Mix Vegetable Tehri | Veg Tahiri Recipe

We love one-pot meals and come winters, we crave our typical Uttar Pradesh style Mix Vegetable Tehri | Veg Tahiri Recipe!! It is loaded with some of the freshest winter produce, delicately flavored with warm spices and the most fragrant basmati rice. One can simply not resist this amazing combination! If you haven’t yet tried a version of the popular U.P. favorite, then I’ll urge you to try my recipe, in principle, my Mom’s recipe right away!! 🙂 

Mix Vegetable Tehri | Veg Tahiri Recipe gets its roots from the aromatic and rich Awadhi cuisine. Typical to the Awadhi cuisine, this Tehri is cooked on low heat for a long time (dum pukht). The slow heat ensures the veggies are fork-tender while they still hold shape and the warm spices (garam masala) seep through the rice and the veggies.

One might think of Mix Vegetable Tehri | Veg Tahiri Recipe as a Vegetable Pulav, but there is a whole lot of difference in taste, texture, and even the cooking methods of the two. The Tehri is cooked on dum as I mentioned. Tehri is also very moist, much like the biryani if you must know. The flavor of Mix Vegetable Tehri | Veg Tahiri Recipe is less complex if compared to that of the biryani but definitely more robust as compared to that of a Vegetable Pulav.

You can add as many or as little veggies in your Mix Vegetable Tehri | Veg Tahiri Recipe. However, in our family, we love a loaded Tehri, lol!! I add everything that I can find, especially in winters. If you don’t prefer all these veggies or probably don’t find as many around you, you can just add some peas and potatoes, or just some peas and onions. This is a very forgiving recipe and works with just about any permutation and combination of veggies as long as you add the correct spices and seasonings!! I can’t stress enough how important it is to season it correctly. The next most important factor here is the quality of Rice. Please do not use short-grained rice if you a beautiful texture for the Tehri. The short-grained rice tends to get a wee bit gluey and that’s not a great flavor for the Tehri.

Another must-do when making Mix Vegetable Tehri | Veg Tahiri Recipe is adding ghee (clarified butter). It is added in three stages and the ghee adds the most intense flavor along with the spices. So I will suggest that you do not skip the ghee. Apart from these, whole spices are again a must-add for this recipe. Do these things right and you will have yourself the most aromatic one-pot meal, sounds laborious but it takes minutes to come together. My Mom’s recipe never fails to amaze anyone who tries it or tastes it. Even though I’ve made Mix Vegetable Tehri | Veg Tahiri Recipe like a thousand times over, I can never match the flavor that comes through when my Mom makes it!! I really don’t know what is it that she does but it turns out like the world’s best potful of any food ever!!!

We personally love pairing Mix Vegetable Tehri | Veg Tahiri Recipe with generous helpings of Raita (yogurt-based salad) along with some homemade pickle (my Mom’s traditional U.P. style pickle). You can have some poppadoms (papad) or any other side you like! Even plain yogurt goes well with a Tehri. What you see in the pictures here is a helping of creamy Boondi Raita with the Tehri, some green chili pickle, and a small bowlful of fresh, roughly chopped salad. I am drooling as I type this even though making and having Tehri is nearly a weekly ritual with most families from Uttar Pradesh 🙂

So, let’s begin with this recipe since I’ve gotten you all so excited!!

Start with washing and soaking the basmati rice for 15-20 minutes.

Prep all the veggies mentioned or any as per your preference and wash them. Set them aside.

Cube the paneer and set it aside too. Slice the onions, slit the green chilies, and mince the ginger.

Heat oil + 1 tsp. ghee in a large, heavy-bottomed wok. Once these are hot enough, reduce the flame to the lowest setting. Add asafoetida, whole spices, cumin seeds, slit green chilies, and minced ginger. Sautē them for about 2 minutes.

Add the sliced onions next. Sautē the onions until they turn light golden. Do not let them turn brown.

Add all the veggies at this point. Season with salt and turmeric. Mix well and let them sear a bit.

