Sunday Lamb Biriyani - Hyderabadi Dum Biriyani

There used to be a time when I lived in the UAE that I would love to have Biriyani on a Friday afternoon followed by an afternoon snooze. But after my health went downhill, I gave up on that routine. My mom makes the best biriyani ever. Something funny though, she would make biriyani to feast on by a large gathering and would even pack what was left for our thoroughly satisfied guests but would not even eat a bite. For some reason, she dislikes biriyani. She would eat plain rice or pulav/fried rice but never biriyani :) Our guests though never had a problem with that, which just meant more for them :D Seriously it is that good. 

One Saturday my dearest hubby asked me for Biriyani on Sunday. So made my version of Hyderabadi Dum Biriyani. The response: nothing short of praise, claps and hoots! My toddler said 'Wow Mama...yummy!' So that was enough for me to know that this recipe needs to go into the blog! For my Vegetarian readers, do not fret, you can make this recipe with your choice vegetables instead of lamb. Instead of the egg you can add potato.

Hyderabadi Dum Biryani as you may know (esp. from its name) is a signature dish from Hyderabad, the City of Pearls. In fact it was the first dish I tried from various restaurants in Hyderabad. There are several versions I like. It is a blend of Mughal and Persian cuisine. Basmati rice is slow-cooked with layers of marinated meat or chicken in a deep bottomed vessel and sealed with a dough paste. This process of cooking is also known as 'Dum' . The key is to ensure that your rice turns out to be fluffy and perky. Initially I must admit my rice used to turn out to be quite sticky. This is one of the reasons why I never cooked biriyani when mom was around. I didn't want to disappoint her. She gave me a few pointers to cook basmati rice and I have included them in the recipe. However I also took tips from Jamie Oliver ;)

For the Lamb, you need:

• 1 kg boneless Lamb, cleaned and cut into bite sized cubes, drained (use a sieve and set aside to dry)
• 3 tbsp, crushed Ginger & Garlic or paste
• 2 cups yoghurt
• 3 tbsp Kashmiri chilli powder
• 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
• 3 tbsp Homemade Garam Masala (Indian all spice powder)
• 2 sprigs mint leaves,  finely diced
• 4 sprigs of Cilantro/Coriander leaves, finely chopped
• 2 small lemons, juiced
• ½ tbsp Salt

For the rice, you need:

• 1 kg of Basmati rice
• Drinking water - double the quantity of rice
• 1 tsp black cumin seeds
• 6 whole green cardamoms
• 4 cloves
• 6 whole black peppercorns
• 2-3 bay leaves
• 2-3 star anise
• 1 tbsp of cooking oil or clarified butter(ghee) (optional)
• 2-3 tbsp of salt

For the Biriyani:

• 4 onions, diced finely
• 4 tbsp cooking oil
• 2 pinches of saffron,  soaked in lukewarm water or 2 pinches of red-orange food colour
• Sticky dough made of wheatflour and water (enough to cover the mouth of the biriyani vessel)
• 2-3 boiled eggs, cut in halves
• Pinch of cilantro/coriander leaves

The Make:

Cooking Time: 45 minutes Preparation Time: overnight or min of 2 hours (includes marination time) Serves 6-8

Marinating the lamb:

1. Mix all the marinade ingredients in a large bowl till well combined. 

2. Add the lamb and mix well. 

3. Cover and let it rest for at least 6-8 hours or overnight if possible. 

This would enhance the flavours in your biriyani as it cooks through.

Cooking the rice:

* Ensure you use a deep-bottomed and wide vessel to cook the rice. 

1. Then follow the steps in  http://gginaflavorspalatte.blogspot.in/p/how-tos-or-tips-kitchen.html for a nice and fluffy rice cook.

2. When the water comes to a running boil, toss in the dry spices, salt and oil/clarified butter and boil for a minute.  Next follow the steps in http://gginaflavorspalatte.blogspot.in/p/how-tos-or-tips-kitchen.html 

3. Immediately drain the rice along with the spices in a strainer. Let all the residual water drain off. Set aside.

Assembling the Biriyani:

1. In a skillet, add the oil and toss in the onions. Saute until crisp and golden brown and set aside on a kitchen towel. Toss away the residual oil.

Biriyani vessel is usually layered in a large vessel as shown in this image. However for 6-8 adults and the quantity of rice and meat, you could use 1/4 this size of the vessel shown in the image. Thanks to mom, I inherited her biriyani vessel :).

2. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Place the Biriyani vessel on a stove top with medium-low heat. You may need to turn on two burners depending on the size of your vessel. Let the vessel get slightly hot and turn off the heat. Alternatively, you could place the vessel in your oven and allow it to heat for a minute.

3. Now add  first half of  the marinated meat at the bottom of the vessel, followed by half of the crispy onions. This becomes your first layer.

