SOYA BIRYANI WITH VEGETABLES

It was Monday a new week had started and along with that loads of works :) . Its was  very hot in the morning and by evening we had experienced the first rain of the year. It was raining cats and dogs but everyone seems to be enjoying the rain and so was I. I just love the smell of the land after the first rain..... :)  I also love to see the rain through the window with some pakoda and ginger tea....... somehow it feels just awesome :D . For dinner , if its raining, I love to have khichdi with pickle and brijal fry . Yesterday being a Monday , is the day of the week when I fast and eat vegetarian dishes only, so while I was in office I had already made up my mind to prepare khichdi for dinner. When I reached home and saw all the vegetables I had at home....my plans had changed. Inspite of being tired and hungry I still decided to make spinach rice with vegetable and crunchy brinjal fry.  I had got everything prepared and suddenly the electricity went off....I generally happens here when there is heavy rain , so I thought of waiting for some time. Finally after one hour of patience , I started preparing the dish under the flickering candle light. I hate to do anything in the dark but it was an experience......not a very good one really :) . I have shared the dish with Midnight Maniac Meatless Mondays {No.21} hosted by Rebecca , Meatless Mondays in My Sweet and Savory , Just another Meatless Monday #48 in Hey What's For Dinner Mom

Rice	2 cups
Potatoes	2 medium sized
Carrot	2 medium sized
Spinach	2 bunches
Soya Nuggets	2 cups
Red Chilli Powder	1 teaspoon
Cherry tomatoes	1 cup
Green Chilly	3 numbers
Onion	1 medium sized
Garlic	5-6 cloves
Refined Oil	Half cup
Salt	As per taste

1. Soak the rice in water for 5-10 min. This allows the rice to cook faster.
2. Soak the soya nuggets in water till they soften. Then squeeze out the water for each of the nuggets. 
3. Cut the potatoes and onions in cubes , the carrots in julienne. 
4. Makes a smooth paste of spinach with the garlic.
5. Heat oil in a wok , add half teaspoon red chilli powder in the oil and then add the soya nuggets and fry till they are brown on all sides, remove and set aside.
6. In the wok, add oil and fry the vegetables. I fried the vegetable separately because I wanted then to keep their color intact.
7. Heat oil in a cooker, and add the rice and salt. After stirring for 5 min add the spinach puree to the cooker and cook till the water evaporates and the spinach no longer smells raw, at this point just beware that the rice does not stick in the bottom.
8. And cherry tomatoes and the fried vegetables to the rice and mix them properly.
9. Add some water and pressure cook the rice. The dish is ready to be served. It tastes awesome with Crunchy Brinjal Fry , the crunchy brinjal fry was prepared the same way as the Crunchy Fish Fry :)