Afghanistan mutton pulao

Preparation time : 40 minutes
Cooking time      : 1 hour
Serves               : 3 members

Description

Those days of having just one huge television set at home which was kept in the living room. we could watch the Telly only in the evening’s as doordarshan was the only channel that telecasted programs. We had no choice , you like it or not, you had to watch what they telecasted. In between all this as a kid, I had the last choice to raise my voice if I wanted to desperately watch something on the Telly. I remember getting to see sanjana karpoor ( daughter of actor sashi kapoor) do a program about Afghanistan show casing their culture, arts and food. The food part alone just stuck into me. It’s so fresh in mind how she relished the kebabs from the streets and showed big round rotis made and sold. This was in the mid 1980’s. After that, Afghanistan was a long story in my mind and culinary try list. Years later when I got to be a part of many foodie groups. I come across this Afghanistan pulao recipe that looks colorful with carrots and nuts. I hate rice with nuts so it didn’t interest me at all. I am asked to share recipes for a monthly regional food magazine where they wanted milad un nabi recipes from all around the world. I grabbed the opportunity and made sure to try this Afghanistan mutton pulao recipe. As I was making it, the subtle flavor’s evoked my taste buds. My eagerness to know the final product got more and more. The aroma was of making a biriyani and not a pulao. I tasted my first spoon full and my, my the flavor of the meat was all over the rice. The meat just melted away with the carrot bits and nuts giving a slight sweetness and bite to the pulao. In total it was a dish with all textures and flavor’s. I have added this recipe to my regulars at home to entertain as I am bored with serving the always biriyani and ghee rice as mains. Every time I entertain with this pulao recipe, I have raised eyebrows in the dining table. What more do you need.

Ingredients

Method

• Wash and soak the rice for two hours. Heat a heavy bottomed vessel with 1/4 cup of oil. Sauté the mutton to brown by dividing them into four equal batches. We do this so that the flavour of the mutton gets into the oil.
• Remove the mutton and set aside. Add onions to the mutton sautéed oil and fry for five minutes. Then add garlic, cumin seeds, cloves, cardamom and cinnamon and sauté for one minute.
• Top with sautéed mutton, cardamom powder, salt, pepper and water. Cover and cook until the mutton is 3/4 cooked. Strain the mutton and spices, retaining the mutton cooked water.
• Heat 1/4 cup of oil in another vessel over medium heat. Add the carrot Juliennes and sauté for two minutes. Top with sugar and caramelise to golden in colour. Remove from heat and add 1/4 cup of mutton cooked water, salt and soaked Raisins. Set aside.
• Boil 3 cups of water with salt in a vessel. Add soaked rice and boil to 3/4 th cooked for five minutes. Strain and keep aside.
• Grease an aluminium vessel with one teaspoon of oil. Mix the rice with remaining mutton cooked water. Now fill 1/2 of the rice at the bottom of the greased vessel. Place the cooked mutton pieces above. Top with carrot + raisins mix. Cover with remaining half of rice on top.
• Poke five holes all around the layered pulao with a wooden spatula making sure the spatula reaches the bottom of the vessel. Cover the lid of the vessel with a cloth and cover the pulao tightly. Cook further over very medium flame for five minutes and very low heat for 20 minutes.
• Remove from heat. After ten minutes, serve the pulao from the bottom to top over a tray. Sprinkle garam masala powder, almonds and sautéed carrots and raisins over. Serve hot.

Notes
Mutton can be replace with chicken and done following the same recipe
1.You can use apricots instead of raisins.
2.You can add pistachios along with almonds.