Beetroot and carrot pulao

I just realized that this is my 51st post of the year. I had not imagined that I would reach this far but I am quite enjoying doing this and look forward to many more.

This is a wholesome and nutritious meal. I made this pulao  as I had to use some beetroots and carrots sitting in the refrigerator for a while. It turned out quite nice. I made it on the spicier side but that can be adjusted according to taste. Since I added a good amount of vegetables to the rice it was on the softer and mushier side (which I like sometimes). But it can be made more like a biryani by adding less water and vegetables or frying the vegetables before adding the rice in the pot.

Ingredients
1cup grated beetroot
1/2 cup grated carrots
1 onion sliced
2 tbsp ginger garlic and green chillies paste
1 tbsp heaped biryani masala (I like the Shaan brand)
Dry spices (1tsp turmeric, 1tbsp coriander-cumin powder, 1tsp red chilli powder)
a few dal vadi (shallow fried in oil till golden brown)
Whole spices (black cardamom,cinnamon, bay leaf, cloves)
1 cup rice washed and soaked for 1 hour
Salt to taste

Method

Heat some oil in a pot and add whole spices (black cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaf, cloves) and sliced onions. Fry till golden brown, then add the ginger garlic paste and stir well till the raw smell goes away. Mix all the dry spices including the biryani masala in a bowl and add water to form a thick paste. Now add this paste to the pot and mix well. Drain all the water from the soaked rice and add it to the pot along with fried vadi and stir well till the rice is well coated with all the spices and add salt according to taste. Now add the grated beetroot and carrots along with 21/2 cups of water and bring it to a rolling boil. Reduce the heat and cover the pot and cook till the water is all soaked up and beetroot has softened. I squeezed some lemon juice on the pulao just before serving and paired it with cool cucumber raita