Healthy Eid Al Adha lunch recipe: Oil-free Shahi Korma Biryani

Get ready for a royal treat for lunch with zero oil!

By: Bhakti Paun Sharma | | Updated: September 1, 2017 10:00 am

Biryanis equal calories whether they are vegetarian or non-vegetarian. But they are also difficult to resist. So we give you a healthy option with the zero oil Shahi Korma Biryani recipe. Milk and cream are replaced with cashew nuts and poppy seeds to give the rich flavour and yet keep it low calorie. The recipe is slightly time taking but definitely worth the taste. Also Read - Know about these health benefits of air fryer

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For shahi korma-

cup onions, grated
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 cup boiled vegetables (potato, carrot, French beans, green peas)
tsp sugar
2 cardamoms or elaichi
2 cloves
1 bayleaf
1 tsp chilli powder
5 tbsp. low fat milk
Salt to taste

For paste

1 tbsp cashewnuts
2 tbsp poppy seeds or khus-khus

For rice-

1 cup basmati rice, uncooked
2 cardamoms
3 cloves
1 bay leaf
1 stick cinnamon
tsp turmeric
Salt to taste

Method:

You can begin with the rice first so that you can save preparation time. Soak the rice for an hour. The drain it and keep aside.
For quick cooking, use a pressure cooker. When it is hot, add the cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and bay leaf and dry roast them. Add the rice and turmeric and stir. Add salt and mix well. Add 2 cups of water and cook for 2 whistles. Set aside.
Meanwhile soak the cashewnuts and poppy seeds in cup warm water for an hour. Make a fine paste in a mixer.
For the shahi korma, use a non-stick pan as you are cooking with on oil.
Begin with dry roasting cloves, cardamom and bay leaf. Add the ginger garlic paste and onions and roast on slow flame till onions are light brown in colour. You can add little water to the masala to prevent it from burning.
Add the tomato puree and stir well. Then add the sugar and mix. Add vegetables and saut for 1-2 minutes.
Add the cashew nut and poppy seeds paste and mix. Add 3 tbsp. milk, salt, chilli powder, cup water and mix well. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
Now comes the final step of assembling the biryani. In a deep vessel, first layer half the yellow rice. Pour in the shahi korma over it and spread. Then make a layer with the remaining rice.
Sprinkle the remaining 2 tbsp milk over the rice. Cover and microwave for 2 minutes. You can also bake it for 10 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius or place it on a flat griddle and keep on slow flame for 10 minutes.
Garnish with coriander and serve with cucumber raita, flaxseed raita, spinach raita, or lauki ka raita.