Authentic Kolkata style biriyani
For quite a few days I was having a yen for Kolkata biriyani. As you all know different provinces of India cook their Biriyanis differently. While I'm a big fan of the Mughlai or the Hyderabadi version of the dish, I particularly was after the Kolkata version of it. The mix of yellow and white rice, with a big piece of mutton, a boiled egg and half a boiled potato. Only problem about getting the dish was, I"m living in New York and none of the restaurants here serve an authentic version of that Kolkata biriyani. Come to think of it, they don't really serve the authentic version of any biriyani at all. So while my hankering for Biriyani grew stronger, I took the only path available to me. I picked up my cooking gear and scoured internet and bengali magazines to find an authentic recipe. At the same time I started bugging my parents and mom-in-law as well. Armed with all these knowledge, I started tampering with the recipes until I reach a favorable solution. The dish I ultimately ended up with did not have perfectly colored white and yellow rice but it met my standards in other ways. I can definitely dare to say while it's not the best Biriyani I have ever eaten in life, it's one of the best biriyanis I have tested outside India. I also made Fish achari tikka, Burhani, pork kababs, lamb nalli korma and shahi tukra to accompany the biriyani. I will share those recips as well in later posts.
Now to the biriyani. I'm not a professional cook, so I wont really be able to give you the exact measures as I always go by my cooking instincts rather than actual measuring. Feel free to adjust them per your taste.
Ingredients:
Basmati Rice 1 kg
Mutton 750 grams
2 large onions sliced
2 tbsp Ginger Juliennes
1 tbsp ginger paste
1 tbsp garlic paste
2 tbsp yoghurt
4 boiled eggs
4 boiled potatoes cut in halves
1/2 lemon
Spices
Cardamom -6
Cinnamon- 2 sticks
Clove- 6
Shah Jeera (Caraway seeds)- 2 tsp
Sha Mareech (white pepper)-2 tsp
Peppercorn- 1 tsp
Star anise- 4
Turmeric powder
Garam Masala Powder
Biriyani Masala
For smell
Kewra water (Panadanas water)
Rose Water
Saffron
Sweet Ittar
Ghee for cooking
Salt
Method:
1. Wash and soak the rice in water for 30 mins. Drain and keep aside.
2. Boil water in a large pan. Take cheese cloth and tie up half of the whole spices in it. Put it in the water. Also add the lemon juice and salt. When the water starts boiling put the rice in it and cook till it's nearly done. Drain and keep aside.
3. in the meantime marinate the mutton in yoghurt, Ginger and garlic pastes and salt for 30mins to an hour.
4. Heat Ghee in a pan. Fry half of the sliced onions in it. Next put the mutton pieces in it and start frying. reserve the marinade. Once the mutton starts browning, put the marinade in it.
5. In the meantime boil the rest of the spices in 2.5 cups of water and reduce it to 2 cups. Strain the water and add it to the mutton. Adjust the salt here as well. I also added some meat tenderizer at this step as I did not have any raw papaya with me. Feel free to add them if you have them handy. Let the mutton cook completely but dont let it dry out.
6. Fry the boiled potato with salt, turmeric powder and a pinch of Biriyani masala. Keep aside.
7. Cut small slits in the boiled egg. Fry them with salt, turmeric powder and a pinch of biriyani masala.
8. Mix the Saffron, Sweet ittar, Rose water and kewra water in a small bowl.
9. I used a slow cooker for the next step. If you don't have one use oven at 350 degree Fahrenheit or use a handi sealed with atta.
10. Take a large pan and coat it with ghee. Arrange the rice, mutton, potato and eggs on layers in it. In every layer sprinkle the rose water mix you have made.
11. Seal the pot and let it cook for another two hours in very low heat. if you are using a haandi dont heat it directly. instead put a tawa on gas and put the handi on top of that.
12. In the meantime Fry rest of the onions in ghee and sprinkle them on top of your biriyani when it's done.
Let me know how the biriyani turned out. Happy Cooking. :)