Add the cubed paneer next. Add all the remaining dry spices next and sautē all the veggies and paneer together. Add a splash of water to deglaze the pan. Cover and cook for 8-10 minutes.

Next, drain the water from the rice, add the rice to the veggies. Mix well and sautē for 2-3 minutes.

Add another 1 tsp. ghee. Mix everything well. Add about 2 cups of water (I usually eyeball the water I add into the rice). Stir it all once. Cover with a lid, let it all simmer together on low flame for the next 15-20 minutes.

Somewhere after 10 minutes of adding the water, stir the Tehri once and cover again and allow it to cook away. Once all the water absorbed, turn off the flame. Stir once and cover with the lid. Allow the Tehri to rest for 10 minutes so that the rice fluffs up well and the aromas are absorbed into the Tehri. Lastly, pour 1 tsp. ghee over the ready Tehri, garnish with freshly chopped coriander leaves. Serve it piping hot with accompaniments of your choice.

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Mix Vegetable Tehri | Veg Tahiri Recipe

We love one-pot meals and come winters, we crave our typical Uttar Pradesh style Mix Vegetable Tehri | Veg Tahiri Recipe!! It is loaded with some of the freshest winter produce, delicately flavored with warm spices and the most fragrant basmati rice. 

Course Lunch Box, Main Course

Cuisine Indian, Uttar Pradesh

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Servings 2 persons

Author Shreya Ashish Tiwari

Ingredients

• 1 cup basmati rice
• 2 cups mixed veggies - capsicum, cauliflower, carrots, green peas, French beans, potatoes
• 1/2 cup cubed paneer
• 1/2 cup sliced onions
• 2 nos. green chilies
• 2 inches fresh ginger
• 3 tbsp refined oil
• 3 tsp ghee
• a few bay leaves, whole black cardamom & 2 inches of cinnamon stick
• a pinch of asafoetida
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• salt to taste
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 2 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp garam masala powder
• fresh, chopped coriander leaves to garnish

Instructions

1. Start with washing and soaking the basmati rice for 15-20 minutes.

   
   

2. Prep all the veggies mentioned or any as per your preference and wash them. Set them aside.

3. Cube the paneer and set it aside too. Slice the onions, slit the green chilies, and mince the ginger.

4. Heat oil + 1 tsp. ghee in a large, heavy-bottomed wok. Once these are hot enough, reduce the flame to the lowest setting. Add asafoetida, whole spices, cumin seeds, slit green chilies, and minced ginger. Sautē them for about 2 minutes.
   

5. Add the sliced onions next. Sautē the onions until they turn light golden. Do not let them turn brown.

6. Add all the veggies at this point. Season with salt and turmeric. Mix well and let them sear a bit.
   

7. Add the cubed paneer next. Add all the remaining dry spices next and sautē all the veggies and paneer together. Add a splash of water to deglaze the pan. Cover and cook for 8-10 minutes.

8. Next, drain the water from the rice, add the rice to the veggies. Mix well and sautē for 2-3 minutes.

9. Add another 1 tsp. ghee. Mix everything well. Add about 2 cups of water (I usually eyeball the water I add into the rice). Stir it all once. Cover with a lid, let it all simmer together on low flame for the next 15-20 minutes.
   

10. Somewhere after 10 minutes of adding the water, stir the Tehri once and cover again and allow it to cook away. Once all the water absorbed, turn off the flame. Stir once and cover with the lid. Allow the Tehri to rest for 10 minutes so that the rice fluffs up well and the aromas are absorbed into the Tehri. Lastly, pour 1 tsp. ghee over the ready Tehri, garnish with freshly chopped coriander leaves. Serve it piping hot with accompaniments of your choice.

Recipe Notes

Use basmati rice for this recipe, short-grained rice can turn mushy or gluey while being cooked. 

Add or subtract veggies as per your liking, ensure that you add the spices as suggested in my recipe. 

Love,
Shreya

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