At the very onset let me say... You will not get beef in India so opt for Buff or Mutton.
This is a
recipe I swear by! This biryani is a must-do for my family at every occasion
that demands a celebration. Ever since this biryani was made at home, we have
given up on biryanis from restaurants. Give this a try and I have a sneaky
feeling you’ll message to say, you don’t ever plan to call in for biryani from
a restaurant ever again. 😊
Ingredients:
1 kilo
boneless beef chunks (do NOT use lean meat) or 1½ kilo lamb/goat mutton on bone
750-800 grams
dahi/yogurt, beaten smooth
2½ heaped tablespoons
ginger-garlic paste
7 heaped tablespoons
red Deghi mirch/chili powder (or Kashmiri Chili powder)
1 teaspoon
turmeric powder
1½ tablespoon
coriander powder
Salt, to
taste
2 one-inch
sticks cinnamon
7 cloves
4 cardamoms
12 black
peppercorns
1 bay leaf
4 medium
onions, sliced
4-5 large
potatoes, each cut into two or three pieces
Method
for Beef/Mutton:
1.
Marinate
the beef/mutton chunks in ginger-garlic paste, chili powder, turmeric powder,
coriander powder, salt, cinnamon sticks, cloves, cardamoms, black peppercorns
and bay leaf. Leave to marinate overnight in the fridge.
2.
Remove
the beef/mutton chunks from the fridge in the morning and to it add the beaten
yogurt, potatoes and onions. Marinate for an hour.
3.
Add
all the marinated ingredients into a pressure cooker and pressure cook. Add ½ cup
water and pressure cook the meat is cooked to 90% doneness.
4.
Do
not open the cooker immediately. Allow the pressure to release by itself.
5.
Once
the pressure releases, open the cooker and check the amount of gravy in the
cooker. If there is too much gravy, simmer till the gravy reduces a wee bit. Do
not reduce too much of the gravy because there should be quite enough gravy to
ensure that the biryani is flavorsome and does not burn during the latter ‘dum’
process.
Ingredients
for Rice:
3 measuring cups
basmati rice (filled to the brim)
2 teaspoons
shahjeera/caraway seeds
2 one-inch
sticks cinnamon
7 cloves
4 cardamoms
12 black
peppercorns
1 bay leaf
Salt, to
taste
4
tablespoons oil
Method:
1.
Wash
the rice and soak in clean water for twenty minutes. Drain.
2.
Take approximately 3.5 liters of water in a large vessel.
3.
Add
caraway seeds, cinnamon, cloves, cardamoms, black peppercorns, bay leaf, salt
and oil and bring the water to a boil.
4.
When
the water comes to a boil, add the drained rice.
5.
Parboil
the rice till cooked to 50% doneness.
6.
Retain
one cup of rice water in a cup. Drain and discard the remaining water from the
rice.
Extra
Ingredients:
10 green
chilies, slit or keep whole
3 tomatoes,
sliced into roundels
½ bunch
coriander leaves, chopped
½ bunch mint
leaves, do not chop
7 onions,
slice and fry crisp to golden brown
6 tablespoons
ghee, heat-melt
5
tablespoons butter, heat and melt
3-4 large
pinches of saffron
½ cup water (or
milk)
Ingredients
to seal the vessel:
2 cups wheat
flour and water to bind the dough
OR
Double
sheets of Aluminum Foil
Method:
1.
Knead
the dough with the water to make a semi-stiff dough.
2.
Cover
and leave aside.
3.
Alternately,
double a sheet of aluminum foil and tightly wrap the lid and vessel to seal off
the entire rim of the vessel.
Layering &
Cooking the Biryani on ‘Dum’:
1.
Soak
the saffron threads in half cup hot water/milk. Cover and allow to steep for 30
minutes.
2.
In
a large thick-bottomed vessel, add all the cooked beef/mutton chucks from the
cooker along with the gravy.
3.
Over
the mutton, layer the tomato roundels, chopped coriander leaves, mint leaves,
slit chilies and ¾ quantities of the crisp, fried onions.
4.
Carefully
layer the par-boiled rice over the layered greens.
5.
Even
pour one cup of the retained rice water over the layered rice.
6.
Evenly
pour over the melted ghee and butter over the layered rice.
7.
Spoon
the saffron and the saffron water/milk over the rice.
8.
Sprinkle
the remaining crisp, fried onions.
9.
Cover
the vessel with a lid and seal the edges of the vessel and lid with the kneaded
dough.
10. Put a griddle/tava on the high flame stove.
11. Once the griddle is hot, load the sealed
vessel on it.
12. Keep on high flame for 20 minutes; then
lower heat to minimum flame and allow it to cook for 50-55 minutes more. By
this time, the beef/mutton and rice will all be beautifully cooked.
13. Turn off the stove. Carefully break open
the sealed dough.
