Ummmm , Aaaah lovely , heavenly…hey you can hear these words when you have Biryani in front of you. I have yet to meet a person who is not fond of biryani.
Biryani has originated from the Persian word “Berya” which means roasted, fried or cooked in plenty of oil. There are many varities of biryanis found in India and one can find uniqueness in each variety. The Hyderabadi variety is the most popular form of biryani in India.
This ever-popular dish contains long grained Basmati rice, meat , yoghurt and loads of exotic spices that contribute to its unforgettable taste. To make the biryani correctly one needs lots of patience and practice. Preparing biryani is a co-operative thing in my home. I never go to buy mutton or chicken, so this headache is transferred to my sweet hubby who willingly does this chore for us. He even cleans and washes the mutton for me , this is another chore for me and I HATE chores hehe… I always cry a lot when I make biryani , no no its not that I hate preparing it , just that no one volunteers to chop the onions , poor me!! Its just then my purana saathi , my CRYSTAL slicer comes to my rescue… How could I work in the kitchen without you??
As different people have different ways of preparing, I too prepare it in a unique way, zara hatke from the regular way. This is a dish which needs lots of patience and care during preparation, do not leave it alone for a long stretch as I had done today. Since I was preparing biryani today , I thought why not share my method of preparing biryani with my friends, so I switched on my PC, if I switch my PC I cannot do without net, so I logged on . After logging I found out I cannot do without MS and there were so many posts and was engrossed in commenting in just four letters I forgot all about the rice , suddenly had to rush to kitchen just in time. Second time I was reading about booking the space in comments sections and I could smell something burning , I found out that the mutton was booking its place to get scorched. I found commenting on MS was detrimental to the health of my lunch , so I switched off my PC otherwise I would have posted this just before lunch.
This has started looking like a post on MS so I better go back to biryani. I marinate all the ingredients the previous night and keep for atleast 10-12 hrs in the fridge. I do not make layered biryani, I keep mutton and rice separately. Now comes my recipe, it’s a simple method of cooking and less cumbersome than other methods.
Ingredients :
Marination:
1 kg mutton (washed and cleaned )
1 kg potato (washed and peeled and sliced in to halves)
600 g yoghurt
5-6 big onions finely sliced
1 big onion finely sliced and fried golden for garnishing
4-5 tsp ginger garlic paste
1 tomato sliced thinly
1 cup chopped coriander leaves
2-3 tsp garam masala powder
Salt and Chilli powder according to your taste but biryani always tastes nice when it is spicy.
Oil just enough to cover the marinade.
Rice: 1 kg rice (washed and drained, should be kept at least for 20 mins)
Tadka:
1 tsp cumin seeds
8-10 black pepper corns
4-5 cloves
1-2 strands of mace
2-3 black cardamom
3-4 green cardamom
2 inch cinamom stick
4-5 bay leaves
Food colouring of your choice few drops if using liquid or a pinch of powder dissolved in a little water.
Preparation:
Mix in a utensil, yoghurt, sliced onions, potatoes, tomato, mutton, ginger-garlic paste, chili powder, garam masala powder, salt . Mix all the ingredient thoroughly, I do not use lot of oil, just enough to cover the mixture. Marinate it for atleast 2 hours to get the taste. I always marinate it for atleast 8-10 hours. Let the marination come to room temperature before you start cooking.
Please do not add water to the marination at the start , let it cook under its own steam , keep stirring occasionally so that marinade does not stick to the bottom and sides of the utensil. It usually gets cooked without addition of water but if needed add little at a time. When cooked add the chopped coriander to it and mix thoroughly. Cover and keep aside.
Start cooking rice when mutton is half done. Put the rice in boiling water , when three-fourth cooked , drain the water. Pour cold water over the rice so that the grains separate. Dissolve the colour in a bowl of water, soak some rice in it for about a minute or two and drain the water. Atleast use two separate colours. Keep a heavy tawa on stove , then keep the utensil containing rice on it. Sprinkle the coloured rice on it. In a small vessel pour a tsp of oil and add to it all the ingredients of tadka. Pour this tadka on the rice. Cover it with a thick foil, place the lid on the utensil. Let it steam for half an hour. Just before serving garnish it with fried onions.
There your biryani is ready, eat to your heart’s content and don’t forget to invite your friends…
I wanted to post this just before lunch but I got distracted , after lunch was too full and had a nap but posting it now so if you want you can try the recipe during the weekend .
Please don’t forget mother’s day on this sunday, surprise her by preparing biryani for her. Hats off to those Mothers and Fathers who slog in the kitchen to prepare favourite foods for their children. Njoy!!! Your weekend…..
Tanna