Biriani

Birianis are wonderfully rich, fragrant and unctuous  dishes, they were often prepared for feasts and special occasions as they can take quite some time to prepare.  Birianis were cooked from Persia to Bangladesh so there is not one single definition of what is in a biriani.  All versions however feature a mixture of rice and meat, fish or vegetables cooked with spices (and often nuts) in a sealed container on a low heat.  Even though birianis can take a long time to prepare, it is worth it, our house always holds a beautiful aroma of spices for days after we cook a biriani.

This is without doubt the recipe I have cooked most from all of the old recipes I collected whilst I was at sea.  You can probably tell that by the state of the original typewritten document.

Ingredients

The ingredients are pretty straight forward, there is nothing that you shouldn't be able to find in any modern supermarket.  I find it interesting that in mid '80s England you could buy basmati rice in Woolworths in England.  I can never remember being able to buy food in a UK Woolworths but now we live in Australia, Woolworths supermarkets are one of the two leading supermarket brands.

I have transcribed the recipe and updated it slightly here, clarifying some of the ingredients and steps in the original that I didn't think were that clear.  Beyond that I have not changed anything.

Method

Soak the almonds in warm water and remove their skins.

Grind to a fine paste all the ingredients marked with a * (almonds, red chillies, garlic and ginger).

Pound all the ingredients marked with a + to a coarse powder.

Finely chop the coriander (leaves and tender part of the stems only) and the green chillies.  Slice the onions finely.

Soak the saffron in the lime or lemon juice.

Cut or joint the meat into medium sized pieces, wash and drain.

In a stainless steel or glass bowl, mix together the following:

• The meat or poultry
• The curd
• The chopped green chillies and coriander
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• Half of the ground spices
• Half of the pounded spices
• One quarter of the saffron extract

Mix all these together, cover and put aside for 3 - 4 hours (2 - 3 hours in a hot, humid climate).

Take half of the ghee and heat in a frying pan.  Add the remaining  half of the ground spices and fry well.  Add the marinated mixture of meat to this and continue stirring until well mixed and heated through.  Add sufficient water to cook well.  Simmer for about 20 minutes and remove from the heat.

Cook the rice in a rice cooker.  Add some salt to taste and a few drops of oil to separate the grains).  Avoid over cooking the rice at all costs; it should preferably be undercooked (by a few minutes) as it will cook further in the oven once mixed with the meat.

When nearly cooked, spread the rice in a large dish to let any moisture evaporate.  Take about 8 spoonfuls of the cooked rice (about 1/4) and mix it with the rice mixture.

Using the remaining half of the ghee, fry the onions until light brown and crisp.

Add the remaining pounded spices and and saffron extract to the rice and mix evenly.

Take an oven proof dish and spread alternate layers of rice, meat mixture and onions, one above the other.  Alternatively, mix everything together slowly and evenly whilst heating.  Place in an oven at a low heat for about 20 minutes.

Optionally, you can add crisp fried potato cubes and sliced boiled eggs in between the layers or on top of the biriani when serving.

You can download the original recipe here.