Lisa Fox

I have made this recipe about 5 times now and it is a very good base. I have made some changes, just as it seems others who have rated this recipe have done. I wanted to make it taste more like the biryiani that my favorite Indian restaurant makes. It is not very hot spicy at all so I added about 2 tsp cayenne pepper and a chopped jalapeño when I sauted the onion. I also increased the amount of all the spices, about double the amount works in my opinion. I did not have cardamom pods so I used 3/4 tsp ground cardamom instead and I also used saffron threads instead. I added about a cup each of broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and string beans, all cut up into appropriate sizes and sauted in vegetable oil. Those were added into the rice with the potatoes. I also threw in golden raisins and cashews. When all these changes were made, my family thought the biryiani was just right!