BIRYANI RECIPES

BEEF BIRYANI

Ingredients:

1 kg long-grain basmati rice,
1 kg beef, clean and cut into average sized pieces and boiled with turmeric powder,black pepper and salt to taste,
1 kg onions, sliced,
1 kg tomatoes, washed,peeled and chopped into small pieces,
1 cup oil,
1 cup ghee,
2 maggi chicken soup cubes,
3 teaspoons red chili powder,
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder,
3 teaspoons coriander powder,
2 tablespoons ginger-garlic paste,
50 g cashews,
50 g fresh coriander leaves, washed and chopped,
8-12 green cardamoms,
4 bay leaves,
15 whole black peppercorns,
30 g mint leaves,
salt.


Preparation:

Heat oil in a wok. Fry the boiled beef in the hot oil until it turns brown on either side. Remove the fried beef and allow the excess oil to drain on clean paper kitchen napkins. Add all the onions to the hot oil, except for 2 sliced onions, and stir-fry briefly (about 7-10 minutes). Add turmeric powder, chilli powder, corriander powder, cardamoms, bay leaves and half the black peppercorns. Mix well until it forms a dry paste.Stir in the chicken stock. Add tomato slices and cook until the water in the tomato dries up and oil floats on the top. Put the fried beef lightly crushed by hand into it. Mix in the salt as per your taste. Allow it to cook on low flame until cooked.
While it is cooking, heat oil in a skillet. Fry the remaining onions in it until they turn light brown. Remove from heat. Add the remaining peppercorns, bay leaves and green cardamoms to the same oil. Then, toss in the cashewnuts and pistachios and fry until lightly golden brown and aromatic. Add the drained rice to the oil and mix well. Add 5 glasses of water and a pinch of salt. When the rice comes to a boil, reduce flame and keep it covered. As the water gets absorbed by the rice, remove half of it and put the prepared beef curry on top.
Garnish with mint leaves, corriander leaves, cashewnuts and fried onions Spread the remaining rice on top of this and give one more layer of garnish. Keep it on low flame, covered, for 10 minutes, and let it cook. Serve hot with any raita.


EASY CHICKEN BIRYANI

Ingredients:

Chicken - 1 lb cut into medium sized pieces,
Onions - 2 big (sliced),
Tomatoes - 2 big (sliced),
Green Chillies - 3 - cut slanted,
Ginger garlic paste - 2 to 3 tsp,
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp,
Chilli powder - 2 to 2 1/2 tsp,
Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp,
Cumin seed powder - 1/2 tsp (optional),
Garam masala items - 2 cloves, 1 bay leaf, 1 cardamom, 2 medium sized cinnamon sticks, a pinch of saunf (if not available, substitute with 1 tsp garam masala),
Salt - to taste,
Oil - 5 tbsp (with a little butter or ghee),
Food coloring/Saffron - a pinch,
Basmatic rice - 3 cups,
Mint leaves (pudina) -1/4 cup.

For garnishing:

Coriander leaves (Cilantro) - a little
Fresh mint (sautéd in ghee) - a little
Raisins - 5 (optional)
Cashews - 8 (optional)

Preparation:

In a large pan, heat oil and add the garam masala items and onions. Saute the onions for a while. Then, add the mint leaves, ginger garlic paste and saute for a few minutes. Then, add the tomatoes, green chillies, turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin seed powder and salt. Fry this mixture for a while maybe adding a little bit of water. Then, add the chicken pieces and saute for 10-15 min. Pour some water, close with a lid and allow the chicken to cook. This should be in a sort of a gravy consistency (the oil would have come out on top).
Separately cook the basmati rice (for 3 cups rice, add 4-4 1/2 cups water) ensuring that the rice is not sticky (Make sure not to overcook the rice). Soak the pinch of saffron in a little water. Roast cashews and raisins separately and keep aside. In a large dish, put in a layer of rice. Sprinkle a little saffron water. Add some chicken masala to this and mix. Then again add another layer of rice, saffron water, and chicken masala. Continue this until all of the rice and masala is exhausted. (Note: The biryani would have a mix of colors - orange (from the food coloring), partially plain white (from the rice), orangish brown (from the masala)). Toss in the cashews, and raisins, mint and coriander leaves and serve hot with onion raita or cucumber raita or plain sliced onions.


