Claypot Biryani | Manpanai Biryani| How to make Vegetable Layered Biryani in a Claypot | Manchatti Biryani Recipe

Hi Supermoms,

Vegetable Biryani is an all time favourite dish at home. Until a few years ago, Sundays were synonymous with Biryani 😎 served with Achaari Tomato raita. My better half is  happy when I cook Biryani . He loves my signature Quick Biryani the most and always chides me if I try any experimentation with it 😉. 

But I am often tempted to try new things . Even a tiny addition to an existing recipe can impact the flavour in so many ways. The inspiration behind creating this recipe was a delicious looking chicken biryani that a blogger friend Richa had shared . Watching her add fried onions while marinating chicken, tempted me so much to try it in my vegetable biryani. 

Also, I love cooking in claypots as the flavour it imparts to the Biryani is simply amazing. One has to taste it to experience what I am sharing. I fried /roasted the onions along with garlic cloves in the oven . However, you can fry them over a stove top too. 

Making Biryani at home is quite simple and is an enjoyable process too. Marinating the vegetables for a few hours will make it more tasty. You can use vegetables of your choice. 

Not only weekends, any day can be made brighter when you cook this Biryani. 

Claypot Layered Vegetable Biryani:

Preparation time : 2 hours 

Cooking time : 1 hour 

Serves : 4-6

1 cup = 250 ml cup

Ingredients :

For Fried onions and garlic:

2 onions ( sliced thinly)

10 garlic pods ( halved) 

1 tablespoon oil 

salt 

Masala For Marination ;

1/2 cup thick curd ( whisked)

1 teaspoon red chilli powder

1 teaspoon Biryani Masala 

1/8 teaspoon turmeric powder

5 garlic cloves ( roasted and mashed)

1 onion ( sliced thinly and fried)

salt to taste 

Vegetables for Marination :

Note : Cut them in uniform shape

1 potato 

1 carrot

10-15 french beans

1/2 cup fresh peas 

To grind :

1 large tomato ( or 2 small tomatoes)

1 onion ( roughly chopped)

1/2" ginger

3-4 garlic cloves 

1-2 green chilli 

To temper:

1/4 cup ghee/clarified butter

1-2 bay leaves

1 star anise

pinch of nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds ( coarsely powdered using mortar and pestle)

1/2" stick cinnamon 

2 cloves 

Other ingredients :

2 cups basmati rice ( soak in 2 cups water for 20 minutes )

7-8 saffron strands ( soak in 1/4 cup warm milk for at least 30 minutes)

1/2 cup loosely packed mint leaves 

Method :

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the onions and chopped garlic.

2. Drizzle oil and bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees for 30-35 minutes or till the time they are roasted uniformly.

3. Alternatively, you can fry them in a kadai.

4. Marinate the vegetables in the mixture given under 'masala for marination'.

5. Soak the saffron in milk.

6. Grind the vegetables given under "to grind'.

7. Soak the rice in a clay pot and cook it on the same till they are almost done. 

Note : Basmati rice cooks fast. This step will take less than 15 minutes.

8. While the rice is cooking, heat another clay vessel/manchatti with ghee and add all the ingredients given under 'To temper'. 

9. Once the masalas turn fragrant, add the ground tomato mixture .

10. Let it cook till the raw smell disappears and the tomatoes get a cooked colour.

11. Add the marinated vegetables along with the curd.

12. Cook them covered till the vegetables are cooked through.

13. Open and cook till the excess water is absorbed.

Note: The masala can be a little juicy and should not be too dry. It will ensure that the flavours are absorbed well by the basmati rice.

14. You can transfer the rice from the clay pot to another wide bowl and start layering the rice.

15. Start with the vegetable gravy, then rice, fried onions and garlic, saffron milk and mint leaves.

16. Repeat for the remaining batch. 

17. Close the lid and cook the biryani on slow flame for another 10 minutes . 

Your home must  smell heavenly already. Enjoy this delicious Biryani with lasooni raita. 

Happy Cooking !

With love,

Masterchefmom