Dhungar (Smoking)
Ingredients:
Small aluminum
or stainless vati (small bowl)
OR
Double a
sheet of aluminum foil and make a small makeshift cup
A tiny piece
of coal
1 teaspoon
pure ghee/clarified butter
Method:
1.
Once
you break open the wheat flour seal from the edges of the biryani vessel, carefully,
with a spoon, push some rice to the side and make a small crater in the middle
of the vessel, in the rice.
2.
Place
the vati into the crater.
3.
Heat
a tiny piece of coal on the stove and when it gets to a point wherein it begin
to glow red, carefully place it into the vati that is placed in the rice crater.
4.
Quickly
but carefully pour the pure ghee/clarified butter over the coal and immediately
shut the lid over the biryani vessel. (Ishan Sadwelkar, heartfelt thanks for editing the video)
5.
Leave
covered for 5 to 10 minutes.
6.
Open
the lid after ten minutes and serve the Dum Biryani hot with Dahi Kachumber.
Dahi
Kachumber: An Indian Salad…
A salad
comprising of chopped onions, chopped tomatoes, chopped green chilies, chopped
coriander leaves, mixed with smoothened yogurt, seasoned with salt and black
pepper powder. Sliced wedges of limes are also, usually, plated with kachumber.
Chef
Notes for Beef/Mutton:
1.
We
usually choose to make biryani with beef (when I say beef, I mean buff) coz
this hardcore meat eater throws a massive tantrum (yeah, I tend to do that –
evil grin) with other meats. Also, I find beef more flavorsome than mutton!
2.
The
same recipe also works with lamb or goat meat. I would advise, though, that you
use meat-on-the-bone when using lamb or goat meat as that will give you a more
flavorsome biryani.
3.
Please
increase the quantity of chili powder, during margination, if you prefer a
spicier biryani.
4.
I
usually halve the large potatoes when using beef and quarter them when I use
mutton. Reason being mutton cooks faster than beef. If you quarter the potatoes
when using beef, they’re definitely going to disintegrate in the cooker.
5.
I
use fatty mutton and beef (with extra chunks of fat) when I cook this recipe.
If you plan to use lean meat, why make biryani, eh? *wicked grin*
6.
Ensure
there is adequate gravy coz the ‘dum’ given to the biryani is a lengthy 65-75
minutes. You don’t want a burnt biryani base.
Chef
Notes for Biryani Rice:
1.
I
usually do not soak rice, but soaking does ensure longer grains of rice which
is why I make the effort to soak the rice for this recipe.
2.
Please
ensure the vessel you boil the rice in is large and has adequate quantity of
water. This ensures the rice does not get sticky. Adequate water and a large
vessel ensures the rice has enough place to roll around while being cooked.
3.
Remember,
cook to 50% doneness only.
Chef
Notes for Layering the Biryani & Dum Process:
1.
I
chose to soak the saffron in milk. If you prefer water, please feel free to opt
for that.
2.
I
used no food colourings (red, orange or green) which is why the biryani you see,
in the photographs, is merely one even colour (saffron yellow). I’m not averse
to using food colours (in limit); I merely prefer the biryani to be one colour;
plus, the aroma of saffron is mind-blowing.
3.
Please
do not over fry the onions coz while they do not taste bitter, they do tend to
look burnt and dark after the ‘dum’ process. I say this coz I do make this
mistake sometimes *sheepish look* and would prefer you not make it.
4.
For
those of you who are wondering what ‘Dum’ is. The process of covering a vessel
with a tight lid, then sealing it with dough (or aluminum foil) around the edges
and cooking on extremely low heat for a considerable amount of time is known as
cooking on ‘Dum’. Ideally the vessel is sealed with dough. Lazy people (like
me), opt for the foil method.
5.
Please
do use a griddle/tava to ensure the bottom of the vessel does not receive
direct flame and burn the meat within.
Chef
Notes for Dhungar:
1.
Dhungar
is the method by which you give the dish a smoky aroma.
2.
I
opted for a double sheet, aluminum makeshift cup/vati as I did not want to scrub
an actual vati after the ‘Dhungar’ process. I’m guessing by now you have realized
(and I confirm it) that while I do cook lots of food, I do take easier routes
to simplify post-cooking workouts (read scrubbing and washing). Remember the tall
foils surrounding my baked custards to avoid oven wall splatters? Well, that’s
me!
3.
Do
ensure the coal is really hot and has that beautiful red glow. It helps smoke
the dish better.
4.
You
may create a crater in the rice, as I did or, if you have standing room (for
the vati) over the rice then simply place the vati over the rice. I did not
have ‘vati-standing room’ hence the crater.
5.
You
may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes
and my photographs on any blog-site or website without my explicit consent or
attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for
plagiarism.
Some more photographs:
 |
| An old pic of the same biryani made a few years ago |
 |
| An old pic of the same biryani made a few years ago |
Wow....looks amazing!
ReplyDeleteThank you ever so much! :)
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