Barley Biriyani

We @ Avant Garde Cookies have chosen Secret Ingredient as the theme for this week. A partner gives you a secret ingredient and you have to make something with that ingredient. My partner for this week, Veena gave me Barley.

That was an interesting ingredient for me. I have seen some recipes using barley since I started blogging. It has never featured in our house. Not My kitchen, not my Mum's kitchen nor my MIL's kitchen. My only tryst with barley was when I was little and got Jaundice. I was given barley water a lot to drink. So I was a little skeptical. How am I supposed to cook something that I have never tasted. That is the whole challenge, right?

I am glad I got barley as the ingredient. It tasted soooo good...

Ingredients

Barley 1 cup

Onion 1

Tomato 1

Mixed Vegetables 3 cups

Bay leaf 1

Cardamom 1

Clove 2

Cumin 1 tsp

Turmeric 1/2 tsp

Aachi Biriyani Masala 1 tsp

Curry leaves few

Channa Dal 1 tsp

Urad Dal 1 tsp

Method of Preparation

1. Soak barley overnight. Pressure cook with 2.5 cups of water for about 4-5 whistles. Drain excess water if any and keep aside.

2. Heat oil in a pan. Add channa dal and urad dal. When it starts to brown, add curry leaves, turmeric powder, cumin, cardamom, bay leaf, clove. Saute till it starts to sizzle.

3. Add chopped onions. Saute till it starts to brown.

4. Add tomatoes and cook till it is well done. 

5. Add Aachi biriyani masala and salt. My fav. It has a unique taste. you can use any biriyani masala or even substitute with garam masala. 

6. Add cooked vegetables. I used Frozen. So I just cooked in microwave for 10-15 minutes. 

7. Once it is all mixed well, add the barley and mix well.

Check out the other AGC thoughout this week 
Anusha, Jayanthi, Kavitha, Priya, Radhika, Veena

Linking this to event Independence Day by Sharan