Potato Biriyani

Week ends are always special,relaxing,lazy and we feel like having elaborate and special food.For us it is always brunch on weekends,we somehow skip regular breakfast and I prepare some kind of one pot meal like dal rice or any pulao for brunch with a raita and papad/gravy.Last weekend I had prepared this potato biriyani adapted from Mallika badrinath's cook book.I made a lot of changes in the procedure to make this quick and it was one scrumptious dish.It is lacking in color as I had not deep fried the potatoes as mentioned in the recipe and reduced the amount of chillies too.Other than that it is a very tasty dish and best served with vegetable raita to balance the spice.Try this on weekend and have a relaxing weekend :)

Potato biriyani recipe
Star ingredient:Baby potatoes and basmati rice
Time:45 minutes
Serves:3
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup basmati rice
18-20 small potatoes
2 tomatoes
1 large onion
2 green chillies
2 dried red chillies
1/2 cup cilantro/coriander leaves
1 tablespoon channa dal
6 whole almonds(optional,I used)
Small piece of ginger
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 cloves
2 cardamoms
Salt
Oil,ghee
Method:
1.Blanch,peel and puree the tomatoes.
2.Roast  green,red chillies,channa dal and ginger in one teaspoon oil.Grind along with cilantro and whole almonds.set aside.
3.Cook basmati rice until 70% done(Add 3 cups water and cook until 1 whistle). In the same cooker boil the potatoes until just cooked and firm enough.Once the pressure is released,peel the potatoes and prick here and there with a fork.Shallow fry the potatoes until they turn golden in color.
4.cut onion into thin slices and fry till golden brown.
5.In a deep vessel or a cooker,heat 1 teaspoon oil/ghee and add the cumin seeds.Once it splutters,add the ground cilantro paste and saute well for 5-7 minutes.Next add the tomato puree and mix well.Saute for 5 minutes.
6.Add the fried potatoes and cook for 5 minutes.
7.Next add the rice,salt,1/4 cup water and close.Cook on low flame till all the water is absorbed and rice is completely done.
8.Open the lid add 2 teaspoons ghee,mix gently and serve hot with raita.
Notes:
1.Instead of baby potatoes you can even use normal potatoes cut into quarters.
2.Heat a cast iron tava and keep the vessel on that to avoid burning the bottom and ensure even heating
3.I used almonds instead of poopy seeds and coconuts as I was out of stock.
4.If you are rushing for time,pressure cook rice completely,make the masala and mix in gently as we do for pulao varieties .
You might like to take a look @
Hyderabadi biriyani
Paneer pulao
Dal pulao