I am still in the Eid celebration mood, before it fades away I wanted to blog about the big feast I had for Eid, and so here I am blogging, even after feeling exhausted. I am up for any kind of celebration any time of the year. Before, when there were any celebrations, I would look forward to the special dishes my mom would make for us. Now, I would look forward to cooking special dishes and sharing them with my family and friends. So for this Eid, my cousins came over and we had a bash. After a month-long fasting and spiritual activities, as soon as we hear the Eid day declared, celebrations and preparations would start right away. On the day before Eid, we girls would get together and design Mehndi on our hands and legs. So when I wake up on Eid day, the first thing I do is wash my hands and admire the reddish-brown mehndi design I would have on my hands. After the Eid prayer, we will get ready for making the big feast. One main dish that is unavoidable and must-have for Eid is Biryani. So this time I made Lamb Biryani, and for the side: Fried Chicken and Raita. For dessert, Steamed Rice-Coconut pudding.
The last couple of days, I had done a lot of googling for biryani recipes and I was overwhelmed to see the different kinds of biryani and the different methods for making it. In the end, as usual, I decided to stick with my mom’s irresistible biryani recipe, which sure will beat the other recipes and it did.
I believe you don’t have to have any celebrations to make biriyani, any day biryani would be a winner. So here is a sumptuous feast you could have with your family and friends.
I know the lengthy preparation method would make some of you guys double think about making this. Trust me, this is not as hard as it seems. Have all the things ready and then start the cooking. You could even do all the prep work0- chopping and marinating the lamb part ahead of time and keep them in the refrigerator.
Enjoy this delicious Lamb biryani with your family & friends.
Lamb Biryani: serving: 5 adults
Ingredients:
For cooking rice:
- Basmati Rice- 2 1/2 cups
- Whole cardamom- 3
- Cinnamon stick- 3-inch stick, sliced
- Whole Cloves- 3
- Dried Bay leaves- 2
- Ghee- 2 tbsp
- Salt- 1 1/2 tsp
- Water- 5 cups (for stovetop cooking), 3 cups (if using rice cooker)
Instruction
If you are using a rice cooker: Rinse the rice taken in a strainer under running water, drain the water. Add the rice to the rice cooker bowl along with all the above ingredients and 3 cups water. For cooking Basmati rice in a rice cooker, less water is needed.
Cooking on the stovetop: Rinse the rice taken in a strainer under running water, drain the water. Use a deep-bottomed non-stick pot, add the ghee followed by cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, and bay leaves. Saute for a few seconds. Add the rice, roast the rice for a few minutes, and pour the water.
Cover the pot, cook over medium heat. Cook until the rice has fully cooked and the water dries off-around 20 minutes. Using a fork gently fluff the rice to avoid sticking, keep aside covered.
Prep the Lamb: Firstly, remove any excess fat from the lamb. Sprinkle 1/4 tsp turmeric powder and pour 2 tbsp lemon juice, clean the meat well under running water, drain the water.
Ingredients:
- Boneless or bone-in lamb, cut into big cubes- 2 lbs (1 kg)
- Chili powder-1 tbsp (or depending upon your spice level)
- Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
- Fennel powder- 2 tbsp
- Coriander powder- 2 tbsp
- Garam masala- 2 tsp (I make my own garam masala: cardamom-8, cloves-4, cinnamon stick-3inch, grind all these in the blender and use 2 tsp of this)
- Lemon juice- juice of a half lemon
- Salt- 1 1/2 tsp
- Spread all the above ingredients on the lamb pieces, let marinate for an hour or longer (can be marinated overnight for better taste)
For making the Masala:
- Oil- 1/4 cup
- Ghee-1/4 cup
- Whole Cardamom- 3
- Whole Cloves- 3
- Cinnamon stick- 2-inch slice
- Onions- 6 (large-sized) or 8 (medium-sized) sliced thin
- Ginger chopped- 3 tbsp
- Garlic chopped- 3 tbsp
- Green chilies sliced- 3 tbsp (or depending upon how spicy you want)
- Small onions chopped- 8
- Tomatoes, chopped- 2
- Yogurt- 1/2 cup (beat the yogurt taken in a bowl with a whisk or fork)
- Cilantro chopped- 1/4 cup
- Fresh Mint leaves, chopped- 1/8 tsp
- Salt- 1 tsp
Preparation:
- In a blender- coarsely grind garlic, ginger, green chilies, and small onions. Keep aside.
