prepare the rice

Wash basmati rice and soak in water for 10 mins.

Cook basmati rice with 1 cup water and 3/4 cup of freshly made tomato juice in cooker for 2 whistles or on stove top until the water is drained.

Fluff up the rice with fork and spread on a plate and cool the rice completely.Add a tsp of ghee and mix slightly.

To make the masala paste(1)

Grind washed coriander leaves to a fine paste.Beat the curds properly and add the ground paste to it and mix well.

Masala paste(2)

Heat 1/2 tsp oil and add coriander seeds,red chillies and fry until they change their color and add grated coconut and fry slightly.Cool these ingredients and grind along with green chillies and chopped ginger to a fine paste.

Prepare the baby potatoes and onions

Pressure cook baby potatoes for 1 whistle and simmer it for 4-5 mins or pressure cook for 2 whistles.

After the pressure goes down remove them and let them cool.Peel off the skins and pierce each potato with fork in 2-3 places.This helps in potato not to burst while frying.

Heat oil in a deep heavy kadai and deep fry them over medium flame until they are golden brown in color.Drain them on a kitchen towel and keep them aside.You could also shallow fry the potatoes on a tawa.

Also deep fry thinly sliced onions until they are crisp and golden brown in color.Remove them and drain off excess oil in a kitchen towel and keep them aside.

Assemble the Biryani

Take 2 tbsp of oil from the pan and pour into another wide kadai and add ground masala paste and fry well until the raw smell goes away.

Add baby potatoes and half of the fried onions to it and mix well until the masala coats all the potatoes.

Reduce the flame and add curds(mixed with coriander leaves paste) and also add cooled cooked rice and salt and cover it and cook over low flame for 5-6 mins giving a dum to the rice which enhances its taste by absorbing all the flavors.

Remove the lid and mix everything properly.Add remaining fried onions and garam masala powder and mix well and switch off the flame.

Garnish with chopped coriander and serve it hot with mixed vegetable raitha and papad.

Notes

• This Biryani is very mildly spiced,so make sure you use good quality garam masala,preferable homemade.You could also use whole garam masala and saute them before adding the masala pastes.
• Ideally,the baby potatoes should be deep fried,but shallow frying on a tawa with some oil gives equally delicious results.
• As with dishes of similar kinds,the biryani tastes better the next day.So make sure you keep some in a microproof box and reheat and eat it the next day for a tastier version:)