Preparation Time : 40 minutes

Cooking Time : 40 to 45 minutes

Serving : 8 to 10 members

Description

Malabar biriyani . This recipe is from one of my moms cook book which was given to her by her friends daughter henna from Calicut . That cook book is a treasure trove with home recipes from all the districts and communities of Kerala . Been wanting to flick it but mom is so very organised that she sure will get to know if its missing . So finally took note of all the recipes from that book . I really don’t know which district in Kerala follows this recipe but its aromatic , lightly flavoured , visually appealing , magical with a very balanced straight forward recipe that elevates dum cooking . I remember my friend sulu mentioning ( while we were in school ) about a wedding that she had attended in Palghat and the biriyani was horrible . I didn’t get her point then as I had never ever tasted malabar biriyani before . In Palghat we grind cinnamon , cardamom and cloves to a paste and add it to the biriyani which gives a dark brown colour and a pungent over dose taste of the spices . Only after my co – sister who hails from nagarkovil came into our family , I got to taste a lot of malabar biriyani . As in her place they follow the malabar biriyani style of cooking but another version with slight changes from this biriyani recipe . I guess there are at least a million recipes of biriyani’s in India very own to every region and community and these classics can never ever go out of style . This has served as a reminder to me that the biriyani means different things in different parts of India .

Ingredients for mutton gravy

Ingredients for Rice

Ingredients to Garnish

Method to Garnish

1. Heat oil and deep fry sliced onions to crisp and golden in colour , drain and set aside .
2. Fry the raisins and cashew nuts in the same oil to golden in colour and set aside along with the fried onions to garnish . Soak the saffron in rosé water and set aside .

Method for mutton gravy

1. Heat ghee and brown the onions adding ginger and garlic paste . Fry to crisp .
2. Add green chilli paste and poppy seed paste and sauté for 3 minutes . top with mutton and salt , sauté till the colour of the mutton changes for about 5-8 minutes .
3. Add 1 cup water and cook the till tender .Top with lime juice , chopped coriander leaves , garam masala powder and mint leaves and boil till it gets to a thick gravy . Taste and adjust seasoning . Set aside .

Method for rice

1. Wash and soak the rice in water . Heat ghee in a pressure cooker , add cinnamon , cloves , cardamom , sliced onion .Fry to translucent .
2. Top with ginger garlic paste and fry to crisp . Pour the water along with salt and bring to boil .
3. Add washed rice and toss well and pressure cook for 1 whistle and simmer for 10 minutes . Switch of the flame and once the whistle settles down , set aside .

To proceed

Take a huge heavy bottomed vessel that is apt for dum cooking . Start layering with the

1. First layer – cooked mutton gravy
2. Second layer – cooked rice
3. Third layer – sprinkle of garam masala powder , sprinkle of fried onions , sprinkle of fried cashew nuts and fried raisins and finally a sprinkle of saffron soaked in rose water .
4. Pile up the huge vessel repeating the layers as mentioned above until all the mutton gravy , rice and garnish ingredients are over .
5. Make sure that the final layer must be the garnishing layer . Close the lid of the huge vessel . Place it on top of a hot tawa in low flame for 15 minutes to cook and infuse the flavours by dum cooking .
6. (Place a vessel with water filled in it on top of the lid of the malabar biriyani huge vessel , so that the flavours don’t escape out .This is what I do ) serve hot with onion Raitha , fried Kerala pappadam , malabar biriyani chutney , chicken roast and pineapple slices as side dishes .

Ingredients for Malabar biriyani chutney

1. Grind all the ingredients to make a smooth paste. Chutney’s ready.