EGG BIRYANI RECIPE

Ingredients:

1/2 cup ghee / oil,
8 large eggs (hard boiled),
1 large onion (finely chopped),
2 flakes garlic (curshed),
2 bay leaves,
1-inch cinnamon stick,
1 brown Cardamom (badi elaichi),
4 green cardamom pods (chhoti elaichi),
1/2 tsp turmeric powder,
1/2 tsp chili powder or to taste,
2 cups Basmati (long grain) Rice,
2 1/2 cups warm water,
Salt To Taste,
1 tsp garam masala powder,
1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves,
3-4 tomatoes (thickly sliced) to garnish.

Preparation:

Heat the oil / ghee in a deep sauce pan and fry onions and garlic together with the bay leaves, cinnamon and cardamoms, until golden. Carefully prick the eggs with a fork and add to the pan. Stir in turmeric, chili powder and fry for about 5 minutes. Add pre-soaked rice and stir slowly and carefully for 2 minutes. Pour in water and salt to taste, and cook over a modeate heat until the rice is tender and water is absorbed. Sprinkle garam masala powder over it. Garnish egg biryani with chopped coriander and tomato slices, serve hot.


FISH BIRYANI FOR 6

Ingredients:

450 grams rohu (any white fish fillets),
1/2 cup vegetable oil,
1 level teaspoon cumin seeds,
1 clove 4 garlic cloves, chopped,
1 inch piece ginger fresh, peeled,
1 teaspoon ajwain seeds (carom),
4 green chillies,
1/2 teaspoon red chili powder,
As per taste salt,
10 green cardamoms,
4 black cardamoms,
6 cloves,
10 pieces black pepper,
1 inch piece cinnamon stick,
2 bay leaves (taze patta),
½ cupghee or cooking oil,
6 pieces green chili, finely chopped,
2 tablespoons fresh coriander leaves,
2 tablespoons fresh mint leaves,
3 Pinch yellow food color.

Preparation:

1.Wash the fish and pat dry. Cut into 1 inch pieces. In a blender grind the garlic ginger and chillies to a fine paste. Mix the paste with salt, chilli powder and ajowan. Smear the fish pieces with spice paste. Set aside for at least 2 hours

2. In the meantime heat the oil in a shallow frying pan, add the cumin seeds; they should pop and splutter at once. Add the chopped onions and stirring frequently, fry them to a rich golden colour. Add the chopped tomatoes, still stirring frequently, fry the onions for about 10 minutes until the tomatoes are reduced to a pulp. Add a little water, if necessary, to prevent the mixture from sticking to the bottomof the pan. Keep frying until the oil begins to separate.

3. Add the fish and stir well to coat it with the tomato mixture. Reduce the heat to low, cover with a tight fitting lid and cook for 15 minutes until the fish is tender. Sprinkle with finely chopped coriander. Keep warm.

4. Soak the rice in water for half an hour.In another pan boil the rice with 2-3 tsp. of salt and plenty of water .when the rice is 3\4 cooked ,drain the water. Add 2 tbsp butter and fluff with a fork to prevent the rice from sticking. Keep rice to one side.

5. In a large pan place 2 inch ayer of rice at the bottom, then a layer of fish mixture, repeating this until the fish and rice have been used up. sprinkle the coriander and mint leaves over the top layer of the rice Pour 1\2 cup water and seeds of cardamom over the rice. Do not stir. Mix the food colour with a little water and sprinkle over the rice.

6. Cover with a tight fitting lid and allow to cook for 20 minutes until the rice are cooked.

7. Once the dish is cooked, leave it covered for a few minutes then remove the lid, fluff up the rice with a fork.

8. Serve hot with Raita.

HYDERABADI BIRYANI RECIPE

Ingredients:

1 kg chicken preferably in 16 pieces and a couple of drumsticks,

1 kg Basmati rice,

1 cup finely chopped onions,

2 tsp ginger and garlic paste,

3 tsp chilli powder,

½ tsp turmeric,

100 g cashew nuts,

4 or 5 bay leaves,

4 or 5 cloves,

2 cm long cinnamon sticks,

6 to 10 green chillies ground to paste,

3 or 4 cardamom pods,

1 or 2 tsp cumin,

2 cups mint leaves,

1 cup coriander leaves,

2 tsp coriander powder,

½ tsp garam masala powder,

1 cup coconut milk,

1 lemon,

1 ½ tsp salt (according to taste),

1 cup ghee (clarified butter),

½ cup yogurt,

1 cup oil,

2 tsp dried coconut powder,

few strands of saffron,

2 cups finely sliced onions.

