Thalassery Mutton Dum Biryani!

Hello, my lovelies!!!! I am baaaaaack!!!! Ok, I do need to apologize for the extremely long hiatus...and no, I am not going to make any excuses, I was just plain lazy! I know that's not a reason, but hey, what's important is that I'm back....and that too with a brand new recipe, guaranteed to tickle your taste buds!

So, tell me..how's everyone been? Here in sunny Dubai, everyone's gearing up for Ramadan...so for all my Muslim friends, Ramadan Kareem in advance! In order to bring in the holy month, I thought I should post something that you can look forward to during Eid....and what better way than some good old fashioned biryani!

There are so many different variants to the biryani, and in fact, I had posted a recipe for my chicken biryani which you can find right Here. But for now, I thought I'd experiment with my favorite meat, mutton, or goat's meet, and this dish is one of the most popular type of biryanis in Kerala. Simple, wholesome, flavorful...and we're only getting started! Let's find out how to make this, shall we....

INGREDIENTS

• Mutton- washed and cleaned thoroughly, 1 kilo. When washing mutton, use a mixture of salt, lemon juice and turmeric powder to get rid of the smell and give it an overall shine.

For Marination

• Turmeric powder- 1/2 teaspoon
• Red chilly powder- 3 tablespoons (depending on the spice requirement, this should give you a medium spicy flavor)
• Coriander powder- 4 tablespoons 
• Ginger- finely minced- 1/2 inch stick
• Garlic- 10 cloves, finely mashed
• Black pepper powder- 1 teaspoon
• Yogurt- 1/2 cup
• Lime juice- 1 lime
• Salt to taste

For the masala

• 3 medium sized onions- finely sliced
• Ginger- 1/2 inch piece
• Garlic- 4 cloves finely sliced
• Tomatoes- 2 medium sized, chopped into cubes
• Garam masala powder- 1 teaspoon
• Salt to taste
• Boiling water- 1/4 cup

For the rice

• 3 cups basmati rice (I used Kohinoor, it has always given me very good results)
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Cinnamon stick- 1 broken into half
• 3 cloves
• 2 cardamom seeds

For the garnish

• Cashews- a handful
• Onions- 2 finely sliced and fried

METHOD

• Marinate the mutton with ingredients under "For Marination" section and set aside for a minimum of 2 hours. You can do this over night but I do not find much difference.
• In a saucepan, heat a mixture of oil and ghee (I use 2 tablespoons of each, adds more flavor and does not make you feel very heavy). In this, fry the onions until they turn translucent (semi transparent), and they change color. Note that they do not have to be brown. Add salt at this stage to cook the onions faster.
• Add the tomatoes and fry till they get mashed. At this stage, you can add the water but this is optional. 
• Finally add the mutton and stir it thoroughly before closing it tightly and cooking for a minium of 35-40 minutes, or until it becomes tender. Once the mutton is cooked, there will be some gravy, so open the vessel and cook for another 10 minutes until the gravy turns thick. Do not evaporate completely since this forms the masala.
• While the mutton is cooking, start preparing the rice. Wash the rice thoroughly 3 times and soak it for about 15 minutes in 4 cups of water.
• Drain this water and add this to the pan in which the rice is being cooked. To this, add 4 cups of boiling water, butter, lime juice and the spices.
• Basmati rice takes a total of 12-15 minutes (max) to cook. Ensure that you always have an eye on the rice so that it does not over cook and get mushy.
• When the rice is half cooked (check by pressing one rice grain between your fingers. It gets half mashed and half solid), drain the water from the rice and remove the spices.
• Put one more tablespoon of butter to separate the rice grains and give more flavor.
• Now, for the dum part. Normally, in order to create the dum, flour mixed with water is used to create a paste and seal the sides of the pan in which the biryani is cooked. Here, I did something different.
• In a baking dish, spread butter evenly (1-2 tablespoons). Start off by layering a spoon of rice, followed by 2 spoons of mutton masala, and repeat the process till you have rice as the top most layer.
• Seal this completely with foil paper and set this in the oven at 180 degrees for 30 minutes. Alternatively you could cook this on the burner at a very low flame for 30 minutes. The rice gets cooked through at this stage and merges with the masala. 
• Time for the garnish, Fry some nuts and onions in 2 tablespoons of ghee until crispy and serve.

Tada, we have some scrumptios "Neetu's style Dum biryani" available!!

Do try it out and let me know your feedback! Till next time, take care and God bless!

I am back...with Chicken Biryani!!!

