Dear readers, dont get scared, making a delicious biryani is not a hard task. but it depends on a number of factors.
1. it depends on the use of the correct spices with the correct amount.
2. the duration for the marination of the mutton.
3.use of essence, rose petals, rose essence and screwpine or kewrah water.
4. use of proper amount of salt. use of old fine textured long grain basmati rice.
5. aromatising the rice by preparing the or pre-cooking the rice in a fragrant yakhni water.
6. last but the foremost point, the steps.
in any sort of cuisine or cooking method —especially in biryani, which has been stratified in so many steps—-steps are of a crucial importance. and i dont want my readers to commit those century-old mistakes,which can spoil the pricey foods like biryani. you ought to take care about certain things, while keeping the others in mind.
a) fry the onion in the beginning. because it is long process. takes about half an hour. dont forget to do that. after frying the onion then go for the marination.
apply salt and a pinch of turmeric on the mutton. let the moisture ooze out. fry them in the piping hot refined oil. now again discretion is required. first 5 minutes in highest flame. then on medium flame for 5 minutes. then on low heat for 7 minutes. time calculation is very necessary. but more necessary is the inspection of the change of colour. lower the flame once you notice the change the of colour.
remember, strain the onion from the oil a little before the desired crispiness, the reason being the process of frying continues even after you strain out. the hot oil hidden oil in the onion continues to work even after you strain. so strain out before you have the desired colour.
b) when the marination is complete, arrange the rose essence, petals, screwpine essence, mitha ittar etc, keep them handy.
c) marinate the mutton first, preferably overnight or for three hours at least if you are short of time. then pre-boil the rice. dont boil the rice first. remember if your rice should be piping hot while placing it on dum. and the technique is that you uncooked would get boiled and soft with a gas flame from below and the steaming rice from above. so a little delay in the process of placing the entire thing on dum, can create blunder. dont let the rice to get cooled.
d) first strain out half the rice while 30% cooked. and place it directly on mutton. and then place the 60% cooked rice on the top of it. the simple logic is that the 30% cooked rice will get the 100% vapour from the boiling mutton curry. and the 60% cooked get only an indirect steam from the boiling mutton. so will soften slowly. if you reverse the steps, like mistakenly putting the 60% cooked rice on the top of the mutton, and then putting the 30% cooked rice, what will happen is that your rice would come out mashed below and raw and grainy above. never do that.
e) be cautious while adding yoghurt to your mutton. take 250 gms yogurt for 1.5 kg of mutton and one kg of rice. discretion and experience are required, in case you are lowering or increasing the amount, if you are cooking in lesser quantity. rember that if you add more yogurt than necessary, after 45 minutes of dum, mutton will be runny, and the entire biryani would be spoiled.
and if you can follow all of the guideline successfully. definitely your biryani would come out enhanced in taste.
here i mention the spices which should be used in the preparation of yakhni water and the marination of the meat.
marinate the mutton overnight to get the maximum taste and mellowdness. the lemon juice, yoghurt and unpeeled papaya extract would tenderize the mutton to a maximum level.
the three staple ingrdiaents are
1 kg of fine basmati rice(make sure that it ia year old),
1.5 kg of good quality mutton(cut from the hinder leg), and
400 gms of ghee
salt. it seems curious why i started with salt which appears to be almost an insignificant ingredient. but as Shakespeare said, salt is like love, if neglected, it can create blunder. especially in case of biryani, the improper use of it can lead to a result that can be proved catastrophic. more so because in biryani you can not redo anything like we do in Quora.
if you try to mix salt afterwards, then your rice would be messed up. and rice is the mainstay of biryani, the most prized ornament. kindly be careful in the matter of mixing salt. dont forget it, dont overdo it and dont try to redo it if the mistake has already been committed. so here the one go and one chance theory prevails.
remember to add salt to the water which you are boiling for the rice.
add more than sufficient salt to the marinated mutton. but after all these instructions, it is a metter of profound experience and time, how much to add in water and how much in mutton marinade. use discretion if you lack experience.
1.ginger 5 cm 3\4 to be ground with others as instructed for the marination and 1\4 to be used into the potli masala
2.garlic 30 to 40 cloves 3\4 to be ground with others as instructed for the marination and 1\4 coarsely crushed to be used into the potli masala
3.onion 12 large 10 very finely chopped, salted and fried crispy golden-brown, drained and kept aside. 2 coarsely crushed to be used into the potli masala
4,cumin seeds 2 tablespoon. half to be ground with others as instructed for the marination. half to be coarsely ground for the preparation of the potli masala.
5.coriander seeds 2 tablespoon. half to be ground with others as instructed for the marination. half to be coarsely ground for the preparation of the potli masala.
6.green chilli 12–14 to be ground with others as instructed for the marination
7..raw papaya one small chopped with the skin on, chopped and ground to a fine paste along with part of the spices which are to go for the marinaton of the mutton. it is actually a meat tenderizer. it secrets a enzyme ‘papin’ which is responsible for loosening the protein tissue of the animal meat.
8. lemon one large deseeded and the juice extracted. to be added for the marination of the mutton. it also acts as a tenderizer.
9. yoghurt 250–300 gm which also acts as a tenderizer. to go entirely for the marination.
10. green cardamom 15–20 one third for the marination of the mutton, one third for tampering the ghee, remaining one third for preparing the yakhni for the rice.
11. black cardamom 5–6 to be ground with others as instructed for the marination
12. kebab chini 5–6 to be ground with others as instructed for the marination
13. cloves 10–12 one third for the marination of the mutton, one third for tampering the ghee, remaining one third for preparing the yakhni for the rice.
14. cinnamon stick 8 cm one third for the marination of the mutton, one third for tampering the ghee, remaining one third for preparing the yakhni for the rice.
