Lamb Biriyani and Biriyani Chammanthi - Our 100th Post

  Finally, finally….we have reached our 100th post….hoorrraaaayyy! We are so so excited. Its been 5 months since we started our blog. We genuinely thank fellow bloggers, readers, friends & family for their support and encouragement without which we would not have reached here. Climbing up till here was fun, although the process was quite difficult. Blogging helped us know the different cuisines and we made a lot of friends too. We have tried  many great recipes from other blogs and our family loved those dishes. We are listing a few of them here. You could also try them sometime since they were so delicious. We tried dates-almond balls, pentagon chicken, chicken mughlai and okra stir fry from pazham pappadam payasam, oyster mushroom kuzhambu and prawn varuval from life is beautiful, Moru kachiyathu from collaborative curry, cucumber pancakes from Foodelicious, stuffed buns from Marias Menu, Fruit Cake from My treasure My pleasure to name a few. Hope to try and taste more of your yummy recipes soon!
  You all might have noticed that we kind of slowed down a bit and that was because we wanted to post a special recipe for our 100th post. So finally, after a long debate, we both decided that the special recipe got to be Lamb Biryani, which is an all time favorite of both of us!
  Also posting the recipe for raita and biriyani chammanthi/chutney. My mother used to prepare normal puli (tamarind) chammanthi for biriyani. I tried this interesting  chammanthi from Sarah's vazhayila and totally loved it with biriyani. We are always look forward to trying different biriyanis. So, If you have some biriyani recipes posted in your blog, which are way different from ours, please do share!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Ingredients (Serves 4 )

   Marinade

 

1. Mutton/Lamb - Around 2 lb cut to medium-sized pieces (I used 2 packets of lamb shoulder chops)
2. Fresh ginger-garlic paste - 1 tsp
3. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
4. Chilli powder - 1 tsp
5. Coriander powder - 1tsp
6. Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
7. Fennel powder - 1/2 tsp
8. Garam masala - 1 tsp (See recipe below)
9. Yoghurt - 1 tbsp
10. Salt - To taste

 

Marinate the lamb with the ingredients under marinade for at least 2-3 hrs or overnight if possible. 

 

For the lamb curry

 

Ingredients

 

1. Red Onion - 2 small sliced thin (If you are using pearl onions you will need around 15 - 20)
2. Ginger - 1 inch piece chopped
3. Garlic - 4 chopped
4. Green chillies - 7-8 (It might be too spicy for you so reduce the number if you wish)
5. Tomato - 2 small chopped
6. Curry leaves - 1-2 sprigs
7. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
8. Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
9. Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
10. Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
11. Biriyani masala powder - 1.5 tsp
12. Whole spices - (fennel seeds - 10-12, whole pepper corns-  10-12, cloves - 8-10, cardamom- 2, bay leaves- 2-3, star anise- 2, Cinnamon stick- 2, javitri/mace - 3)
13. Salt - To taste
14. Oil - As required

Method

 

1.  Pressure cook the marinated lamb for 2 whistles at medium heat adding very little water(1/4 cup water).

2.  Heat oil in a deep pan and add the sliced onion. Saute until it turns light brown.

 

3. Coarsely grind ginger, garlic, green chillies, 1 sprig curry leaves and the whole spices.  When the onion turns  brown, add in the coarsely  ground mixture and saute for a few minutes.  Now add the tomatoes.

4. When the tomatoes are cooked, add the turmeric powder, pepper powder, chilli powder, coriander powder and biriyani masala. Saute for a few minutes and add the cooked lamb and its gravy to the pan. Mix well  and cook for around 10-15 mts at medium heat till it has a really thick gravy and switch off the stove after checking for salt and masala. 

 

 

 

Cooking Rice

 

Basmati rice - 1.5 cup

 

    To cook rice I usually follow the draining method. Soak the basmati rice for around 30 mts. Boil water in a deep vessel. To the boiling water add ghee – 2 tsp, whole spices (peppercorns- 10, cloves – 6, cardamoms - 2, bay leaves-2, cinnamon - 2, fennel seeds – half tsp, star anise- 2 and mace - 3). I usually add lots of whole spices. Add enough salt. The water should be slightly salty. Now add the soaked rice and cook it to the perfect consistency. It will take around 15 - 20 mts at medium heat.  Drain the water and allow the rice to cool.

To Garnish

Onion - 1 medium, sliced very thin and deep fried in oil/ghee till brown

Cashews and raisins - 1/4 cup deep-fried in oil

Cilantro - A handful chopped

Mint - Half a bunch

 

Layering

 

For layering you need a cookware which can be put on stove or which is oven-safe.

Smear the base of the cookware with ghee. Then add the fried onions, cilantro, cashews, raisins, mint leaves and lamb masala. Now add the cooked rice and repeat the process. You can sprinkle some fennel powder or biriyani masala and ghee on each layer. The topmost layer should be that of rice with the items under garnish.  You can pour some gravy over it. Now seal the cookware with an aluminium foil (so that moisture won’t escape), cover with its lid and bake it at 350 F for around 20 – 25 mts (depending on the cookware you use). If you are planning to keep it for long, cook the rice only till it is 95% done or so. If you are using stovetop keep it at low flame for around 10-15 mts. Serve hot with boiled eggs, biriyani chammanthi, raita, pappad and lemon pickle. This recipe serves around 3-4 people.

 

 

Tips:

1. You can add coconut milk (2 tbsp) to the lamb curry.

2. Try using fresh home-made garam masala and biriyani masala for this biriyani.

Recipe for Garam masala (Yield - Around 3.5 - 4 tbsp)

1. Fennel Seeds (Perumjeerakam)-  2 tbsp
2. Cloves (Grambu)- 13 - 15
3. Cinnamon stick (Karuvapatta) - 2  inch
4. Cardamom (Elaikka) - 3 - 4
5. Star anise (Thakkolam) -  1
6. Whole pepper (Kurumulaku) -15 - 20
7. Poppy seeds (Kus Kus) - 1 tsp (optional)

Dry roast all the ingredients lightly in a pan at medium heat for about 2-3 mts. When they cool down, grind to a fine powder in a coffee grinder. Store in an airtight container. It will  be flavorful even if you do not dry roast them.

 

Recipe for biriyani masala (Yield - 1.5 - 2 tbsp)

1.  Fennel seeds - 1 tbsp

2.  Cloves - 4-5

3.  Cardamom - 1-2

4.  Cinnamon stick- 2 inch

5.  Star anise - 1/2 flower

6.  Whole pepper corns - 10

7.  Poppy seeds (Kus Kus) - 1/2 tsp

8.  Bay leaves - 1 leaf

9.  Mace (javitri) - 2

 

Dry roast all these spices lightly and grind to a fine powder.

 

 

Raita and biriyani chammanthi

 

 

Raita

1. Onion - 1/2 chopped
2. Tomato - 1 small, chopped
3. Cucumber - 1/2 (optional)
4. Green chillies - 2 - 3 chopped fine
5. Yoghurt - 1/2 - 3/4 cup or as needed
6. Salt - To taste

Beat the yoghurt well in a bowl and mix it with the other ingredients.

Biriyani chammanthi

1. Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
2. Mint leaves - 1 tbsp chopped
3. Cilantro - 1 tbsp chopped
4. Green chillies - 2, seeded
5. Garlic - 1 small
6. Yoghurt - 2 tsp
7. Salt - To taste

Grind everything except yoghurt in a mixer to a coarse or fine mixture depending on your  preference. Transfer to a bowl and add beaten yoghurt. Check for salt.