Brinji rice | Vegetable Brinji rice recipe | how to make veg biryani south Indian style with step by step photos and video recipe. This brinji rice recipe is with coconut milk. bay leaf in tamil is known as brinji elai. this vegetable brinji rice recipe has its hero ingredient bay leaf dominating in it.
I recently had a chance to meet chef damodharan where he made a complete buffet meal and the brinji sadam was so good and tempting. when i asked him for the recipe, he casually told me the recipe where i could not grasp everything but the main facts were bay leaves had a upper hand in the dish. He said it is purely made with thengai paal (coconut milk) and no water has to be added. cook with ghee+oil. some of the tips he said clinged in my mind and now after a long time, i tried it. trust me, they were just awesome than i expected.
History of the brinji rice: Know articles online gives the exact history of the origin of the dish or the meaning. Here are some of the details i was able to collect and my assumption that seems to be practically true.
“Brinji rice which is also/was also called as berenji sadham in tamilnadu. digging deeper into the word “berenji” and its meaning –
Berenji is a village in Negar Rural District, in the Central District of Bardsir County, Iran.
Persians are experts known to cook rice varieties in their menu. Berenji rice could be from this region of Iran which could have been propagated to Tamilnadu by them. There is no meaning or word in tamil dictionary for brinji as far i looked up. But It was very commonly made rice few decades ago well even before biryani or pulao got into our lives. So I assume it could be a migration of Iranian cuisine.
Bay leaf is also called as birinji elai/biriyani elai even now just as it is used in birinji rice/biryani.
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Quick video of brinji rice/ veg brinji:
vegetable brinji rice recipe with step by step pics:
- soak the basmati rice in water 15-20 minutes before you start cooking.
- Heat oil and ghee in a pan
- add all the whole spices – bay leaf, cinnamon, cardamom, mace strand, stone flower, cloves. add to the oil and fry till aromatic.
- sliced and dice onions and add it to the pan along with ginger garlic paste.fry till the onions are transparent.
- roughly chop the chillies and mix it along with onions
- add chopped tomatoes and fry till it gets slightly mushy
- fresh mint leaves is added and fried until it shrinks.
- When the leaves are mixed well, add turmeric powder, chilli powder to the pan
- Along with the spice powders, add chopped carrots, peas, chopped cabbage and fry for a minute.
- Now, add thin coconut milk (1.25 cup thin coconut milk for 3/4 cup rice)
- wash and drain the soaked rice. add it to the pan along with salt to taste
- Mix well and let it come to a rolling boil.
- close and cook for 15 minutes in simmer. might take longer based on vegetables used and rice variety by not more than 25 minutes. you can check in between if the rice is cooked.
- open and fluff it up gently.
- the soft, perfectly cooked, mildly spiced brinji rice is ready to be served. hope you try and enjoy it as much as i did !
veg brinji rice recipe card:
brinji rice
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup basmati rice
- 2 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp ghee
- 4-5 no bay leaf
- 2 inch cinnamon stick
- 2 no cloves
- 1 no cardamom
- a few mace strands
- a pinch stone flower
- 1 large onion chopped
- 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
- 1 large tomato roughly chopped
- 2 no green chilli roughly chopped
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- 1 no carrot chopped
- 1/2 cup peas
- 3/4 cup cabbage chopped
- salt to taste
- 1.25 cup thin coconut milk
Instructions
- soak the basmati rice in water for 15-20 minutes.
- heat oil and ghee in a pan and add all the whole spices to it - bay leaf, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, mace strand, stone flower. fry till aromatic
- further add chopped onions and ginger garlic paste and fry until onions turn transparent
- Add green chillies and mix well. chop the tomatoes and add it to the pan and fry until slightly mushy.
- drop some fresh mint leaves and fry till it shrinks
- add turmeric powder, chilli powder, carrots, peas, cabbages and fry for a minute.
- now add thin coconut milk, rice and salt required. mix well, close and cook in simmer for 15-20 minutes until rice is cooked completely.
- open and fluff it up gently.