15. chakr phool or star anise 2 to be ground with others as instructed for the marination
16.black stone or dagar ka phool 2 to be ground with others as instructed for the marination
17.black pepper 15–20 one third for the marination of the mutton, one third for tampering the ghee, remaining one third for preparing the yakhni for the rice.
19.white pepper or safed mirch or dekhni mirch 10 one third for the marination of the mutton, one third for tampering the ghee, remaining one third for preparing the yakhni for the rice.
20. nutmeg one large to be ground with others as instructed for the marination
21. shah zeera 3–4 tablespoon heaped one third for the marination of the mutton, one third for tampering the ghee, remaining one third for preparing the yakhni for the rice.
22. mace 4 petals to be ground with others as instructed for the marination
23. saffron half gm mildly roasted on tawa but not burnt and dissolved in a bowl of hot milk
24. kewra water or screwpine water according to taste. but one thing you should take care in this respect, that even a teaspoon would lend a ghastly, obsessive and intense aroma which everybody may not stand
25. rose water or gulab pani according to your mood and taste
26. mithha ittar to be used discreetly as even a drop of it pervades intense fragrance.4–5 drops would be more than sufficient.
27. fresh mint and coriander leaves, seperate the leaves from the twigs and chop them, mix them and store in a bowl. carefully refrigerate it as they have chances to loose their fragrance if kept in open air in the room temperature.
now follow the recipe of a standard Hyderabadi biryani.—-
1. take one third of the garam masala(as per in instruction)...
pound them very coarsely.
in a heavy bottomed biryani degchi heat the entire 400 gms of ghee and tamper with this garam masala. (divide the ghee into three equal portion on three seperate small bowls. and cool.)
2. Fry the chopped 10 onions in refined sunflower oil till golden brown, sieve them, place them on kitchen paper for soaking the extra oil, seperate them with aslotted spoon.
crush one fourth of the onion with your hands to be mixed with the marinade paste.
store the three fourth of the onion in a container into the refrigerator.
3. take one third of the garam masala(as per above instruction),
one third of yoghurt(dont add any water. use this one third of yoghurt as a moisture which would help the ingredients to form a smooth paste),
raw papaya with the skin on,
all the green chillies,
ginger and garlic.
put all the ingredients into a coffee grinder and make them into a very smooth paste.
apply the paste to the mutton along with
coriander powder,
cumin powder,
red chilli powder,
turmeric powder,
the one fourth fried onions crushed with your palm,
a pinch or two meetha ittar,
few drops of rose water and
kewra water,
half of the mint and coriander leaves,
plenty of salt,
rest of the yoghurt,
lemon juice
with….
27. fresh mint and coriander leaves, seperate the leaves from the twigs and chop them, mix them and store in a bowl. carefully refrigerate it as they have chances to loose their fragrance if kept in open air in the room temperature.
one third of the ghee(pour one bowl. keep the other two bowls aside for later use)..
mix them real good and let the mutton marinate in these spices for at least three to four hours in the biryani degchi. preferably overnight.
here comes the phase of the preparing the rice water which we popularly call ‘yakhni’
in the water where we boil the rice, no exotic spices are used!!!. remove your long-standing doubts or misconception. only some basic spices whichwe use everyday in the form of garam masalas, ghee and a few strands of saffron saffron of about 100 mg. or 5–6 strands. exotic part comes while marinating the mutton, which i unfold in the later paraghaphs.
i would only relate how to make fragrant water to make a fragrant rice. mutton is omitted. though if you desire to add, you can do. that would off ocourse bring out a a rich taste. use some 500 gms leftover mutton pieces that we call chhat in India. these mutton pices, the spices in the potli are to be discarded when the soup gets the desired fragrance and consistency
remember, for the best result, you basmati should be at least one year old, to assure its greatest length, and less starch that means minimum stickiness
Salt according to the taste or as sufficient to make the rice properly salted.
Properly wash the rice with several splashes of water and drain and keep aside. Wash gently so not to break the grain or not to spoil the texture.
take note of the spices for the marination of spices, boiling the rice and seasoning the biryani. i would off course explain later step-by-step what to use when and in what quantity. because quantity is something which always baffles our indian housewives. volumes have been written on biryani but they are often misleading and have been written on a more personal experience of the author. it is now time to remove those darkness.
Kindly take note——-
in a muslin cloth one puts coarcely crushed onion, ginger, garlic, dry red chillies, green cardamom, shah zeera, cumin seeds and coriander seeds, black and white pepper. that is one third as instructed above.
Tie the cloth to confine the ingredients into a knot in a way so that it could leave long tail behind. Now add them in the rapidly boiling water.
Kindly take note——-
Dry red chilli 10
Shah zeera two tablespoon
Green cardamom 10
Black cardamom 2
Cloves 5
Cinnamon one large stick
Black pepper 15
White pepper 10
Onion 2 large
Garlic 15 flakes
Ginger 3 cm
Cumin seeds 10 seeds
Coriander seeds 15 seeds
Ghee 100 gm
6. when the rice gets 30% cooked, strain half of them. add half of the rice on the mutton, level them properly.
sprinkle some saffron with milk,
sprinkle some rose water,
screwpine water,
mint leaves,
coriander leaves,
some pinches of meethi ittar according to your discretion...
sprinkle the rest of the fried onion that i had told you to refrigerate. add the other batch of 80% cooked rice
and again add all the seasonings and the leaves etc.
7. cover the lid and tighten it with a loarge ring of dough.
let it cook on high flave for first 10 mnts,
then 20 mnts on medium flame,
then cook it slowly for 15 mnts on very slow flame, preferably on a tawa....
then turn off the flame and wait for another 5 minutes.
finally open the lid and your house will be surrounded with a heady aroma..serve it with a yoghurt salad.
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