- Place a pressure cooker over medium heat, add ghee and oil.
- Add cardamom, cloves & cinnamon; saute for 30 seconds till aromatic.
- Add the onions and fry in the oil until translucent.
- Add the ground ginger/garlic/green chilies/small onion mix; saute until the onions start to turn light brown.
- Add the tomatoes, cook till they are slightly mashed up.
- Add the marinated lamb, combine well.
- Now add the yogurt (beat the yogurt taken in a bowl with a whisk or fork), mix everything well.
- Add cilantro, mint leaves, and salt.
- Close the pressure cooker with the lid and cook over low-medium flame for 3 to 4 whistles or until the lamb has cooked well.
- Let the pressure subside.
- Open the cooker, if the masala is watery, turn the heat to high and cook uncovered until the masala has almost thickened.
- Taste & add more salt if required.
- Don’t make the masala too dry, it should have some gravy.
Layering Rice-Lamb masala and DUM cooking:
Ingredients:
- Onion, sliced thin- 2
- Cashew nuts, roasted in 1 tsp ghee- 1/2 cup
- Raisins, roasted in 1 tsp ghee- 1/3 cup
- Cilantro chopped- 1/4 cup
- Fresh Mint leaves, chopped- 1/4 cup
- Saffron strands – 2 pinches, soak in 2 tbsp milk for 15 minutes
- Ghee- 3 tbsp
Layering:
- Fry onion in oil until golden brown, transfer to a paper towel, keep it aside.
- Roast cashew nuts & raisins in ghee, keep aside.
- Grease a large & wide non-stick saucepan or biryani pot with 1 tbsp ghee.
- As the first layer, add half of the lamb masala.
- The second layer, half of the cooked rice.
- Pour 1tbsp ghee over the rice, sprinkle 1/2 of the saffron in milk on the rice, evenly spread half of the fried onions, half of the roasted cashew nuts, raisins, half of the chopped cilantro & mint leaves on top of the rice.
- Repeat this step one more time.
- Finally, on the top layer of rice- drizzle remaining saffron milk, garnish with fried onions, cashew nuts, raisins, cilantro & mint leaves.
- Tightly seal the dish with aluminum foil and close with its lid
- Place on the stovetop over [b]low flame[/b]. Dum for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, remove the pot from the heat, keep it covered for at least 30 minutes before serving for everything to set well.
- You could also do the final cooking in the oven: Preheat oven to 350F or 175 C. Do the layering in an oven-safe casserole, close the casserole with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes.
- While serving, gently & gracefully mix the layers and plate the biryani.
- Enjoy the Lamb biryani with Raita or pickle.
Easy Yogurt Raita
Ingredients
- Onion minced-1/2 onion
- Tomato minced- 1
- Yogurt-1/2 cup
- Green chili-, sliced- 1
- Cilantro chopped- 2 tbsp
- Salt- 1/2 tsp
- Mix all the above ingredients in a bowl and serve as a side dish with biryani.
- Basmati Rice- 2½ cups
- Whole cardamom- 3
- Cinnamon stick- 3-inch stick
- Whole Cloves- 3
- Dried Bay leaves- 2
- Ghee- 2 tbsp
- Salt- 1½ tsp
- Water- 5 cups (for stovetop cooking), 3 cups (if using rice cooker)
- Boneless or bone-in lamb, cut into big cubes- 2 lbs or 1 Kg
- Chili powder-1 tbsp (or depending upon your spice level)
- Turmeric powder- ½ tsp
- Fennel powder- 2 tbsp
- Coriander powder- 2 tbsp
- Garam masala- 2 tsp (I make my own garam masala: cardamom-8, cloves-4, cinnamon stick-3inch, grind all these in the blender and use 2 tsp of this)
- Lemon juice- juice of a half lemon
- Salt- 1½ tsp
- Oil- ¼ cup
- Ghee- ¼ cup
- Whole Cardamom- 3
- Whole Cloves- 3
- Cinnamon stick- 2-inch slice
- Onions- 6 (large-sized) or 8 (medium-sized) sliced thin
- Ginger chopped- 3 tbsp
- Garlic chopped- 3 tbsp
- Green chilies sliced- 3 tbsp (or depending upon how spicy you want)
- Small onions chopped- 8
- Tomatoes, chopped- 2
- Yogurt- ½ cup (beat the yogurt taken in a bowl with a whisk or fork)
- Cilantro, chopped- ¼ cup
- Fresh Mint leaves, chopped- ⅛ tsp
- Salt- 1½ tsp
- Onion, sliced thin- 2
- Cashew nuts, roasted in 1 tsp ghee- ½ cup
- Raisins, roasted in 1 tsp ghee- ⅓ cup
- Cilantro chopped- ¼ cup
- Fresh Mint leaves, chopped- ¼ cup
- Saffron strands - 2 pinches, soak in 2 tbsp milk for 15 minutes
- Ghee- 3 tbsp
- If you are using a rice cooker: Rinse the rice taken in a strainer under running water, drain the water. Add the rice to the rice cooker bowl along with all the above ingredients for cooking rice and 3 cups water. For cooking Basmati rice in a rice cooker, less water is needed.
