#280 No Frills Vegetable Vermicelli Biryani

We spent Mother's day evening roaming parts of a little Town Center. The weather was pleasant, although it seemed like the sun was hesitant to come out most of the day. Walking right past upscale stores we stopped at Yogi berri for frozen yo. I was thrilled with the Taro and Thai Tea ice cream they allowed us to taste--- who knew they could come up with a decent amount of unique ice-cream flavors. We got ourselves a moderate to large amount of oreo soft serve with many toppings and settled down in front of the fountain. It once used to be the center of the ice-skating ring, but now, its
been converted to a play ground. Here, children rode their strider bikes and Moms with babies on strollers slowly paced up and down.

The fountain draws attention of many kinds.... there were daughters taking pictures with Moms, some hungrily chomping down on Panera sandwiches and others just talking in loud voices. A young lady stopped by me and wanted to know where I got my ice cream ....and I pointed out the little store tucked in between the burger joint and Clydes to her.  But, it wasn't visible from where we sat so I offered to walk down with her --- her little boy running to catch up with us.  I went back to join R and enjoy the rest of the day. It has been lighter in the evenings for the past few weeks so the sun did not set until 8 o'clock. We drifted back into conversation until it was time to walk all the way over and around a couple of buildings to the garage where our car was located.

Last night dinner was something Amma made quite often....



A light and healthy main dish my Mother used to dish up in her kitchen. In fact, she made it one day even while I was visiting her last December. This is one of her favorites too.  Although my version here is a simple 'bare bones', 'no frills' kind of Biryani without fancy garnishes, you could choose to add shrimp or an egg omelette, chaews and raisins to take it to another level!


Ingredients:
Carrot- 1 large cut into long sticks
Beans- 1/2 cup
Cabbage-1/2 cup
green peas- 1/4 cup
onions-2 chopped
green chilis-2
ginger-garlic paste- 1 Tblspn
Whole raw spices 2 each- cloves, cardamoms, cinammon, pepper and bay leaves.
Ghee or butter- 4 Tblspns
Cashews or raisins (optional)
Cilantro chopped- 1/2 cup
Vermicelli- 3 cups

Directions:
1. Place a saucepan over medium fire and roast the vermicelli until it is light brown. Remove set aside.
2. Place the saucepan back on the fire and add the ghee, whole spices and roast for a minute.
3. Toss in the chopped onions and green chilies and saute until the onions are golden brown. add the beans and carrot.
4. Saute until soft and then add green peas and cabbage. Season with salt and pepper. Saute another minute.
5. Add the ginger garlic paste and when it is cooked, add the vermicelli, season with salt and about 3 cups water.
(Be careful with the water. If the vermicelli is very fine, add 1/2 the measure of water and if it is thicker then add 3 cups)
Any excess water will make the biryani mushy. So add less water at first and then as the noodles cook, you can add a little more if needed.
6. Slowly let it cook without stirring. When the water has evaporated, slowly let it cool before fluffing it with a fork.
7. Garnish with Cilantro, cashews, raisins or any dry fruits and serve.