Yakhni Puloa Recipes

Steps:

• Gently wash and soak the rice in water. Set aside.
• Cook the mutton with the red chilli, ginger, fennel seeds, black and green cardamoms, coriander seeds and salt in a pressure cooker, adding eight cups of water. Cook till tender, about 20 minutes.
• Remove all the spices and strain the stock.
• The stock should measure five cups. Add water if the stock is not sufficient. Set aside.
• Keep the mutton pieces separately.
• In a heavy bottomed vessel, heat the ghee (or oil), and add the bay leaf and cinnamon.
• Add half the sliced onions and fry till light brown.
• Add the mutton and the beaten yogurt and fry for a few minutes.
• Stir in the rice gently, ensuring that it does not break. Add the stock and cook the rice.
• Cover and bring the stock to a boil over high heat, then simmer till the rice gets cooked.
• Heat a little oil in a pan and fry the remaining onions till brown.
• Sprinkle the fried onions over rice just before serving.

Steps:

• Wash the rice in several changes of cold running water until the water runs clear, then place in a bowl and soak for 30 minutes in more fresh cold water with 1⁄2 teaspoon salt.
• In a frying pan (skillet), heat the oil over a medium-high heat. Add the sliced onions to the pan and fry gently, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and caramelized. Using a slotted spoon, remove the onions from the oil, leaving as much of the oil in the pan as possible to cook the chicken, and place on a plate to drain. Spread the onions across the plate so they crisp as they cool.
• Keeping the heat on medium-high, add the chicken to the pan and sear it on all sides. Return half the caramelized onions to the pan.
• To make the spice bag, place the spices in a piece of cheesecloth or muslin and knot the corners securely together so the bag does not open during cooking process.
• Add the spice bag to the pan. Pour over enough cold water to cover the chicken and add 2 1⁄4 tsp salt. Bring the water to the boil, then lower the heat, cover with a lid and leave to cook for 20 minutes. After 10 minutes, check the chicken to make sure it is not falling apart.
• Once the chicken is cooked, using a slotted spoon, carefully remove the chicken from the pan and place on a plate, trying to keep the meat on the bone.
• For the yakhni, you will need approximately twice the volume of stock to rice (so 4 cups of stock to 2 cups of rice). If you have more than 4 cups, reduce the stock. If you have less than 4 cups, add some water.
• Return the 4 cups of stock to the pan. Drain the rice and add to the pan, together with the chicken and green chiles, if using. Place the pan over a medium-high heat. Leaving the spice bag in the pan, bring the stock to the boil. Once boiling, lower the heat, cover with a lid, and leave to simmer. Check the pan often to see if the stock has been absorbed, but that the rice still retains some bite.
• At this point, remove the rice pan from the direct heat and reduce the heat to low. Place the rice pan on a tawa (flat iron griddle pan), or the closest thing you have to a tawa-an iron plate or a flat pan-to diffuse the heat. Leave the rice pan on the tawa over a low heat for 10 minutes. Alternatively, place the rice pan in a preheated low oven for 10 minutes.
• Once the pan has been removed from the heat source, cover the top of the pan with a dish towel and leave it undisturbed for 10 minutes.
• Check the rice-there should be no liquid at the edges of the pan-and gently run a fork through to lift and separate the grains. To serve, garnish with the remaining caramelized onions and sprigs of mint.

Steps:

• Gently wash and soak the rice in water. Set aside.
• Cook the mutton with the red chilli, ginger, fennel seeds, black and green cardamoms, coriander seeds and salt in a pressure cooker, adding eight cups of water. Cook till tender, about 20 minutes.
• Remove all the spices and strain the stock.
• The stock should measure six (6) cups. Add water if the stock is not sufficient. Set aside.
• Keep the mutton pieces separately.
• In a heavy bottomed vessel, heat the oil, and add the bay leaf and cinnamon and sliced onions and fry till onions are light brown.
• Add the mutton and fry for a few minutes.
• Add the stock.
• Stir in the rice gently, ensuring that it does not break.
• Cover and bring the stock to a boil over high heat, then simmer till the rice gets cooked.