Hyderabadi haleem

Mashed as it cooks until the meat is no longer in pieces.

Lamb. Not vegetarian — contains lamb.

Ingredients

• 1.2 kg mutton on the bone
• 300 g pounded wheat, cracked and soaked overnight
• 150 g chana dal
• 100 g masoor dal
• 150 g ghee
• 500 ml whole milk
• 3 onions, sliced and fried brown
• 3 tablespoons ginger and garlic paste
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 2 teaspoons chilli powder
• 2 teaspoons caraway seeds, shah zeera
• 6 green cardamom pods
• a 5 cm stick of cinnamon
• 8 cloves
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
• a large pinch of saffron
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 limes, in wedges
• a handful of coriander leaves

Method

1. IT IS MASHED AS IT COOKS UNTIL THE MEAT IS NO LONGER IN PIECES, and that is the whole difference between this and khichra, as on its own page. Its article describes both the scale and the tool: haleem is COOKED ON A LOW FLAME OF FIREWOOD FOR UP TO 12 HOURS IN A BHATTI, with ONE OR TWO PEOPLE REQUIRED TO STIR IT CONTINUOUSLY WITH WOODEN PADDLES, and at home A GHOTNI (A WOODEN HAND MASHER) IS USED TO STIR IT UNTIL IT REACHES A STICKY-SMOOTH CONSISTENCY, SIMILAR TO MINCED MEAT. The mashing is not a finishing step. It happens throughout.
2. SOAK THE WHEAT OVERNIGHT AND THE DALS FOR TWO HOURS. Pounded wheat that has not been soaked will still be gritty after four hours of cooking, and no amount of mashing fixes grit.
3. BROWN THE ONIONS FIRST AND KEEP HALF BACK. Sliced thin, fried slowly in some of the ghee until deep brown. Half goes into the pot and half is kept for the top, which its article lists among the garnishes with lime, coriander, boiled egg and a ghee gravy.
4. THE WHOLE SPICES GO IN WITH THE MEAT AND THE GINGER AND GARLIC. Caraway is the one to get right: its article names SHAH ZEERA specifically, which is not cumin and tastes nothing like it.
5. COOK THE MEAT UNTIL IT LEAVES THE BONE, THEN TAKE THE BONES OUT. Two hours at a bare simmer, or forty minutes in a pressure cooker. Pull the bones and any gristle before the mashing starts, because they will not break down and you will be hunting them later.
6. THE WHEAT AND DALS GO IN AND THE POT STOPS BEING LEFT ALONE. Another hour and a half, with the milk, stirring every few minutes and mashing with a masher or the end of a rolling pin each time. It goes from a stew to a porridge to something that pulls away from the sides in one mass.
7. THE GHEE GOES IN BY DEGREES, AND IT IS A LOT. A hundred and fifty grams, a spoonful at a time, whenever the last is absorbed. This is what makes it glossy rather than stodgy, and it is why the dish is rich enough to be eaten in small bowls.
8. FINISH WITH SAFFRON, THEN THE GARNISHES AT THE TABLE. Its article's list is a ghee-based gravy, pieces of lime, chopped coriander, sliced boiled egg and fried onions. The lime is not optional: this needs the acid.

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.

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