Tahiri Meaning

A tahiri or tehri is a classic vegetarian rice dish very popular from Uttar Pradesh state of India. It is a vegetarian rice preparation that has similar spices to what goes in a biryani and is often confused with a pulao. The veggies are half cooked with whole and powdered spices along with curd and fried onions. Soaked raw rice is added and mixed in with water and together are cooked over dum.

This gives a rather spicier veg version of an awadhi style biryani. But if you look closely a tehri uses, both methods, used for making a biryani and a pulao. The “bhun-na” of vegetables with use of fragrant spices is probably inspired by biryani cooking and cooking rice and veggies mixed together without layering is somewhat inspired by a pulao. Some of the popular tahri are Aloo ki Tahri, Veg Tahri etc, though over a period of time non vegetarian tahiri is also very popular esp the ones using mutton – Gosht ki Tahri and Chicken – Murg Tahri.

Origins of Tahri

Tahri may have been started by the vegetarian hindu community who probably were inspired by the style of making biryani, where meat was replaced with seasonal vegetables. Tahri or Tahiri was extremely popular in the Awadh region but is savoured and prepared by all. Though the pulaos came to India through Islamic conquests and consecutively biryani was born, we often forget that India was always a land of plenty and rice was a staple. It is highly likely that before the pulao came to the Indian subcontinent there were dishes prepared with rice across India which could have been similar to a pulao. Maybe just maybe a tehri may be one of the original preparations of the Indian subcontinent.

Subz ki Tehri

Ingredients

Tehri Ka Masala

Dry red chillies (सूखी मिर्च) – 5  nos

Peppercorn (काली मिर्च) – ½ tbsp

Coriander seeds (धनिया) – 1½ tbsp

Cinnamon 1” piece (दालचीनी) – 3 nos

Cloves (लौंग) – 4-5 nos

Star anise (चकरी फूल) – 1no

Fennel seeds (सौंफ) – 2 tbsp

Cumin (जीरा) – 1 tbsp

Nutmeg (जैफल) – ¼ no

Mace, broken (जावित्री) – 3-4 blades

Bayleaf (तेज पत्ता) – 3 nos

Cardamom (ईलायची) – 5 nos

Kasoori methi (कसूरी मेथी) – 1 tbsp

For Tehri 

Ghee (घी) – 3 tbsp

Black Cardamom (काली ईलायची) – 1 no

Cardamom (ईलायची) – 2 nos

Cinnamon 1” piece (दालचीनी) – 1 no

Cloves (लौंग) – 4 nos

Bay leaf (तेज पत्ता) – 1 no

Cumin (जीरा) – 1 tsp

Onion Sliced (प्याज़) – 1 cup

Potato Cubes (आलू) – 1 cup

Cauliflower florets (गोभी) – 2 cups

Green chilli slit (हरी मिर्च) – 2 nos

Salt (नमक) – to taste

Green Peas (मटर) – ½ cup

Curd (दही) – ¾ cup

Turmeric (हल्दी) – ¾ tsp

Chilli powder (मिर्च) – 1 tsp

Tehri Masala (तहरी मसाला) – 2 tsp

Coriander Powder (धनिया) – 2 tsp

Cumin powder (जीरा) – 1 tsp

Kasoori methi (कसूरी मेथी) – 1 tsp

Tomato chunks (टमाटर) – handful 

Salt (नमक) – to taste

Basmati Rice (बासमती चावल)- 1½ cups

Water (पानी) – 3 cups

Tamatar Dhania chutney

Coriander fresh (धनिया) – ½ bunch 

Tomato (टमाटर) – 2 nos

Ginger sliced (अदरक) – 3-4 nos

Salt (नमक) – to taste

Amchur powder (अमचूर) – 1½ tbsp

Raita – as accompaniment 

Notes – Rice (basmati/Sona masoori/jeera 32/badshah pasand (short grain), kala namak variety of chawal which is GI tagged in Siddharthnagar, UP and also Kanpur and eastern UP till Bihar. Aur jaise hi Bengal aa jata hai Gobindobhog chawal use hota hai.)

Onion Sliced – (brown just starting to brown)

Served with Tamatar Dhania chutney & Raita