A mildly spiced Emirati style meat biriyani…
Alhamdulillah, this year unlike the past two years, there is a full fledge Hajj happening in Saudi Arabia. It feels very heartfelt to see a million of our own brothers and sisters, unitedly call out the name of Allah, go through the process that was demonstrated by our Nabi (PBUH) on the blessed land of Prophet Ibrahim (AS). There are so many lessons of dedication, steadfastness and gratitude in the history of this month. We already know it, but it is always better to revisit the history and remind ourselves about it. Since the main event of Eid-ul-Adha is the sacrifice of domestic animals like goat or lamb, most of them prepare their dishes from that meat. Many foodies may refer to this Eid as “meaty Eid”. 😀
I have been wondering which recipe to share on this occasion. I wanted to try a new mutton biriyani recipe and was wondering which one I would. Naturally, my head was titled to trying a local recipe. I tried to search on Google and there was only one option available to even refer to. I checked my cutout folder and there were no recipes in it as well. 🙁 I am a little surprised since meat is eaten more regularly than chicken in this part of the world. Another disappointing thing was that the option available was absolutely confusing as far as the steps were concerned. If someone is trying the recipe for the first time, they would definitely have a mess in hand. So I reworked on the entire recipe and cooked it. The use of spices is minimal and hence I was a little concerned about how it would taste. To my surprise, it tasted amazing. It actually reminded me of the rare mutton biriyani D used to get from the local restaurant near his office during Ramadan – rare, because umma was never fond of mutton. The bites of the chickpea lentils is the highlight, do not skip it – a very stark similarity to the Omani Mutton Kabouli. It actually lends an amazing deliciousness to this mild biriyani and something that HD really loved. If you have no plans set for the day but want to cook something simple, then I would say to target this biriyani. Just make a batch of the bezaar spice blend in advance and you are good to go!
If you are looking for some meaty ideas, go on and explore the meat section for all sorts of ideas. But if you want me to suggest something specific to make, then here are my go-tos:
Lahm Majboos if you have bezaar and want to make something else 😉
I may not post much next week, even though I absolutely have no plans on. But at times, little breaks are good to then come and blast in some amazing recipes… Have a blessed Eid and stay tuned… 🙂
Lahm Biryani | Emirati Meat Biriyani
Ingredients
- 400 gm mutton pcs with bones
- 1/4 cup chickpea lentils
- 10-15 almonds blanched
- 1 tbsp raisins
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large onion thinly sliced
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp bezaar spice blend
- 1 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
- 1 large tomato chopped
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Coriander leaves for garnish
- 1 tbsp ghee
FOR RICE
- 1 1/2 cup basmati rice
- 1 clove
- 1 inch cinnamon
- 2 cardamoms
- 5-9 black peppercorns
Instructions
- Pressure cook the mutton with salt and pepper and set aside along with its stock.
- Pressure cook the chickpea lentils till done. Drain and set aside.
- In a large saucepan, boil lots of water with the whole spices and salt. Add the rice and cook till 90% done. Drain and set aside.
- In a cooking pan, heat olive oil. Fry the almonds and then the raisins. Drain and set aside.
- Add the onion and saute till golden brown.
- Add the spice powders and cook for a minute. Add in the tomato and tomato paste along with some salt and cook till nicely mashed.
- Now add in the mutton with the stock and the drained chickpeas and give a good toss. Adjust the seasoning and cook on low flame for around five minutes for the flavor to mingle.
- Now keep the flavor to the minimum. Top with the prepared rice. Sprinkle the fried almonds, raisins and coriander leaves on top. Drop the ghee in a few spots.
- Cover with aluminum foil and close the lid tight. Cook for around 15-20 minutes. Switch off and allow to rest for another 10 minutes.
- To serve, slowly fluff up the rice and serve warm with sides of choice.