Bangladeshi Lamb Biryani Recipe 445 Food

BANGLADESHI LAMB BIRYANI RECIPE - (4.4/5)

Steps:

• Wash the meat and leave for an hour to drain thoroughly. Meanwhile finely chop the onions. Melt 25 grams of the butter in a pan and fry the onions on a lowish heat until brown and caramelised. Be patient, this may take a while. Now add the cinnamon, green cardamons, black peppercorns, cloves, cumin seeds and black cardamons to the onions. Stir well and let them cook for a further 2-3 minutes. In a very large pan (let's call it the "biryani pan") add the nutmeg, ground mace, coriander-cumin powder, turmeric, chilli powder, yogurt, 100 millilitres of the kewra water, garlic, ginger, the majority of the saffron (leave a generous pinch to one side) and two tablespoons vegetable oil. Stir well to create a paste. Add the onion and whole spice mixture to the pan and stir again. Dry the lamb with kitchen roll and and add to the yogurt, onion and spice mixture. Stir well and then cover the pan. Leave to marinade for a few hours or overnight. When you are ready to finish cooking the biryani, parboil the potatoes for ten minutes. Meanwhile add 150g butter to the contents of the biryani pan, cover and start to cook on a high heat stirring regularly to prevent burning. After 10 minutes, turn the heat on the biryani pan to low. Drain the par boiled potatoes and add them to the biryani pan along with the prunes and chillis. Stir, cover the pan and leave to cook for 45 minutes. Meanwhile, in a glass bowl, infuse the remaining 50 millilitres of kewra water with the rest of the saffron. Soak the rice in a microwaveable bowl for 20 minutes. The bowl should be at least four times the depth of the rice to give the rice room to expand and cook. You will notice that the water has turned a cloudy white colour. This is the starch from the rice. Drain away the water. Cover the rice with water again. Stir the rice and watch as the water turns white again. Drain immediately and then repeat this step a further two times. The water will still be turning cloudy as there is still starch in the rice but you will have removed a large amount of it. You do need some starch in the rice to stop it disintegrating. Now add enough water in the bowl to cover the rice by approximately 1 cm. Place the bowl in the microwave and cook on the highest setting for 10 minutes. Now remove the bowl from the microwave. Most of the water should have boiled off and the rice should have started to expand. At this point the texture of the rice should be slightly damp and have a slight crunch when you taste it. If it is very undercooked, return to the microwave for a little longer. Set to one side. After the 45 minutes is up add the salt to the meat and stir well. Oil should have risen to the surface of the meat and it should be fairly tender but not completely cooked. Remove from the heat and leave for 5 minutes. Now add a third of the rice on top of the meat mixture. Really pack it down tight - the steam that will rise through the meat will finish cooking the rice but you don't want too much of a gap between the grains. Do not mix the rice in with the meat mixture. After adding the first layer of rice, drip some of the kewra-saffron infusion around the rice. This adds both flavour and colour. Add the rice in a further two layers with the kewra-saffron infusion in between. Always ensure that the rice is tightly packed. Add a piece of foil over the top of the pan and then put the lid on top of that. This should stop any steam escaping from the pan. Return the pan to a very high heat, for five minutes. Then turn the pan down to a low heat and cook for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and roughly mix the meat and rice. The colour of the rice should be quite uneven - white in places, yellow in others, brown in places where the meat has mixed. Serve with a tomato, red onion and coriander salad. Tomato, red onion and coriander salad: Place the red onion and lemon juice in a bowl. Stir well and then leave for ten minutes, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, dice the tomato, discarding any excess juices. After the ten minutes, add the diced tomato and coriander to the onions and stir well. Add salt to taste.