Preparation:

1. Make deep incisions on the chicken flesh. Mix turmeric, chilli powder, salt, garlic paste, yogurt, and half-lemon's juice.Apply this paste onto the meat flesh and let it marinate for an hour.

2. Heat about 100 ml of oil. Roast cumin, cloves, cinnamon, depoded cardamom, bay leaves, ½ spoon cumin, 1 spoon coriander powder, and finally add onions(2). Wait a couple of minutes to add mint leaves. When onions turn slight brown, add marinated chicken and cook for about 20-30 min. Add garam masala and coconut powder and turn off flame when it's about ¾th cooked. Gravy should not be much, chicken pieces should look roasted.

3. Meanwhile, while the chicken is still cooking, prepare the biryani rice. Slightly rinse 3 cups of basmati, and add water little less than the volume of the rice itself so that its only half cooked preferably in an electric cooker. Amount of water actually depends on kind of rice at hand and your experience helps to judge it. Also add 1-2 teaspoons of salt to it. Take a few semicooked grains of rice and colour them with diluted saffron for garnishing.

4. You will need a utensil of about 12" (300 mm) base. Place about half of semicooked rice in it. Next, layer half of chicken on it again topped by a layer of rice (half of the remaining). One more layer of remaining chicken, finally with layer of rest of the rice on top ends the rice-chicken layering stage.

5. Heat oil and deep fry half the sliced onions to golden brown. Similarly fry cashew. Garnish the top layer with these two along with 100 ml ghee, coconut milk, saffron rice grains and coriander. Lid the vessel and try making it airtight (but no pressure should build up). Put on high flame for 5 min before reducing it to low flame. The flame should NOT be at the vessel's centre, but on one side of it. Wait for 2-3 min and turn the vessel to heat other next part on its circumference.This way, keep rotating the vessel every 2-3 min for about 20 min. Everytime you turn it, carefully disturb the contents by a shake/jerk so as to avoid settling of ghee at the bottom.

6. Put off the flame and wait for about 10 min before opening. Before serving, mix the medley from the bottom. Serve with boiled egg halves.

MUTTON BIRYANI RECIPE

Ingredients:

Mutton big pieces with bones - 1/2 kg,

Basamati rice (soaked in water for 1/2 hour) - 1/2 kg,

Onions cut into think slices - 150 grms,

Tez patta (bay leaves) - 4 to 5 leaves,

Cloves - 5 to 6,

Shajeera - 1 spoon,

Cinnamom sticks (Dal Chini) - 3,

Kali mirchi (Sabuth) - 4 to 5,

Elachi (Big) - 2,

Pudina (Mint Leaves) chopped - 1 bunch,

Cashew nuts - 100 (optional),

Milk - 2 tbspn,

Kesar color - 1/4 spoon,

Ghee - 1 1/2 cups

Marination (for 1 to 2 hours)

Wash mutton pieces and put in an earthen pot or heavy bottom vessel.

Add to Mutton:

Ginger garlic paste - 2 tbs,

Shajeera powder - 1 spoon,

Cinnamom powder - 1 spoon,

Salt according to taste,

Red chilly powder - 1/2 small spoon,

Turmeric powder - 1 spoon,

Dhania powder - 2 tbs spoon,

Green chilly paste - 2 tbs spoon,

Jeera powder - 2 spoon,

Curds thick - 1 1/2 cups,

Fresh coriender chopped finely - 1 bunch,

Fresh pudina - 1 bunch.

Mix well so that all mutton pieces are well coated and let it marinate for 1 to 2 hours.