4. Next add a layer of the half cooked basmati rice. You can chose to add a tbsp of clarified butter/ghee or oil at this stage. I had not as I did not want my rice to be too greasy seeing as I chose lamb for meat.

5. Repeat step 3 and 4 and then artistically pour the saffron mix or food colour mix on top of the rice (try a circular spiral fashion starting from center and going to the corner of the vessel. This would give an amazing colour combination of slightly white to coloured rice.

6. Next, add some sticky dough paste to the mouth of the vessel and cover with its own lid or aluminium foil. You can also place the aluminium foil and then add the sticky dough to the corners and then cover with the vessel's lid.

7. Carefully place the sealed vessel in the oven and lower the heat to 180°C. Cook for 30-40 minutes. Turn off the heat and let it rest in the oven for at least 10 minutes.

8. Uncover and serve from one side of the vessel making sure to dig deep to the bottom of the vessel and place in a biriyani pot (handi). This method of serving ensure you get all the layers of the meat, rice and spices and  the saffron/food colour.

9. Top with boiled eggs (cut in halves) and a pinch of cilantro leaves. Serve hot with papad, lime/mango pickle, green salad or just some raw onions with lemon juice and salt and vegetable raitha or plain yoghurt. 

Traditionally in Hyderabad, Hyderabadi Dum Biriyani is served with Mirchi Ka Salan (Chili and Peanut curry). Since Anup dislikes it, I didn't bother to make it. I too am not a great fan of Mirchi Ka Salan.

Tips:

1. Tips for a nice fluffy basmati rice: http://gginaflavorspalatte.blogspot.in/p/how-tos-or-tips-kitchen.html
2. Adjust the spices to your taste.
3. Remember the key factors for a well-cooked Hyderabadi Dum Biriyani is:

• Well-marinated meat. You can even marinate it the night before and refrigerate. Remember to stand the meat in its own juices and spices before refrigerating.
• A nice and fluffy basmati rice.
• Good quantity of spices mix and rice layered well in the assembling process.
• Whilst serving, ensure you get all the layers by digging deep into the biriyani vessel. Pretty much like you would do for an English trifle to ensure you get all the layers. You'd need a good long handle and wide mouthed ladle to do so. 

Bon Appetit! Hope you enjoy this recipe. If you do try it, please do not forget to leave me a comment here or mail me a picture of your make with your comments / feedback on gginazkitchenette@gmail.com. Alternatively you can also visit our facebook page and 'Like' our page and add in your comments there! We are also on Twitter now! Follow us here.

Happy Sunday!

Spicy Lamb Sausage with Cucumber and Tomato Salsa

This recipe is inspired by Masterchef Australia's Poh Ling Yeow. This amazing treat from Poh makes for an excellent breakfast meal. I used the remaining mix to make a new treat which I will share with you once G'Gina's Kitchenette's Theme Breakfast week completes.

You need:

For the sausage:

• 2 tablespoons toasted fennel seeds
• 2 tablespoons toasted coriander seeds
• 500g lamb or beef mince
• 500g pork mince * for those that do not use pork, you can also make this only with lamb mince or include chicken mince
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon sugar
• 2 - 3 cloves garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 ½ tablespoons smoked paprika
• ½ cup chopped coriander leaves, reserve the stalks
• ½ cup chopped fresh basil
• 1 tablespoon dried red chilli flakes
• 1 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
• 3 - 4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• Eggs - 4 to 6

For the Salad

• 1 large ripened tomato, diced
•  1 large cucumber, sliced or diced
• 1 tablespoons chopped mint
• 1 tablespoons finely chopped coriander stalks
• 1 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 1 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Tip: Make sure all the leaves/herbs are finely diced as they would break the doughnut mince or would be difficult to mould. Also make sure that once the leaves and herbs are washed and cleaned, that they are well-dried as well to make the perfect rounded doughnut mince.

The make

Serves 4 to 6 adults | Preparation time: 5-6 minutes | Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Source: Poh's Kitchen (http://www.abc.net.au/tv/pohskitchen/stories/s3322745.htm )

Spicy Lamb Sausage

1. Toast fennel and coriander seeds until fragrant and smokey (do not burn). This takes about a minute. Grind the toasted ingredients to a fine powder.

2.This is an important step. Combine all the ingredients and hand mix for about 5 minutes.  In mixing the ingredients, you can even throw mixture at high speeds towards the bowl, but make sure you do not miss! Tip: Make sure that your cleaned and rinsed mince is free of any water content.

This process of massaging the mince will bind the ingredients together in the absence of a binding agent such as egg. It will also develop the proteins, an important, handy technique for sausage making. The result would be a really sticky mince mixture. At this point you may choose to shape the mince into hand shaped sausages, a kabab sphere shape or a doughnut shape. Poh suggests if you are having some trouble handling the stickiness, wet your hands a little. She is right!

