Gosht Moplah Biryani

Yaaaawn!!! Yet another mutton biryani recipe. Have drummed up quite a repertoire for this delectable meat and rice one-pot-meal. And still have the appetite for more as it is one super duper comfort meal that suits lazy bums like me who do not like to compromise on the taste. The pressure cooker method of cooking biryani makes the task quite easy.

Got this one from a facebook forum, tried it myself (although with a slight modification) and loved the results !!! Read on - 

Preparation Time - 1 hour

Ingredients - 

For marinade - 

• 1/2 kg mutton
• 1/2 cup thick yogurt
• 1 tsp ginger paste
• 1 tsp garlic paste
• 1 tsp Kashmiri chili powder
• 1/2 tsp hot chili powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1-2 crushed green chilies
• 1/4 tsp shahi jeera
• 2-3 tsp ghee
• 2 medium onions (crisp fried to a brown )
• a handful of mint leaves.
• 2 tsp coriander stems (these have more flavour)
• 3 tbsp oil
• 1/4 cup thick coconut milk ( I did not have the fresh one so used the Maggie coconut milk powder)
• 15 curry leaves.
• 1 tbsp poppy seeds 
• Salt to taste

For cooking the rice -

• 1/2 kg biryani rice
• khada masala or whole spices ( 3 green cardamom, 1 black cardamom, 1 bay leaf, 3-4 cloves, 10-12 peppercorn, 1 mace, 2 inch cinnamon, 2 star anise )
• 1 tbsp ghee
• salt to taste

For final assembly -

• 3 tsp mint leaves
• 2 pinch saffron soaked in 1/4 cup warm milk
• 1 tbsp ginger juliennes
• 4 tbsp crisp fried onion
• chopped cilantro
• green chilis slit lengthwise (skip if you do not want too much heat)

Preparation - Marinate the mutton with all the ingredients listed except oil , shah jeera and curry leaves. Allow to stand for 3-4 hours.

Wash and soak rice for 1/2 hour.

Cooking - Heat the oil in a wok. Add shah jeera followed by curry leaves. Add the mutton after 30 seconds. Cook it covered till completely tender.

Bring the water to a boil . Add the whole spice and allow to boil for 5 mins before switching off the flame. Allow this to sit for 1 hour so that the aroma of the spice really gets into the water. 

Bring it to a boil once again and then add rice. Once half done, add the ghee and salt. Strain the water once it is 80 percent done.

Assembly -  Divide the rice into three parts. Take a thick bottomed vessel. Grease with ghee. Layer one portion of rice. Sprinkle saffron milk, ginger juliennes, green chilis, fried onion, mint and cilantro. Spread half of the mutton over it.

Add another rice layer and top it with saffron milk, ginger juliennes, green chilis, fried onion, mint and cilantro. Spread remaining half of the mutton over it.

Add the last rice layer. Sprinkle saffron milk, ginger juliennes, green chilis, fried onion, mint and cilantro. 

Seal with a foil or put a heavy lid and seal the sides with dough. Cook on low heat for 20 mins. Allow to stand aside for 10 mins before opening and serving.

Serve hot with raita and pickled pearl onions.

Kolkata Chicken Biryani

After rummaging through the Southern cookbooks and devouring the best of the biriyanis (Hyderabadi/Ambur/Thalapakatti/Thalasseri), we now make a pit stop at Kolkata. Why Kolkata, the land synonymous with fish and sweets ? Well, that is because Kolkata is also home to a entirely new biryani variety that was inspired by the awadhi version.

This one is minus the aromatic mint and coriander leaves /paste that is a must with the Southern biryanis. And potato makes an appearance instead which also makes this version a tad bit sweeter.

Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 1 hour

Ingredients -

For the Biryani Masala (to be roasted and ground) -

• 2-3 green cardamom
• 1 black cardamom
• 2 inch cinnamon stick
• 4-5 cloves
• 1/2 tsp white peppercorn
• 1/2 tsp shahi jeera
• 1 mace (javitri)
• a tiny bit of nutmeg ( jaiphal)

For the marinade -

• 500 gm chicken pieces
• 2-3 tbsp thick curd
• 2 tsp GG paste
• 1 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/4 tsp biryani masala powder ( as mentioned above )
• salt to taste

For the Biryani rice -

• 250 gm Basmati rice
• 1-2 green cardamom
• 1 inch cinnamon stick
• 4-5 peppercorns
• 3-4 cloves
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 mace
• 1/2 tsp ghee
• salt to taste

Others -

• 2 large onion ( chopped into small pieces )
• 2-3 tsp fried onions
• 1 large potato ( diced into 6 pieces and fried )
• 2 eggs ( boiled and cut into halves )
• a pinch of saffron (soaked in 3 tbsp warm milk)
• 1 tsp kewra water ( I used kewra leaf instead )
• 1 tsp sugar
• 4-5 tsp oil
• 2-3 tsp ghee

Preparation - Dry roast the spices mentioned for 'Biryani Masala' (do it separately if possible). Ground into a fine powder.

