PULAO BIRYANI
Meat and rice layered and steamed together with the aromatic flavours
Ingredients
Meat-
- 1 kg chicken/lamb/mutton
- 1/2 cup oil
- 250 g onions sliced (medium)
- 2 tsp ginger paste
- 2 tsp garlic salt
- 2 tbsp yoghurt
- Whole garam masala (6-7 green cardamoms, 4 black cardamoms, 6 pepper corns, 6 cloves and a cinnamon stick)
- 3 tsp saunf powder (fennel seeds powder)
- 1 tsp dhania powder (coriander seeds powder)
- 1 tsp red chilli powder
- 1 tsp garam masala powder
- 2 tsp pulao biryani masala (optional)
- Salt to taste
Rice-
- 800 g rice (sella rice or commonly known as biryani rice)
- Potli (muslin cloth bag)
- 2 tsp saunf (fennel seeds)
- 2 tsp coriander seeds
- 3-4 cloves garlic (peeled)
- 2 tbsp Salt
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp shah zeera
- 3 tbsp oil
Garnishing-
- 2 tsp Kewra water
- 6-8 strands saffron
- ½ tsp Deep orange food colour
- 2 tbsp crispy fried onions (slice 2 onions thinly and deep fry. Spread it on a kitchen towel and let it cool down to make it crispy)
Instructions
Preparing the meat-
- Wash and soak the rice for about half an hour and leave aside.Fry onions in a pot add whole garam masala. When it starts to splatter, add chicken with ginger garlic paste and yoghurt. Fry, till the water released from the meat dries out, on high flame stirring occasionally. Now add saunf powder, dhania powder, salt, red chilli powder and fry for few minutes.
- Add approximately 2cups water. Let it boil on high flame. Cover with a lid and simmer till the chicken/lamb/mutton becomes tender, on low-medium flame. There should be steam built inside the pot which helps to cook the meat. If using chicken, it should take about 25 minutes. Whereas for lamb/mutton it might take up-to 40 minutes depending on the quality of meat.
- Check the tenderness of meat and seasoning. The salt level should taste like it would taste in a curry at this point. Finally mix in the garam masala powder and the pulao biryani masala (if using) and set aside.
Rice-
- Boil 4-5 cups of water and add soaked rice with salt, oil, shah zeera bay leaves and potli (muslin cloth bag).When the rice is about 80% done, use sieve and drain the water.
Final layering of biryani-
- In a pot add 2 tbsp of oil and some rice. Add some meat followed by rice. Continue with the layers in the same pattern and finish with rice at the top. Sprinkle some water and a tbsp of ghee (optional). Cover with the lid tightly. Place a tea towel or aluminium foil to prevent any steam from escaping out. Leave the flame medium high for about 6-8 minutes. There should have been enough steam built inside. Now lower the flame and let the biryani steam cook for about 20 minutes. After approximately 20 minutes very gently and slightly mix the rice and meat. Mix in all the garnishing together and sprinkle on top. Place the lid again and let it steam cook for about 20 minutes.
- Serve with crispy fried onions and raita!