Prepration:

Heat little ghee in a kadai and fry the sliced onions till they are dark brown and crisp. and keep aside. Fry the cashew nuts in ghee for few seconds till they become light brown, do not burn them. Heat ghee in a heavy bottom vessel and add tez patta, lavang, elachi (cardamom big ones), sabuth kali mirchi, cinnamom sticks and saute for few seconds add the marinated mutton pieces and cook in slow flame stiring for every few minutes. Meantime cook the soaked rice with salt (1/2 spoon) till half boil, drain the water and spread it on a plate and sprinkle ghee over the rice.When the mutton is almost (see that it is not over cooked but just cooked)done, take out the cooked mutton in a plate.
Put some mutton mixture in the same bowl in which mutton was cooked, add on top of the mutton some half boiled rice evenly and sprinkle one spoon ghee and chopped pudina leaves and fried cashew nuts and sprinkle kesar mixed in milk from top.Continue the process for all the layers till the Rice and Mutton is over. Add the fried crisp brown onions on top.
Immediately after the above prcedure, cook biryani on low flame that is on dum with tightly closed lid for 10 to 15 minutes .Serve hot with curd raitha, fresh green salad and boiled eggs (cut into halves).

SHRIMP / PRAWN BIRYANI

Ingredients:

20 Prawns/Shrimps,

1 cup Basmati rice,

11/2 cup Water,

1 cup Onion(thinly chopped),

3/4 cup Tomato(finely chopped),

2 inch Ginger8 Garlic cloves,

1 Green chilly,

3/4 tsp Turmeric powder,

1 tsp Red chilli powder,

1 tsp Coriander seeds,

1 tsp Anise seeds,

1 Cinnamon stick (small),

3 ClovesKesar(Saffron) powder a pinch,

1/4 tsp Garam masala powder,

1/4 cup Mint leaves,

4 tbsp Coriander leaves (finely chopped),

3 tsp Oil,

2 tsp Ghee or dalda,

Salt to taste.

Prepration:

Clean the prawns. Grind the ginger, garlic and anise seeds into a fine paste. Add oil in the pressure cooker and heat it. Add cinnamon stick, cloves and fry it for a few seconds. Add ginger-garlic paste, mint leaves, coriander leaves, onion and tomato and fry it well. Add the prawns and fry it for a minute. Then add turmeric powder, chilli powder, 11/2 cups of water, salt and rice and stir it well.
Close the cooker with the lid and turn the flame to medium high. Once you get the pressure, put the weight on the cooker and turn the flame to medium low and keep it for 8 minutes. After 8 minutes remove the cooker from the stove and keep it aside. After 10 minutes remove the lid and stir the rice well and serve it with onion raita.

VEGETABLE BIRYANI RECIPES

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c uncooked long grain rice,

3 pinches of saffron,

2 onions sliced,

12 cashewnuts broken into halves,

2 tbsp raisins,

3 tomatoes finely chopped,

1/4 c yoghurt,

1 1/2 c mixed boiled vegetables (capsicum, cauliflower, carrots, potatoes, green peas),

1 tbsp chopped coriander,

3 tbsp chopped mint leavesa little milk,

4 tbsp ghee,

2 tbsp butter,

Salt to taste.

To be ground in to a paste:

6 cloves garlic,

1 inch piece ginger,

3 cardamoms,

4 green chillies,

3 cloves,

1 tbsp poppy seeds,

2 sticks cinnamon,

1 tbsp coriander powder,

1/2 tsp turmeric powder,

1/2 tsp chilli powder,

2 onions

Prepration:

Boil the rice in salted water. Each grain of the cooked rice should be separate. Drain and cool. Soak saffron in little hot milk and rub until it dissolves. Heat the ghee and fry the onions until brown and crisp. Remove the onions and in the same ghee, add the cashewnuts and raisins and fry for a few seconds. Remove and keep aside for garnish.
In the same ghee, add the ground paste and fry for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the tomatoes and fry again for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the yoghurt and fry till liquid evaporates a bit. Add the boiled vegetables, mint, coriander and cook for a while.
Grease a baking dish. Spread half the vegetables on it. Layer half the rice on it. Sprinkle, half the saffron liquid, half the onions, half the fried nuts. Repeat with the remaining vegetables, rice, saffron and nuts. Dot with butter. Cover and bake in a hot oven at 200C for about 15 minutes. Alternatively, layer in a pan with a very tight lid and keep on a very slow flame for 10 minutes. Serve hot with raita.