Vegetarian Biryani ( Manjula's Kitchen)

The Rice:
2 cups of brown basmati rice
1/2 tea-spoon salt
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
Water to cover rice going over about 1/2 inch
The Vegetables:
1 cup of carrot, cut in small dice
1 cup broccoli, sliced
1 cup potato cubed
1 jalapeno, chopped finely
2 cups of kefir or yogurt
2 inch piece of ginger, ground on fine grader
1/2 tea-spoon of cayenne pepper
1 tea-spoon turmeric
Handful of cilantro
1/2 cup cashews
Mix all the above vegetable ingredients and let them marinate for about 30 minutes.
1 teaspoon of garam masala
The Saffron:
1/4 cup of milk, warmed up , and 2 pinches of saffron.
The Gravy:
Puree 4 medium size tomatoes. Heat about 2 table spoons of oil in a pan. Add 1/4 tea-spoon hing (optional if you do not have it on hand), add 1 tea-spoon cumin and tomatoes. Let heat up so that you see it bubbling on the sides and add the marinating vegetables and cashews. Let it cook for about 15 minutes. Make sure that potatoes are soft but not falling apart.
Putting It Together:
Take baking dish or Dutch oven and place half of gravy with vegetable in the pan, lay half of rice, place a layer of cilantro, sprinkle garam masala, put second layer of gravy and vegetables and then the remaining rice. Drizzle the saffron milk on top.
Cover with lid and bake at 350F for about 30 minute or till your house will fill with fragrant aromas of Indian spices.