S-I-X and Counting years, and Bengali Mutton Biryani

Life at its best is a creative synthesis of opposites in fruitful harmony.                                                                                                            Martin Luther King, Jr.

 The first time I met the. Husband. He came across as a hermit. He’d think a lot before speaking. During our dates, he’d just nod in agreement at whatever I wanted to order, even if it meant fiddling with food for him. Once, he came to meet me from Portugal and got a small souvenir from there as a gift– he never gave me that present lest I hate it. He was shy and reticent and nowhere near the ‘Happy –go-Lucky’ attitude I sported. Then the oddity happened, the journey of the opposites began.

I continued being me, just the spirited social soirees were re-scheduled for the day and the nights were reserved for the happy home cooking.  It was frowned at but tolerated well. Year after year, city after city. Then, almost six years later I’m practically running the risk of sounding like him. It amazes me how we’ve changed almost effortlessly over the years, it’s cozy to share a life with someone who enjoys watching Little S patiently as I work at my home office or whose idea for a great weekend is selecting the best thriller movies and waiting for me to watch it with him. I know the.husband has come a long way since the day I first met him, when for the New Year’s night he offered to party at chic nightCLUB while I was happy just huddling with my fellas at home.

Of course my daily life is not all that musical as it sounds now.

We have our rough rides every now and then, still in the middle of all the daily chaos and chunks of months that moves in almost a clockwork fashion, I have to admit that I have now started longing for these quiet days at home, with nothingness on the mind and where the only agenda be laughing nonstop with our daughter and cooking a one pot meal before settling in with a movie to watch together—and as I rush to seize these moments, I pray that they will become less rare and more a way of life.

That’s just the beginning of how we've been tied together in time.


Somewhere I suspect, this Bengali version of Mutton Biriyani has a major role to play too. When the extent of our marital disharmony revolved around the debate of Who’s from a better Biriyani place -The Hyderabad vs The Lucknow, this Bengali Mutton Biryani version entered the kitchen to save our souls.

Bengali Mutton Biriyani

 Ingredients

1 kg Mutton/ lamb meat (marinated overnight in raw papaya paste, can use any other tenderizer)
500 gm. of basmati rice(washed and soked for an hour)
3 tbsp. ginger-garlic paste
2-3 potatoes cut into big cubes
1 large onion finely chopped
1 cup plain yogurt/dahi
2 tsp. red Chili powder
Kewra essence few drop
Few strands of saffron soaked in 1 tsp warm milk
Salt to taste
1 tsp Sugar
2 tsp Biryani Masala

Biryani Masala (powder roast the masala, or you can use the readymade Biriyani Masala from Store)
7-8 Cloves
3-4 green Cardamom
A pinch of grated Nutmeg
1/2" Mace
1 tsp. Cumin
1tsp of white Peppercorn
2" Cinnamon stick


PROCEDURE
Cook the rice in a deep bottomed pan spiced with cinnamon, cardamom and cloves. Cook till done, but not mushy, drain the water, add a tsp of ghee and keep aside.

Take oil in a heavy bottom pan or in a pressure pan and once the oil is hot, add chopped onions and fry till they are golden brown. Add the meat pieces sauté on high heat. Now add the ginger, garlic paste and sauté with the meat pieces. Now add yogurt and red chilies powder and add 3 tsp. of the Biryani Masala. Finally add the potato halves add the salt and sugar, and fry all of them together with the meat and spices. Cook in the pressure pan until the meat is tender.Once done, assemble the biryani.

In the serving pan add a layer of rice, then meat and gravy, add the saffron infused milk, then a few drops of Kewra. Repeat the process. Till all the rice is exhausted.This is the easy way out without the dum and cuts my time in half! Let it stand and heat well before serving.

Baked Bengali Biryani

I used to believe that Biryani’s have to be made in a cooker, or slow cooked for hours in a handi for the best taste effect , but I was recently thumped by a food show on NDTV titled ‘Cooking isn’t rocket science’ in which the host had an entirely different take on biryani, albeit an interesting one. She called it British Biryani, however, as I have taken a few liberties with the recipe , I think it just might as well have a new name to suit the Bengali twist and call it Baked Bengali Biryani.

Athough this recipe sounds English, this biryani involves all the nuances and experiences of a traditional one. Chopping all the vegetable, grinding of aromatic spices, soaking saffron in warm milk and releasing the fragrant aroma while the vegetables...really its just as good as the old fashioned one. If you come to think of it, Biryani is derived from the Persian word 'Birian' and In Farsi, Birian means 'Fried before Cooking'. Which I did , so it's not that much of a deviation—and serves the dual purpose of keeping the purist in me happy.

Now lets begin the fun part, that is cooking it:

I used the following ingredients:

1) 2 cups basmati rice

2) 750 gms marinated Chicken (marination is 2 tbsp yogurt, 1 tsp Cumin Powder, 1 tsp Ginger Paste, 1 tsp Garlic Paste salt and little oil for an an hour or more)

3)2 potatoes (we bongs like potatoes in our biryani too!)

4) chopped onion

5) 1 tsp ginger garlic paste

7) 1 large tomato

8) Generic Powdered spices (a little Turmeric Powder,1 tsp Roasted Cumin Powder,1 tsp Corriander Powder,1/2 tsp Biryani Masala/Garam masala) 

9) Whole Spices to temper the oil -  11/2 Bay Leaf, 1.5" stick of Cinnamon, 3-4 whole clove, 3 whole green cardamom, 1 black cardamom (optional), 1/2 tsp of Fennel seeds, 1/2 tsp Corriander seeds 

10)I cup buttermilk+3 cupswater

11)4-5 stands saffron soaked in 1/2 cup milk

Garnish 

11)5-6 sprigs coriander leaves

12) 1 onion thinly sliced and fried till brown, 2-3 slivers lemon, for layering and flavour

13)2-3 hard boiled eggs(optional)

14) paneer grated (1/2 cup) (This step is purely for looks purposes, and not bong tastewise , so its totally optional)

15) oil for frying and lining the baking tray

Salt to taste

How I made it:

I usually make this biryani with chicken and eggs. This also can be made only with ONLY vegetables.

Method:

Clean and soak the rice for at least half an hour. Add a spoonful of oil and required salt for the rice. Cook in 2 cups of water till the water is absorbed. Set aside.

Temper the oil with all listed under  nos 9. 

In that frying pan over a low heat, fry the marinated chicken . Chopped onions go in first , followed all under nos 8,  green chillies, ginger and garlic paste till well browned , now add to it the tomatoes and fry a little .

Add salt and fry for 5 minutes, and now add the potatoes.

In an oven proof dish, layer the rice. Add half of the fried onions. Add all the marinated chicken and potato mixture on top of the onions. Add all the chopped coriander. pour half the saffron milk .Cover this by another layer of rice. Sprinkle the remaining onions. pour remaining saffron milk. Add a tbsp of butter.

Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes or till the chicken is done.The divine smell of all the spices and the unmistakable aroma of biryani will soon fill the house. 

Top it with halved boiled eggs and serve immediately.

Serves : 4-5

Preparation time: 1hr.

Cooking time 30 minutes

Other Biryani recipies

1) Bong Mom's cookbook

2)My kitchen Trials

3) Video on making a biryani