Friday, March 6, 2015

Soya Chunks Biriyani - Soya Chunks Pulao using cococnut milk - Step by Step

  Soya is rich in protien and dietary fibre. It has the same amount of nutrients as of in cows milk. I used to make soya chunks biriyani, my kids will enjoy soya as chicken. H was not complaining about the texture. So prepared a post about it. Soya chunks are available in all Indian Groceries. Always soak the soya chunks in hot - salty water for 2 to 3 mins and then sueeze the excess water. Don't leave for long, then the soya chunks will become mushy. Here I have prepared it with mild flavours. You can always use your imagination to make it spicier . I have used coconut milk. You can use plain water instead. Today is the final day of our "Biriyani Series". I hope you all completely enjoyed with the biriyanis. 
   Here are some of my biriyani recipes. Enjoy your sundays ,with these beauties.
Preparation Time: 10 mins
Cooking time : 30 mins
Serves - 4

Ingredients:
1.Basmati rice - 2 cups
2.Soya chunks - 1 cup
3.Carrot - 1/2 cup ( chopped)
4.Peas - 1/4 cup
5.Onion - 1 big
6.Green Chillies - 4
7.Coconut milk - 2 cups
8.Water - 1 1/2 cup
9.Salt - to taste
10.Cashews - 7
11.Mint - 1/2 cup (chopped)
12.Curd - 2 tbsp
13.Ginger garlic paste - 1/2 tsp

For tempering:
1.Oil - 1/2 cup
2.Cinnamon - 1 inch
3.Cloves - 4
4.Cardamom- 3
5.Bay leaves- 3
6.Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp


Method:
* Soya chunks are hard to touch. we need to cook them.Take a pan of water and bring it to boil .Add some salt and turn it off .Now drop the soya chunks .Let it sit for 2 minutes or untill they become soft. Wash and soak the basmati rice for atleast 20 mins.
* Squeeze the water from the soya chunks and strain them. Save the water ,we are going to use it for the biriyani.
* Take thick coconut milk. While grinding the coconut, we can use the hot water in which we cooked the soya. Thinly slice the onion,slit the green chillies,chop the mint leaves and slice the carrots. We can either use all coocnut milk, but I feel that coconut milk will make the biriyani dry.So I have diluted it with water.
* Take a pressure pan, add oil ,temper with cinnamon,cardamom,cloves,fennel seeds. The cloves and cardamom should burst to give good aroma to the biriyani. Now drop the green chillies. Green chillies will also burst.
* Now dump the sliced onion and saute it. The onion should turn transparent. We can sprinkle some salt to the onion.
* Throw carrot, peas to the pan.Mix them well. Cook the vegetables with onion.

* Add ginger garlic paste and saute,till it looses its raw smell. Now add chopped mint leaves.
* Whisk curd to creamy texture and  add it to the pan. Adding curd will give a tartness to the biriyani.
* Strain the rice and add it to the pan. Slowly toss the rice,till it gets roasted. We can also fry the basmati rice in a separate pan.
* When the rice `fried, add coconut milk + water (reserved from cooking soya) to the pan. We can also use fully coocnut milk or just use plain water. I have used 31/2 cups of liquid,totally for 2 cups of rice.If it is normal biriyani, I would have used 1 : 1 1/2 ratio. Since ,we are using soya, it will absorb some water ,so used 1/2 cup water more.
* Now add soya to the pan and close the pan. forgot to click, while adding soya. Cook the biriyani in medium flame for 1 whistle and reduce the flame to low for 15 mins. Turn off the stove.

* Once , pressure is released, remove the lid,fluff it with a fork.Serve it with raita. Garnish with fried cahews.

Notes:
* Soya chunks can be marinated with curd and then added to the biriyani.
* Since my kids don't like spicy biriyani, I have used just green chillies. If you want the biriyani to be spicier, you can use chilli powder or garam masala.
* We can use any vegetables for the biriyani or just use soya chunks.
* I have used 2 cups of coconut milk . You can use more or less,depends on how milder you want your biriyani.
* Green chillies spluttering,will give a beautifull aroma to the biriyani.
* Always use aged basmati rice for aromatic biriyani.
* Always cook biriyani in low flame.



2 comments:

minnie@thelady8home said...

I do make biryani with soya chunks but not such an elaborate one. This sounds really yummy. Next time going to follow yours.

great-secret-of-life said...

looks so tempting very flavourful biryani

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