Biryani

Two layers of rice with the meat between them, which is what a pilau is not.

Lamb. Not vegetarian — contains lamb.

Ingredients

• 500 g basmati rice
• 1 kg mutton on the bone, in pieces
• 300 ml plain yoghurt
• 4 onions, sliced and fried brown
• 3 tablespoons ginger and garlic paste
• 2 teaspoons chilli powder
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 2 teaspoons garam masala
• 6 green cardamom pods
• a 5 cm stick of cinnamon
• 8 cloves
• 2 bay leaves
• a large pinch of saffron
• 4 tablespoons warm milk
• 100 g ghee
• 2 teaspoons salt
• a handful of mint leaves
• a handful of coriander leaves

Method

1. TWO LAYERS OF RICE WITH THE MEAT BETWEEN THEM, WHICH IS WHAT A PILAU IS NOT. Its article settles a question people argue about by quoting the cookery author Pratibha Karan: while the terms are often applied arbitrarily, THE MAIN DISTINCTION IS THAT A BIRYANI CONSISTS OF TWO LAYERS OF RICE WITH A LAYER OF MEAT (AND VEGETABLES, IF PRESENT) IN THE MIDDLE, WHILE THE PILAU IS NOT LAYERED. She adds that in modern usage a biryani is the primary dish in a meal where a pilau is an accompaniment, and that biryanis carry stronger spices.
2. AND THERE ARE TWO WAYS TO BUILD IT, BOTH NAMED. In a PAKKI biryani, THE INGREDIENTS ARE COOKED SEPARATELY (AT LEAST IN PART) AND THEN ARRANGED IN LAYERS, and THE DIFFERENT LAYERS CAN BE INDIVIDUALLY COLOURED AND FLAVOURED WITH A BRIGHTLY-COLOURED SPICE SUCH AS TURMERIC OR SAFFRON. In a KACCHI biryani, LAYERS ARE ARRANGED IN A POT WHICH IS THEN SEALED AND COOKED SLOWLY FOR THE FOOD TO STEAM IN ITS OWN LIQUID. This method is pakki, which is the forgiving one.
3. MARINATE THE MEAT IN YOGHURT FOR FOUR HOURS. Yoghurt, ginger and garlic, chilli and turmeric. The acid tenderises and most of it becomes the sauce.
4. COOK THE MEAT UNTIL IT IS TENDER AND THE GRAVY IS THICK. An hour and a half with the whole spices and half the fried onions, uncovered at the end so it reduces. A wet meat layer makes the rice above it sodden.
5. PARBOIL THE RICE TO SEVENTY PER CENT AND DRAIN IT HARD. Soaked thirty minutes, then five or six minutes in heavily salted boiling water -- a grain should break when pressed but still have a core. It finishes in the pot.
6. LAYER IT RICE, MEAT, RICE, AND KEEP THOSE PROPORTIONS. Half the rice, all the meat with its gravy, then the rest of the rice. Three layers, not five: the structure is the definition quoted above and this is where it is made.
7. SAFFRON MILK, GHEE, ONIONS AND HERBS OVER THE TOP LAYER ONLY. Dribbled across so some grains colour and others stay white. That unevenness is the look of a biryani, and stirring it in gives you yellow rice instead.
8. SEAL THE POT AND GIVE IT TWENTY-FIVE MINUTES ON THE LOWEST HEAT. A tight lid, or foil, or a rope of dough. Then off the heat, undisturbed, ten minutes more. Serve by cutting down through the layers with a flat spoon rather than stirring.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes