Baby Potato Biriyani..ideal recipe for Parties!!

I always buy a pack of baby potatoes as I am really fond of those cute looking small potatoes.They are very versatile and I prefer them over regular potatoes and I use them in various dishes like Dum aloo,Dum aloo chutney wale,Baby potato roast/fry,Aloo palak,Jeera aloo,Aloo methi,Tandoori aloo and Baby potato biriyani regularly as these are my favorites with small potatoes.
I have tried this recipe from Mallika Badrinath's cookbook and we have become instant fans of this Biriyani and is been regular on my menu now.I have made this biriyani many times and especially for parties.It is always a hit among my friends and some of them even took the recipe from me.This biriyani is very easy to make when compared to regular vegetable dum biriyani and is definitely a crowd pleaser.

Ingredients:
1 cup Basmati rice
200 gms(15-16) baby potatoes
2 big onions,thinly sliced
1/4 cup fresh curds
3/4 cup tomato juice,freshly extracted from 2-3 tomatoes
1 cup water
1/4 tsp Garam masala
1/2 bunch(approx 1 cup loosely packed) fresh coriander leaves
1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves for garnish
salt to taste
1 tsp ghee
oil to deep fry

to roast and grind:
1 tsp coriander seeds
4 red chillies
2 tbsp grated dry coconut
2 green chillies
1" ginger,chopped
1/2 tsp oil
Method:

• Wash basmati rice and soak in water for 10 mins.
• Cook basmati rice with 1 cup water and 3/4 cup of freshly made tomato juice in cooker for 2 whistles or on stove top until the water is drained.
• Fluff up the rice with fork and spread on a plate and cool the rice completely.Add a tsp of ghee and mix slightly.
• Grind washed coriander leaves to a fine paste.Beat the curds properly and add the ground paste to it and mix well.
• Heat 1/2 tsp oil and add coriander seeds,red chillies and fry until they change their color and add grated coconut and fry slightly.Cool these ingredients and grind along with green chillies and chopped ginger to a fine paste.
• Pressure cook baby potatoes for 1 whistle and simmer it for 4-5 mins or pressure cook for 2 whistles.
• After the pressure goes down remove them and let them cool.Peel off the skins and pierce each potato with fork in 2-3 places.This helps in potato not to burst while frying.
• Heat oil in a deep heavy kadai and deep fry them over medium flame until they are golden brown in color.Drain them on a kitchen towel and keep them aside.
• Also deep fry thinly sliced onions until they are crisp and golden brown in color.Remove them and drain off excess oil in a kitchen towel and keep them aside.
• Take 2 tbsp of oil from the pan and pour into another wide kadai and add ground masala paste and fry well until the raw smell goes away.
• Add baby potatoes and half of the fried onions to it and mix well until the masala coats all the potatoes.
• Reduce the flame and add curds(mixed with coriander leaves paste) and also add cooled cooked rice and salt and cover it and cook over low flame for 5-6 mins giving a dum to the rice which enhances its taste by absorbing all the flavors.
• Remove the lid and mix everything properly.Add remaining fried onions and garam masala powder and mix well and switch off the flame.

Garnish with chopped coriander and serve it hot with mixed vegetable raitha and papad.

Note:

• You can use whole garam masala like laung,cinnamon and biriyani leaf while tempering,however it is optional.
• Use a good quality and possibly freshly ground garam masala powder to make this biriyani as we are not using any other dry masala to enjoy the full flavor of biriyani.
• You can avoid deep drying of potatoes and onions in the recipe and can shallow fry using little oil until they are crisp and golden in color .I shallow fry them when I make it as a regular menu but for parties I definitely deep fry them to enhance the taste of biriyani.