Chettinad Vegetable Biryani ~ Tamil Nadu Special

5 from 2 votes

Chettinadu Vegetable Biryani recipe or the popular kaikari biryani prepared with seeraga samba rice! A delicious veg biryani recipe.

Prep Time15

Cook Time35

Total Time50

Course: Entree

Cuisine: Chettinadu, TamilNadu

Keyword: Chettinadu Veg Biryani, kaikari biryani

Servings:

Calories: 385kcal

Author: Srividhya G

5 green chilies broken (adjust as per taste)
15 shallots
½ cup onion chopped
2 tomatoes chopped (approx 175 grams)
2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
3 cups of mixed vegetables (I used beans, carrot, peas, potatoes, and cauliflower
1 tsp red chili powder
1 tbsp coriander powder
¼ tsp turmeric powder
¼ tsp Blackstone flower powder
1 cup mint leaves tightly packed
¼ cup cilantro chopped
1.25 tbsp salt or to taste
3 cups seeraga sambar rice rinsed and soaked in water for 30 minutes and drained
4.5 cup water

Heat a pan or kadai and add the ghee. I used my Dutch-oven for this biryani preparation.
When the ghee melts, add the cashews and fry until it turns light golden brown. Please remove it from the pan and set aside.
Now in the same pan, add the ¼ cup oil. When it is hot, add the bay leaves, cinnamon, green cardamom, cloves, marathi moggu/kapok bud, and the star anise. Saute for a minute.
Now add the onion and shallots and saute until the onion turns soft. Then add the ginger-garlic paste and green chilies and saute for a minute or until the ginger and garlic's raw smell goes off. You can add the green chilies along with onions as well.
Add chopped Mint and Cilantro (reserve some to garnish) to the pan and saute for 1 minute.
Add the mixed vegetables to the pan. Mix well and cook for 3 to 4 minutes - no need to cover.
At this stage, add chopped tomatoes, red chili powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, salt, and Blackstone flower powder to the vegetables and mix well. Add ¼ cup of water and cover and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until the tomatoes are slightly mushy.
Now remove the lid and add 4 cups of water and bring it to a boil.
Now add the drained rice and cook for 5 minutes in high flame.
By now, the rice would have cooked 80% and, if required, drizzle the remaining ¼ more water and reduce the heat to low—cover and cook for 12 minutes.
Then turn off the heat and let it sit for 10 minutes.
Add the fried cashews and garnish it with cilantro and serve warm.

Adjust the salt, veggies, and spices as per your preference.
If using a black stone flower, the dried one, add it along with the tempering ingredients.
We use ¼ cup of veggies for cooking the veggies and 4 cups of water for the rice. For one cup of seeraga samba rice, I went with 1 ⅓ cup of water. And if needed, add ¼ more cup of water, but you won't need more than that.
Pressure Cooker Version-
You can also make this pressure cooker. Follow the same procedure till you add 4 cups of water. When the water boils, add the rice and pressure cook over medium heat cook for one whistle. After one whistle, reduce the heat to low(on a number scale 1) and cook for just 5 minutes. It acts as a DUM, but it is not mandatory. Allow the pressure to release naturally. After opening the pressure cooker lid, allow the rice to cool for 5 minutes and fluff it gently.