Mutton Biriyani - The way I prepare it

This is going to be a long list of ingredients and a huge recipe. So, let me get to the recipe quickly, without much ado.

Ingredients for biriyani masala :

- Black Pepper (1 tbsp)
- Cumin (2 tbsp)
- Cinnamon (4 long sticks)
- Cardamom (3-4)
- Cloves (7-8)
- White Pepper (1 tbsp)
- Fennel seeds (1 tbsp)
- Star Anise (2-3)
- Black cumin ( 1 tbsp)
- Nutmeg (grated 1 tsp)

Preparing the Biriyani masala:

Dry roast all the spices and cool it. When it is at room temperature grind it to powder. Dry roasting the spices gives it a good flavour and increases  its shelf life. You can store it for about a month or two.
U can also use store bought biriyani masala as well but it is not as good as the fresh home made masala.

Ingredients for the Biriyani :

- Basmati Rice ( 1.5 cups)
- Curd ( 1 cup)
- Rose water (1/2 cup)
- Milk (1/2 cup)
- Mutton ( 4-5 large pieces or biriyani pieces)
- Ginger paste (2 tbsp)
- Garlic Paste (2 tbsp)
- White pepper powder (2 tbsp)
- Onion paste (2 tbsp)
- Ghee (4 tbsp)
- Sunflower oil (2 tbsp)
- Turmeric powder (1/2 tsp)
- Salt (4 tbsp)
- Sugar (2 tbsp)
- Coriander powder (2 tbsp)
- Cumin Powder (2 tbsp)
- Curd (1/2 cup)
- Potato (2. Each cut into 4 pieces)

Method for cooking the biriyani:

- Wash the potatoes, and fry in hot oil till they turn brown.Keep aside.
- Soak the rice in water for 30 mins.
- Marinate the mutton with salt, sugar, turmeric powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, garlic paste, ginger paste, onion paste and curd for 3-4 hours.
- Cook rice on medium flame for 5-7 mins. The rice should not be overcooked. Infact a little undercooked is fine.
- For the mutton, heat 2 tbsp oil in a wok and add 1 tbsp ghee to it.
- When it is hot add the mutton and 2 tbsp biriyani masala and cook it fully. You can also pressure cook the mutton if u feel so. But make sure there is no water left in the gravy when the mutton is ready. When fully cooked add half the rose water and 1 tsp biriyani masala before turning off the flame.
- Now take a flat bottomed pan and rub ghee on its suface.
- Add a layer of rice and then a layer of mutton along with the fried potato.
- After you add the layer of mutton, add some rose water and milk over it. Also add 2 tbsp biriyani masala and 1 tsp salt.
- Continue doing this layering till your rice and chicken are over.
- On the top of this layering you can add fried julienned onions (fry them till brown). This is called adding the " Birista ".
No its not over yet. Now the actual cooking starts. :)
You have to seal the cover of this pan with some dough so that the heat within it cannot escape. Now you have to put it on "Dum". How to do that??
There are two ways to do that:
- You have to take an even larger flat bottomed pan and put some water in it. Put the water to boil and when it boils place the biriyani pan over it. Place it on low flame over the stove.
                                                              OR
- Take a tawa (disk shaped griddle) and place it on medium flame and place the biriyani pan over it.
According to my experience the first method is better.
Remember the more time you keep ur biriyani on dum the tastier it is.. :)
Serve it hot with Raita or Salan :)

Basic English Pancakes

My baby "A" is 3 years now. After a lot of struggle, hopping between the roles of a Mother,Wife and a working woman, now, I finally am able to find some time to return back to my blog.

In these last 3 years, I have realized how difficult it is to manage everything with a baby. I must say, I am really lucky to be blessed with a caring and supporting husband, without whom I would not have been able to live up to the expectations in all my roles. While in the world, the debate still continues on "Working Woman VS Stay At Home Mom", I feel if you have a supportive family to fall back to, you can manage everything - be it your office job or household work.

Let us now talk about today's recipe:  Basic English Pancakes

Ingredients:
- Maida (1 cup)
- Powdered Sugar (1/2 cup)
- Melted butter (2 tbsp)
- Egg (1 no.)
- Vanilla essence (2-3 drops)
- Milk(1/2 cup)
- Baking Powder (1 tsp)
- Oil (2 tbsp)

Method:
- Sift flour and baking powder together.
- Mix well the above dry ingredients with Sugar.
- In another bowl, mix egg, vanilla essence, melted butter and milk. I use a hand mixer for mixing, you can also do it with a fork.
- Now form a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet mixture little by little and mix.
- Heat a girdle and put 2-3 drops of oil/butter. Spread accross the girdle.
- When the girdle is hot, pour one ladle of the pancake mixture on the girdle.
- Cook on medium heat. Pores will be formed on the surface of the pancake.
- Check the pancake and when it turns brown flip it and cook the other side as well.
- Serve hot with chocolate sauce/ honey / maple syrup or any sweet sauce of your choice.