Marinate the chicken pieces with all the ingredients mentioned under 'For the marinade'. Keep aside for 4-5 hours in the fridge.

Cooking - Heat the oil in a wok. Add the sugar and allow it to caramelize a bit.

Add the onion pieces and fry to a translucent. Add the chicken pieces next and cook till almost done. Add the fried potato and cook for 2 mins more. Remove from the flame and keep aside.

Heat sufficient water in a saucepan. When it gets to a boil, add the salt, ghee and whole spices. Follow it with the washed rice. Cook on medium heat till almost 80 percent done. Drain the water.

Final layering - Take a thick bottomed pan. Grease the bottom with ghee. Put a layer of the chicken and follow it with another layer of rice. Repeat till all the rice and chicken is used up. The top layer should be that of rice. 

Place the eggs on top. Drizzle the saffron milk, kewra water and ghee. Sprinkle the fried onions. Close the pan with a heavy lid.

Place it on very low heat (use a tawa instead of keeping it on direct flame) for 20-25 mins.

Remove and keep aside for 10 mins before serving.

Note - If using Kewra leaves, boil it along with the rice and retain it for the dum process. I had mixed some fried onion with the chicken towards the end of the cooking process which gave a darker hue to the biryani. Else it will be significantly lighter in color (almost orange red ).

Potli Biryani (Chicken Biryani in a Banana leaf parcel) !!

Some time back, I had read about a prawn biriyani cooked in a banana leaf. Though I wanted to try it out immediately, it did not happen due to certain circumstances and I conveniently forgot about it. If like me, one has the habit of collecting thousands of recipes, it becomes a bit difficult to keep track of them. Hence, this recipe was lying at the back of my mind and when I saw fresh banana leaves at the vegetable shop last week, I knew I had to try this at least once.

But I did not remember the exact recipe (but I think it had coconut milk in it and I was not sure if my North Indian friends would like it)  and decided to go along with one of my chicken biryani recipes. It results were good. The banana leaf imparted a subtle flavor to the rice and the 'potli' or the banana leaf parcel made for a lovely presentation.

Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 1 hour

Ingredients -

For Chicken -

• 250 gm Chicken
• 2 large onions 
• 2 tsp GG paste
• whole spices ( 3 cloves, 2 inch cinnamon stick, 1 star anise, 1 black cardamom, 2 green cardamom, 1 bay leaf, 2 mace)
• 1/2 tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/4 tsp garam masala
• a handful of mint leaves
• 3-4 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
• 1/2 cup thick curd
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• oil (2 tbsp)
• ghee (2tbsp)
• salt to taste

For the biriyani rice -

• 2 cups Basmati rice 
• 1 star anise
• 1 2" long cinnamon stick
• 3-4 cloves
• 2 green cardamom (slightly split)
• 1 mace
• 1 tsp ghee
• salt to taste

Final garnishing -

• Fried onions
• mint leaves
• coriander leaves
• food color (opional)
• ghee

Preparation - Clean the chicken pieces and pat them dry. Transfer to a mixing bowl and add all the ingredients listed under 'For Chicken' except for the whole spices, oil and onions. Mix everything together and rub the marinade on the chicken pieces for about 5 mins.

Keep aside for 2-3 hours.

Chop the onions into thin long pieces.

Cooking -

For the chicken - Heat oil in a wok. Add the whole spices and fry for 10-15 seconds. Next, add the onions and fry till translucent.

Add the mint leaves and the coriander leaves. Fry for 2 mins.

Add the marinated chicken along with the marinade. Cook for 15 mins (covered) till 3/4 done. Remove from flame and keep aside.

For the rice - Boil 8-10 cup water in large pan. When it gets to a boil, add all the spices and salt.

Wash the Basmati rice and add to the boiling water. Boil on a medium flame for 8-9 mins.

