Bangladeshi Lamb Biryani Recipe 445

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.

Steps:

• Toss the lamb in a bowl with the garlic, ginger and a large pinch of salt. Marinate in the fridge overnight or for at least a couple of hours.
• Heat the oil in a casserole. Fry the lamb for 5-10 mins until starting to brown. Add the onion, cumin seeds and nigella seeds, and cook for 5 mins until starting to soften. Stir in the curry paste, then cook for 1 min more. Scatter in the rice and curry leaves, then pour over the stock and bring to the boil. Meanwhile, heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4.
• Stir in the paneer, spinach and some seasoning. Cover the dish with a tight lid of foil, then put the lid on to ensure it's well sealed. Cook in the oven for 20 mins, then leave to stand, covered, for 10 mins. Bring the dish to the table, remove the lid and foil, scatter with the coriander and chillies and serve with yogurt on the side.

Steps:

• Heat a large pan, fry the curry paste until fragrant, add the lamb, then brown on all sides. Pour in the rice and stock, then stir well. Bring to the boil, cover with a lid, then cook for 15 mins on a medium heat until the rice is tender.
• Stir through the spinach, put the lid back on the pan and leave to steam, undisturbed, for 5 mins before serving.

Steps:

• Place the basmati rice in a large container and cover with several inches of cool water; let stand 30 minutes. Drain.
• Heat 1/4 cup oil in a large skillet over medium heat; fry the cloves, cardamom pods, and cinnamon sticks in the hot oil until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the onions; cook and stir until the onions are lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Stir the garlic paste and ginger paste into the onion mixture; cook until the garlic and ginger is fragrant, about 1 minute more. Sprinkle the cilantro and mint over the mixture and cook 1 minute more.
• Add the lamb chops to the skillet; season with salt. Cook and stir the lamb until the meat begins to brown, about 20 minutes.
• Stir the tomatoes, green chile peppers, and ground red pepper into the mixture; continue cooking until the oil begins to separate from the gravy, about 10 minutes. Add the yogurt and lemon juice; cover and cook until the lamb is tender, about 15 minutes. Add water as needed to keep the mixture from getting too dry.
• Bring the rice, 7 1/2 cups water, and 1 teaspoon salt to a boil in a saucepan until the rice is nearly done yet a little chewy, 10 to 15 minutes; drain any excess water.
• Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a small skillet; fry the sliced onion in the hot oil until lightly browned.
• Layer about half the rice in the bottom of a deep pot with a lid. Spoon the lamb masala over the rice. Spread the fried onion over the lamb masala. Top with the remaining rice. Stir the saffron and warm milk together in a small bowl; pour over the top layer of rice. Cover the pot with the lid and place the pot over low heat; cook until the rice is thoroughly cooked, about 15 minutes.

Steps:

• Soak the rice in 2 cups (480 ml) of water for about 2 hours.
• Add the chopped onion, 2 tablespoons slivered almonds, garlic, ginger, and 3 tablespoons of water to a food processor. Blend into a paste.
• Heat the oil in a large nonstick pan over medium heat. Add the sliced onions and fry until browned and crisp, about 10 minutes. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
• Add the raisins to the pan. Stir until they become plump, about 2 minutes, then remove and drain on paper towels.
• Add the lamb to the pan, in batches if necessary, and brown on all sides, about 5 minutes. Transfer the browned meat to a bowl and set aside.
• Reduce the heat to medium. Add the onion paste to the pan. Cook, stirring constantly, until the paste turns light brown. If it sticks to the bottom of the pan, add a bit of water and keep stirring.
• Return the meat and any accumulated juices to the pan. Add 1¼ teaspoons of salt, the yogurt, and 1 cup (240 ml) of water. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 30 minutes.
• Add the saffron threads to a small bowl with the milk and set aside.
• Bring a large pot of water to boil and add 1½ tablespoons of salt. Drain the rice and add to pot. Boil for 5 minutes, then immediately drain and rinse.
• In a spice grinder or mortar and pestle, finely grind the cinnamon stick, cloves, peppercorns, cardamon, coriander, and cumin.
• Add the spices to the meat, along with the nutmeg and cayenne. Cover and continue cooking until the meat is tender, about 10 minutes. If there is too much sauce, increase the heat to high, uncover, and stir to evaporate some of the liquid (there should about 1 cup (240 g) of sauce left in the meat).
• Preheat the oven to 300˚F (150˚C).
• In a large Dutch oven or deep casserole dish, layer half of the rice, the meat with its sauce, and the rest of the rice. Squeeze the lemon juice over rice.
• Using the end of a wooden spoon, poke holes all the way through the layers. Spoon a bit of the saffron and milk into each hole.
• Distribute the butter over the rice and sprinkle over most of the fried onions, reserving some for garnish. Cover the dish with foil, then top with a lid.
• Bake for 1 hour.
• Remove the biriyani from the oven and set aside for at least 15 minutes.
• Garnish with the eggs, raisins, remaining 3 tablespoons of slivered almonds, reserved fried onions, and cilantro.
• Enjoy!