3. Place the doughnut meat on a medium hot, lightly greased skillet.

4. Brown one side and then flip it on the other side.

5. Next, immediately crack an egg into the center of the doughnut. Cook completely and serve with  toasted bread of your choice and fresh tomato and cucumber salad.

This quantity makes about 10 burger patties, 20 sausages and about 12 doughnuts. In case you have any leftover mince, shape to preferred size and shape and freeze in an airtight container with plastic sheets separators between the mince shapes.

Salad

Combine all ingredients and toss lightly. Serve on the side of the Spicy Lamb Sausage.

Bon Appetit!

Lamb Curry

Off late I have made a couple of recipes using Lamb. This interest came about as I was avoiding chicken for several months due to health reasons and as per the Ayurvedic doctor's advice for alternate meat options. I have also opted for dry mango powder (again the Ayurvedic's advice - avoiding tomatoes for a while). I got a good produce of lamb from the vendor. I am not too keen of boneless meat unless it is a good cut of steak otherwise I am known to enjoy the boned meat esp. the marrow. The marrow bone otherwise known as the whistle in my home has been a cause of many a sibling argument :)

Lamb Curry for the soul -  comfort food!

This recipe was inspired by my taste buds one afternoon and is quite simple as I wanted to have some comfort food that afternoon. These are the times one really misses one's mum. I thought of her all the while when I planned to make this dish, to making it and whilst eating it as well :) No wonder it turned out so well.

You have two options to cook this curry, one is through slow cooking which is preferred however if you do not have a slow cooker, you can also opt for the pressure cooker.

You need:

• 800 gms of Lamb cut into medium pieces
• 2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
• 1 tbsp of finely sliced ginger
• 1 tbsp finely diced garlic
• 1 large shallot finely diced
• 2-3 green chilies slit length wise and chopped in half
• 1 stem of curry leaves
• 1 tbsp of dry mango powder/amchur powder (or 1 large tomato diced)
• 1 tbsp of Garam Masala
• 1 tbsp of Kashmiri Chili Powder (or Paprika Powder)
• 1 cup of thick Coconut milk (first milk only) (or 1 tbsp of corn flour or corn starch diluted well with 2-3 tbsp of water) *optional
• Salt to taste
• 1 tbsp of Meat Masala powder (optional in case you are using my Homemade Garam Masala)
• 1 tbsp of cooking oil
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 2-3 tbsp of water

The Make:

Cooking Time : 60 minutes | Preparation time: 15 minutes | Serves 6-7 adults

As I mentioned, this curry can be made using a slow cooking process, however I will describe the easier process. 

1. Marinate the cleaned lamb pieces with ginger-garlic paste, amchur powder, salt and Garam Masala for at least 15 minutes - 1 hour. As with any meat marinating process, the longer the better (just make sure if its longer, you cover it properly and store in the fridge for up to 3-4 hours).
2. Pressure cook the marinated lamb pieces for 35-40 minutes. It takes at least 3 whistles on high and 1 on low heat. Try not to overcook it. 
3. In a large deep bottomed skillet, heat the oil, splutter the mustard seeds and add the curry leaves. Toss in the shallot and diced ginger and garlic and saute till translucent on medium heat.
4. Add the green chilies and saute for about a minute. Next add the Chili Powder and Meat Masala and mix well for about a minute. Add 2-3 tbsp of water to avoid the masala sticking to the bottom and allow to reach almost a  boil. Then lower the heat.
5. Give the contents of the pressure cooker a good stir and then transfer the contents to the skillet and mix well and allow it to reach a boil which would take about 5-7 minutes on medium heat. Note: Choose if you want to add the entire stock of the lamb. If you would like to leave some behind as you had initially added too much water, then make sure you stir well before you transfer the contents. To avoid this choice, do not add too much water to the pressure cooker whilst cooking. Try the 1:1.5 ratio.
6. This next step is optional. You can add either Coconut milk extract or Cornstarch mixed in water to get a thicker gravy. However, what I did was add half a cup of coconut milk and then I topped it with corn starch. It turned out well. However I know there are people who do not consume Coconut Milk or Corn starch in which case you can end with step 5. 
7. Lower the heat, and add the corn starch dilute and mix well. Allow it to reach a boil on medium heat. Then lower the heat and add the coconut milk extract and stir well and allow to warm. Turn off the heat and serve hot with your choice of rice, bread or Appams and your favourite greens on the side. My recipe on Spinach and Drumsticks gravy will follow soon.

Bon Appetit! Enjoy!

Lamb Curry served with Rice and Spinach and drumsticks gravy

Lamb Curry!

Lamb curry served with Rice