Switch off the flame.  Add the ghee and allow to stand for 30 secs before draining off.

Final assembly - Take a fresh and clean banana leaf that is wide enough and has no tears .

Rub a little ghee all over it. Place a layer of rice on it. Then layer with chicken, fried onions, mint leaves, coriander leaves, ghee and few dots of color. Gather the ends of the leaf, bring them together and bind it with a string/ribbon/rubber band.

Boil water in a steamer. If you don't own one, use an idli maker. Place the banana leaf parcel inside the steamer and allow it to steam for 10-15 mins. The banana leaf would have changed to a yellowish shade by then.

Remove from the steamer and allow it to rest for 10 mins.

Serve the parcels with raita.

Note - I packed individual portions into each banana leaf parcel. So, one can serve it directly with the leaf itself.

Kairi ( Raw Mango ) Biriyani ( Chicken Biryani flavored with green mangoes )

If I had to name of thing that makes me nostalgic about summers, it would undoubtedly be 'Mangoes'. Whether they are the tangy green ones or the ripe aromatic ones, I never fail to make them a part of the menu. While the ripe ones go straight from the fridge ( where they are kept soaking in a large bowl of water for 3-4 hours ) to the dining table, the raw ones offer a lot more versatility. And even though I add the green ones to chutney, a variety of curries, mango rice (Andhra style), rasam or enjoy the slices which sprinkled with salt and red chili powder and exposed to the sun for a few hours, I still cannot get enough.

Perhaps that is why when I made Biryani last over weekend, I wanted to flavour it with that indelible stamp of the Indian summers aka the lovely green mangoes or 'kairi' as we call them in Hindi. This is basically an Ambur style biriyani recipe and I have tweaked it a bit. Since these green mangoes are quite tangy, I made it a point to avoid adding any other sour ingredient like tomato or yogurt. The Kairi biriyani turned out to be beautiful and heavenly smelling.

Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 1 hour

Ingredients -

• 250 gm Chicken
• 2 large onions 
• 1 green chilli
• whole spices ( 3 cloves, 1 inch cinnamon stick, 2 maratti moggu, 2 Kalpasi, 1 bay leaf, 2 mace)
• 1/3 tsp cinnamon powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• a handful of mint leaves
• 3-4 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
• 4 tbsp grated green mango (Kairi)
• oil (2 tbsp)
• ghee (2tbsp)
• salt to taste

To be ground into a paste -

• 1 1/2 inch long ginger
• 12 garlic cloves
• 2-4 green chilis

For the biriyani rice -

• 2 cups Basmati rice 
• 1 star anise
• 1 2" long cinnamon stick
• 3-4 cloves
• 2 green cardamom (slightly split)
• 1 mace
• 1 tsp ghee
• salt to taste

Preparation - Transfer the ginger, garlic and green chili into a grinder jar and grind into a paste.

Add 3/4 th of the GG paste to the cleaned chicken pieces. Add turmeric and cinnamon powder. Add salt and mix with your hands so that the masala is uniformly distributed. (Do wear gloves as the chilli paste might cause severe burning sensation on your hands)

Keep aside for 2-3 hours.

Finely chop the onions .

Cooking -

For the chicken - Heat the ghee and oil in a pressure cooker. Add the whole spices and fry for 10-15 seconds. Next, add the onions and fry till translucent.

Add half of the mint leaves and half of the coriander leaves. Fry for 2 mins.

Add the marinated chicken along with the marinade. Cook for 15 mins (covered) till 3/4 done. Add the grated green mango and fry for 5-6 mins. Remove from flame and keep aside.

For the rice - Boil 8-10 cup water in large pan. When it gets to a boil, add all the spices and salt.

Wash the Basmati rice and add to the boiling water. Boil on a medium flame for 8-9 mins.

Switch off the flame.  Add the ghee and allow to stand for 30 secs before draining off.

Final assembly - Take a thick bottomed pan. Layer the bottom with rice.

Then layer with chicken, mint leaves, coriander leaves, ghee and few dots of color. ( throw in a few thin slices of green mangoes as well for more aroma..I did just that and loved it!! )

Repeat with another layer of rice. Add more mint leaves, ghee and some more color. Cover tightly with aluminium foil. Place the pan on a tawa/skillet before placing it on a low flame. Keep it on for 15-20 mins. Remove from flame and keep aside for 10 mins before opening.

Serve hot with raita and Coke.