THE QUEST FOR THE PERFECT BIRYANI!

My most distinct childhood memory is watching my mother cook. And watching her cook biryani is one of the most wonderful one. It was like watching poetry in motion or as if she was moving to some sort of music, which only she could hear… like she was in some trance… Frying onions golden brown, the aromas of fresh spices wafting ash ground them, the fragrance of the biryani as she roasted the spices, marinating the meat overnight… It was sheer delight!

But when it comes to biryani, has it ever occurred to any of you, that no matter how good your biryani is, you’re never really happy with it? My mother discovered the perfect biryani recipe (or so she thinks!) when she watched her best friend Mrs. Sheikh cook her most famous biryani. She added her own twist to it and that’s the biryani I’ve learned since childhood and cooked for years. That’s the biryani that earned me a lot of praise from family and friends. That’s the biryani I cooked for Karan Johar, ordered by him for Shah Rukh Khan’s birthday, if you please! And despite praises even from the star and filmmaker, I still find myself perpetually on a quest for a better biryani…

But while I continue my hunt for the perfect biryani, I hope you enjoy the recipe that has won me accolades! 

MUTTON BIRYANI

Ingredients:

For the marinade

• 1 kg mutton
• 1/2 kg onions, finely sliced
• 5-6 potatoes
• 300 grams tomatoes
• 200 grams curd, beaten
• 5 Tsps. chilli pwd (Less if you like it less spicy)
• 5 Tsps. coriander pwd
• 1 Tsps. haldi pwd
• 3 Tbsps. fresh garlic-ginger-chilli paste
• 1 small bunch coriander leaves
• 1 small bunch mint leaves
• 6 green chillies
• 1 cup oil
• Salt to taste 

For the rice:

• 1/2 kg rice
• 4-5 bay leaves
• 5 cloves
• 5-6 peppercorns
• 10 green cardamoms

For the garnish:

• Half of the onions fried for the marinade
• 1 tsp Kesar, soaked in a cup of hot milk

Method:

1. Slice and fry the onions golden brown and crisp.
2.  Halve the potatoes and deep fry them till a light golden brown, but not completely cooked.
3.  Chop the tomatoes, coriander leaves, mint leaves and green chillies fine.
4.  Roast the cinnamon, cloves, cardamoms (green & black) and grind dry.
5. In a dish, assemble the mutton, pour in half a cup oil, half the fried onions, all the fried potatoes, tomatoes, coriander & mint leaves, green chillies, garlic-ginger-chilli paste, powdered spices, the freshly ground spices and the beaten curd. Marinade, preferably overnight, or then for two hours.
6.  In a dish, parboil rice with the whole spices.
7. Cover the mutton with the parboiled rice, pour the kesar soaked hot milk, garnish with fried onions. Cover the dish with a lid and seal the lid well with some dough used for rotis.
8. Cook for 2 hours on very low gas. Remove from the gas and keep a griddle. Once the griddle is hot, place the dish once again and cook on very low gas for another half hour.
9. Serve with raita.