Kachche gosht ki biryani

Ingredients:

1kg long grain basmati rice

1kg mutton (cut into medium size pieces)

½kg potatoes (quartered)

¾kg onion (sliced)

¾kg yogurt

2 tbsps garlic (paste)

10-12 green chillies (ground)

2 tbsps ginger (ground)

½ bunch of coriander leaves (chopped)

2 tsps chilli powder

1 tbsp cumin powder

3 sticks cinnamon

5-6 cloves

4-5 cardamoms

2 tsps shah-zeera (black cumin seeds)

4-5 bay leaves

10-12 alu-bukhara (dry apricots)

one cup ghee or oil

salt to taste

Method:

Wash the rice and soak for two hours in water. Heat oil, add the potatoes and fry. Take out and in the same oil, fry the sliced onions till golden brown, drain and crush. Beat the curd and to it, add the crushed onions, potatoes, mutton/ground ginger, green chillies, chopped coriander leaves, alu-bukhara, cinnamon, cloves, cardamoms and salt. Heat two table-spoons oil. Saute the garlic, shah-zeera, coriander and cumin power and bay leaves, pour over the curd mixture and marinate for three hours.

In another vessel heat water and salt. When the water reaches the boiling point, add the soaked rice and salt. When the rice starts boiling, drain the excess water. In a big vessel or pressure cooker put two tablespoons of rice and spread it evenly. Add the marinated mutton and then put in the remaining rice. Sprinkle saffron mixed with warm milk. Cover the vessel with a lid and seal it with dough made of wheat flour and water so that the steam does not escape, cook on a very slow fire for about 45 minutes or pressure cook for fifteen minutes.

Serve decorated with fried onion.

Special mutton curry

Ingredients:

1kg mutton

2 medium onions (chopped)

1 tbsp ginger paste

7-8 whole red chillies

a few curry leaves

2 tbsp coriander seeds

½ tbsp cumin seeds

2 tbsps poppy seeds

1 tbsp sesame seeds

30-35 almonds

20-25 pistachios

15-20 cashew nuts

2 tbsps peanuts

2 tbsps grams (chana)

2 tbsps dessicated coconut

1 tbsp garam masala powder (all spice)

2 cups thick coconut milk

½ cup thick tamarind juice

¾ cup oil

salt

Method:

Boil mutton with a little ginger and garlic paste and salt. Soak red chillies in water’; when soft, grind to a paste. Roast all the dry seeds, nuts and coconut, powder them in a grinder and grind them to a fine paste. Mix with ginger, garlic and red chillies paste.

Heat the oil. Fry the onions to a light pink colour. Add the masala paste and fry. When well-fried, add stock gradually. Then add coconut milk, salt and cook till a little thick. Now add the mutton, garam masala powder and tamarind water and cook till boiling. Heat little oil and fry curry leaves in it then pour on top and quickly cover.

Serve after five minutes with rice.

Lacy cutlets

Ingredients:

½kg minced meat

1 tbsp ginger paste

1 tbsp garlic paste

1 tbsp green chillies and coriander leaves paste

4 slices bread

1 cup dry breadcrumbs

6 eggs

salt to taste

oil for frying

Method:

Mix minced meat with masala paste and keep aside for at least two hours. Beat eggs with six tablespoons of water. Soak the bread slices in water for half an hour, then squeeze out the water and mix well with the meat. Shape into round cutlets.

Roll the cutlets in breadcrumbs. Dip them into egg and fry well on both sides by sprinkling egg on and around each cutlet quickly to form a sort of lace frill around it. Reduce heat and cook on a slow fire till the skin is crisp and brown.

Sevian (vermicelli)

Ingredients:

8oz vermicelli

1 cup sugar

2 tbsp khoya

1½tsp saffron

few sliced almonds

2 tbsps raisins

1½cups milk

Method:

Prepare sugar syrup by mixing sugar with two cups of water and dissolving it over heat. Heat the oil on a slow fire and fry the vermicelli till golden. Add the milk and cook on very slow fire till it starts to thicken. Add the khoya and mix well. Then add the sugar syrup and mix well. Add the saffron and cook till it becomes a little thick.

Sprinkle raisins and sliced almonds and serve.

This recipe was originally published in Dawn’s Tuesday Review on April 6, 1992.