Helloooooooooooooooo my darlings!!! I have to start of by apologizing ..for not being in touch for so long. I truly am sorry. If you remember, I was in Canada for a bit, on a project. As of August though, my job finished and I was permanently back to Dubai to be with A!! In the excitement of things, I have to be honest, I did become a teeny tiny bit lazy, but i promise, I never did forget you guys. I really mean that! This chicken biryani is proof of that. I made this in August, for my father in law's birthday, and saved up the pics for you guys. See, so sweet of me right..:P. Yeah okay, that was a bit too much even for me. Enough of me already, how have you been? I have to thank you for being so supportive and still checking out my blog and even becoming members, despite me being so inactive. So, I have decided to make it up to you by posting a scrumptious chicken biryani recipe! Biryani can actually be made in several ways. There's no hard and fast rule to make a biryani. Some people cook the chicken and rice together, while others, like myself cook it separately. Likewise, some people marinate the chicken with all the ingredients listed below under "For Marination" and include curd as well, but I don't. Irrespective, made in the right proportions and with an ample amount of love, any dish turns out to be scrumptious! This biryani is very special, coz it's my mom's very own recipe. The first time I ever made this was for my sister in law, brother in law and mother in law..and they absolutely loved it. Enough with the melodrama already, let's get this show on the road!!

INGREDIENTS

• 2 kilos chicken

For Marination

• Coriander powder- 3 tablespoons
• Chilly powder- 2 tablespoons
• Turmeric powder- 1 teaspoon
• Salt- To taste
• Lemon juice - 1 lemon

For Gravy

• Onions - 4
• Garlic - 1 whole piece
• Ginger - 1 whole piece
• Green chilies - 7
• Curd - 1/2 litre
• Tomatoes - 1 big or 2 small
• Coriander leaves - A handful
• Mint leaves (Pudina leaves) - A handful
• Oil - 4-5 tablespoons

For Rice

• Basmati Rice - 3 cups (1 cup=240 ml)
• Boiling water - 2 cups
• Butter - 1 tablespoon
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Cloves - 2
• Cinnamon- 1 small piece
• Cardamom - 2 
• Salt - To taste

METHOD

• First, marinate the chicken with ingredients under "For Marination" section. Ideally, it would be nice to marinate it overnight. However, if you don't have time, marinate it for at least 30 minutes. Also, using your blender, blend yogurt along with coriander and mint leaves and set aside. 
• Start preparing the gravy. For this, pour oil into a non stick vessel and wait for it to heat.
•  Once oil is hot, add the ginger, garlic and green chilies and saute till they turn slightly brown. 
• Now add the onions and a little salt, so as to cook the onions faster. Wait for the onions to turn golden brown.
• Now add the tomatoes and mix together till it turns into a fine paste. 
• Finally add the chicken and the curd mixture, mix thoroughly and keep closed for 15 minutes on a medium flame.
• During this time, was the basmati rice at least 3 times, pour water so that it is just above the rice, and set this aside. You can start preparing the rice once the gravy is ready.
• Take the pan in which you will prepare the rice. Into this, pour 2 cups of boiling water, add the cloves, cinnamon, cardamon, lemon juice and butter and wait for it to boil thoroughly. 
• After 20-25 minutes, check the chicken gravy. It should be ready. Check salt levels, switch of the flame and set aside.
• Time to prepare the rice. Once the water starts boiling, add the washed rice to this and stir it once. Keep stirring every couple of minutes. Basmati rice is tricky, because if overcooked, it becomes really sticky. The rice needs to be only half cooked, so once you pick a grain of rice and squeeze it, one half will remain solid while the other half gets mashed. It should take approximately 5-7 minutes to cook the rice. 
• Once the rice is semi cooked, switch off the flame and drain the rice to remove all water. 
• Now, we need to combine the rice and chicken so as to make the biryani. For this, take a non stick sauce pan, and butter the bottom.
• Pour the gravy at the bottom of the dish, and layer the rice above. Put a few chicken pieces on the rice and put more rice on top, until you finally end up with rice on the very top. 
• Keep this pan on the lowest flame on your stove and cook for approx 30 minutes, so that the semi cooked rice gets completely cooked.
• As a garnish, set aside a few coriander and mint leaves and sprinkle on top once the flame is switched off.

Tada, chicken biryani is ready! Serve with a delicious cucumber raita, papad and pickle. Don't you want to see the final results?

Scrumptious Biryani!

Closeup of the biryani!

So, what do you guys think? Promise me that you will try this out and let me know, okay? So, till next time, adios amigos, take care and God bless!