Vegatable biryani

This is a quick and easy biryani from the lonely planet restaurant recipe book from Kerala by T.Siva Prasannan (see dhal fry recipe). There are many variations of biryani in India and they all appear quite complicated which is ok, you just need to be completely prepared for a dish like this and it is worth the effort. However having tried quite a few veg biryani recipes this one is relatively easy and everyone loves it. The recipe in the book says it is for 4 people and as usual is open to your own tweaks to your own taste but I suggest making it to this recipe once and then adapting it to how you like it.

100gms, 4oz. cooked vegetables ( carrot, chopped small. green beans cut to1 inch pieces. Cauliflower, small florets and some frozen peas. I boil a pan of salted water and add carrot first for about 3 minutes then green beans and cauliflower after a couple of minutes add peas and cook for 2 or 3 minutes more then strain). Try to coincide the vegetables being ready when the rice is ready so it remains hot.
150gms, 6oz. cooked rice
1 onion sliced or chopped
3 or 4 cloves garlic
1 inch ginger sliced into thin sticks, julienned
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
4 green cardamoms cut in half
6 cloves
small piece of cinnamon minced or roughly ground in a mortar and pestle
1 slice pineapple chopped
10 gms cashew nuts, I use about 25 grams because I like them
10 - 15 grams raisins
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon salt, I use a little less, adjust to your own preference
30 - 40 grams vegan margarine

Heat the margarine, add onion, garlic and ginger fry for a couple of minutes then add fennel seeds, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, cashew nuts, raisins and fry for a couple more minutes then add pineapple, vegetables, turmeric and salt. Mix well for a minute and add the rice, mix well and cover for a minute then serve hot. One option not in the recipe but in most biryani recipes is to add a little hot water to a pinch of saffron and stir it in after the turmeric and salt stage, this gives a deeper flavour to the dish. Happy experimenting.