Brown Rice, Masur, Quinoa Biryani

For the past few years, whenever I make plain rice, I use a mix of brown rice plus quinoa and just pressure cook them together for 3 whistles. We all love its mild nutty taste, apart from its high nutrition value. It goes well with any Indian dal or subji. I almost never use plain white rice, except when making pulavs/khichdis and such. So this time when I thought of making my Lentil and Vegetable Biryani I decided to use brown rice and quinoa instead of white rice.

Here's how I made it:

Soak 1/2 cup brown lentils (masur) for 2 hrs. Wash and soak 1/2 cup brown rice and 1/2 cup quinoa together for 15 mins.

Heat oil in a pressure pan. Add  1 tsp cumin seeds and handful of chopped onions. Saute till onions turn translucent. Add 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste and saute a few mins. Add 1 cup mixed frozen veggies, 1 chopped tomato and dry spice pwds per taste - cumin, cilantro, red chile, garam masala. Saute another few mins. Add the lentils, brown rice and quinoa. Add 3 cups water. You can use the water in which the lentils, rice and quinoa were soaked, plus additional to make 3 cups. Add salt and sugar. Bring to a quick boil, put on the lid and pressure cook for 3 to 4 whistles.

Open the lid when the pressure reduces, fluff gently and serve hot with raita.