- Cooking on stovetop: Rinse the rice taken in a strainer under running water, drain the water. Use a deep bottomed non-stick pot, add ghee followed by cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, and bay leaves. Saute for a few seconds, add the rice. Roast the rice for a few minutes and then pour the water.
- Cover the pot with a lid, cook over medium heat.
- Cook until the rice has fully cooked and the water dries off- around 20 minutes.
- Using a fork gently fluff the rice to avoid sticking. Keep aside the rice covered.
- Remove any excess fat from the lamb cubes. Sprinkle ¼ tsp turmeric powder and pour 2 tbsp lemon juice over the lamb, clean the lamb well & drain water.
- Spread all the above ingredients 'for marinating the lamb' on the lamb pieces, let marinate for an hour or longer (can be marinated overnight for better taste).
- In a blender- coarsely grind garlic, ginger, green chilies, and small onions. Keep aside.
- Place the pressure cooker over medium heat, add ghee and oil.
- Add cardamom, cloves & cinnamon; saute for 30 seconds till aromatic.
- Add the onions and fry in the oil until translucent.
- Add the ground ginger/garlic/green chilies/small onion mix; saute until the onions start to turn light brown.
- Add the tomatoes, cook till they are slightly mashed up.
- Add the marinated lamb, combine well.
- Now add the yogurt (ensure to beat the yogurt well with a whisk or fork before adding), mix everything well.
- Add cilantro, mint leaves, and salt.
- Close the pressure cooker with the lid and cook over low-medium flame for 3 to 4 whistles or until the lamb has cooked well.
- Let the pressure subside.
- Open the cooker, if the masala is watery, turn the heat to high and cook uncovered until the masala has almost thickened.
- Taste & add more salt if required.
- Don't make the masala too dry, it should have some gravy.
- Fry onion in oil until golden brown, transfer to a paper towel, keep it aside.
- Roast the cashew nuts & raisins in ghee, keep aside.
- Grease a large & wide non-stick saucepan or biryani pot with 1 tbsp ghee.
- As the first layer, add half of the lamb masala.
- The second layer, half of the cooked rice.
- Pour 1 tbsp ghee over the rice, drizzle ½ of the saffron in milk on the rice, evenly spread half of the fried onions, half of the roasted cashew nuts, raisins, half of the chopped cilantro & mint leaves on top of the rice.
- Repeat this step one more time.
- Finally, on the top layer of rice- drizzle remaining saffron milk, garnish with fried onions, cashew nuts, raisins, cilantro & mint leaves.
- Tightly seal the dish with aluminum foil and close with its lid
- Place on stovetop over low flame and Dum for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, remove the pot from the heat, keep it covered for at least 30 minutes before serving.
- You could also do the final cooking in the oven: Preheat oven to 350F or 175 C. Do the layering in an oven-safe casserole, close the casserole with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes.
- While serving, gently & gracefully mix the layers and plate the biryani.
- Enjoy the Lamb biryani with Raita or pickle.
- Onion minced- ½ onion
- Tomato minced- 1
- Yogurt- ½ cup
- Green chili, sliced- 1
- Cilantro chopped- 2 tbsp
- Salt- ½ tsp
- Mix all the above ingredients in a bowl and serve as a side dish along with biryani.