LAMB BIRYANI

Steps:

• Prepare the lamb marinade: Add the finger chiles, garlic and ginger to a food processor and process until finely chopped. Add the onions and tomatoes, process until smooth, and scrape into a bowl that will hold all the lamb and fit in your fridge. Add the yogurt, mint, cilantro, coriander, cumin, chile powder, turmeric and salt, and stir to combine. Add the lamb to the bowl and toss to coat in the marinade, then cover and refrigerate overnight.
• Prepare the fried onions: In a Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat the oil over medium. Add the onions, season with salt, and sauté until browned, stirring occasionally, 25 to 30 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer fried onions to a paper towel-lined plate. Using your hands, pull apart the fried onions to separate to prevent them from sticking together, and set aside.
• Add the cinnamon, peppercorns, cloves and cardamom to the remaining hot oil, and fry over medium until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in the meat, its marinade and 1 cup water, and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the meat is tender and the sauce is very thick and dark, about 2 1/2 hours, adjusting the heat as needed to maintain a low simmer. Stir in the garam masala and taste, adjusting with salt and chile powder as needed. Set aside.
• Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare the rice: Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil and add the rice. Stir well and cook for 3 minutes, transfer to a colander in the sink to drain. Run some cool water on top to cool the rice; set aside.
• Prepare the saffron milk for assembly: Warm the milk in a small saucepan over medium heat just until it steams. Remove from heat and add the saffron, crumbling it with your fingertips as you drop it into the milk. Set aside.
• In a large, heavy, lidded pot, add about a third of the meat mixture in an even layer covering the bottom of the pot. Sprinkle the meat with a third of the herbs and a third of the rice, assembling lightly without packing the layers. Drizzle 2 tablespoons saffron milk over the rice and add about a third of the fried onions. Build two more layers of meat, herbs, rice, saffron milk and onions. Top with pats of butter and cover the pot with foil.
• Put the lid on the pot of rice, transfer to the oven and bake until piping hot, about 1 hour. Let rest for about 10 minutes, then serve hot, digging all the way to the bottom of the pot with the serving spoon. To reheat, warm the biryani covered in the oven, or microwave.

PAKISTANI LAMB BIRYANI

Steps:

• 1. Heat 1⁄4 cup oil in a 5-qt. skillet over high heat. Add onions; cook, stirring occasionally, until dark brown, 20-25 minutes. Transfer to a bowl; set aside.
• 2. Heat remaining oil in a 5-qt. pot over high heat. Add garam masala, chile flakes, turmeric, 10 peppercorns, 5 green cardamom pods, 2 black cardamom pods, and 1 cinnamon stick; cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add garlic, tomatoes, chiles, and ginger; cook, stirring, 2-3 minutes. Add lamb, season with salt, and cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Cover, reduce heat to medium; cook until lamb is tender, about 1 hour. Add fried onions, yogurt, 1⁄2 cup mint, and 2 tablespoons cilantro; cook, uncovered, for 15 minutes more. Set aside.
• 3. Put saffron into a bowl and cover with 1⁄2 cup hot water; set aside. Bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a 5-qt. saucepan. Add remaining peppercorns, green and black cardamom, and cinnamon, along with the rice, cumin, cloves, and bay leaves, and season with salt. Cook rice until al dente, 5-10 minutes; drain rice and set aside.
• 4. Transfer half the lamb curry to a 5-qt. pot. Top lamb with half the rice. Pour half the saffron mixture onto rice along with a few drops of rose water and food coloring (if using); mix into rice with your fingers. Top with remaining lamb curry and remaining rice; drizzle with remaining saffron; mix. Steam, covered, on low heat until rice is tender, about 10 minutes. Garnish with remaining mint and cilantro.

LAMB BIRYANI

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, combine the yogurt, garlic, cayenne, cumin, black pepper and ½ teaspoon of the salt. Stir in the lamb.
• In a large saucepan, melt the butter over moderate heat. Add the onion and cook until starting to soften, about 3 minutes.
• Stir in the coriander, turmeric, cloves, cinnamon, rice, and the remaining salt. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
• Add the lamb mixture to the pan. Stir in the water and raisins. Bring to a simmer.
• Cover and simmer until the rice and lamb are almost done, 20 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Let stand, covered, until the rice and lamb are just done, about 5 minutes. Stir in the cashews.