I am a huge fan of Biryani and am delighted to have been asked by someone to post a recipe for a traditional Lucknowi Biryani . The name Biryani is derived from the Farsi word birian and this dish probably originated in Persia or Arabia. Some think it came from Persia via Afghanistan to north India, others think it was brought by the Arab traders via the Arabian Sea to Calicut, which had maritime trade with West Asia.
Here is one way to make the Lucknow Biryani. What makes the Lucknow/Awadhi biryani special is that it cooks in the stock of the meat. I will soon post a photograph because I plan to make it this weekend!
Ingredients
1/2 kg mutton with bone
3 cups basmati rice
1 tablespoon + 2 tablespoon oil
1 medium onion ground to a paste
Marinade
1 cup whisked curd
2 teaspoon garlic paste
2 teaspoon ginger paste
1 1/2 tablespoons powdered almonds or almond paste
1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder
Grind together and add to marinade
6 green cardamoms
6 cloves
2 blades mace (javitri)
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon saffron soaked in kewra water
1 cup chopped coriander and mint leaves
salt to taste
Wash meat, drain and dry
Combine ingredients for marinade and marinate meat for 30 minutes
Wash rice and soak for an hour
Soak the saffron in kewra water
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a pressure cooker, add onion and fry till golden
Stir in marinated meat and stir. Add 3 cups warm water. Add salt. Pressure for 15 minutes.
Allow pressure to cool before opening.
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a deep pan. Drain rice, add to pan and stir for 8-10 minutes.
Remove half the rice and place all the meat pieces and a little gravy over the remaining rice.
Cover meat with the removed rice and pour the rest of the gravy/stock over the top
Sprinkle with the saffron and kewra water
Add the chopped coriander and mint leaves
Cover the dish and bake in a oven pre-heated to 150 degree C (300 F) for 30 minutes.
Serves 4
Monday, May 12, 2008
Lucknowi Mutton Biryani
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19 comments:
Thx Ria. What is the source for this recipe. Can you please post pictures? Will this work with chicken. Given how much you like food, consider joining http://www.gourmetindia.net/forums/ where a lot of foodies have interesting conversations. SOme good chat on biryani as well. Thx much again.
Thx Ria. How important is almonds to the taste of the dish. Sometimes I wonder if the almonds contribute much to the taste or to the overall richness. What do you think. Thanks for this agin.
I will certainly join the gourmet india forum. Lots of people have mentioned it. The source of the recipe is Sharda Pargal's book of MEAT but with some changes. She mentioned adding cream, which I'm not sure about and nor do I think is necessary.
About almonds- I think almonds do add to the taste AND thereby to the overall richness of any dish. A biryani is a rich dish with or without almonds. A calicut biryani recipe I have has cashews in it -which is also an interesting taste.
Hi Ria,
I'll try this out. This is different from how my mom used to make it she was also from Lucknow). But she used to add tomatoes instead of curd. And she'd pressure it. My appetite used to double on those days...
with love,
Swati
Riaaaa.... that just looks and sounds soooooo yuuummmmm.... :D :D :D
Hopefully I'll try it out sometime... I still remember the biryani i had for dinner lunch and breakfast!! slurrpp hehehe
Vava
Ria - if you have traveled to Delhi or Lucknow, how would you compare this biryani to the product that you get there? How much kewra do you use and what is your source of kewra? Have you ever used gulab essence as well? Thx
Anonymous,
I used half a tablespoon of Dabur keora essence for this recipe, just enough to soak and cover the saffron strands. I haven't yet used Gulab essence.
I have been to Lucknow but so long ago and can't compare to any biryanis eaten there.
Thanks.
I made this recipe yesterday. It was awesome and my friends really liked it.Although I used cream instead of the almonds.I realized that the water measurement is very very important
Hi Arindam, thanks for trying this recipe. I will soon be posting another favourite biryani recipe from Hyderabad.
The proportion of rice to meat seems too much
This is really unfortunate to find that you cooked Lucknowi briyani with mint and corriender sounding much like its hyederabadi counterpart. Where's the sha-jeera; sha-marich; rose water, and milk used in it? Please post a more authentic and precision driven recipe.
No way, this is not authentic Lucknowi biryani, missed out most important ingredients star anise, ................ and the list goes on. the rice is not fried it is cooked(boiled) n then partly sorta steamed,and thence layered over the meat; its a slow cook process never done in a pressure cooker. But guess your recipe is closest, a star cook has mentioned potatoes in this biryani- i can just laugh at him.
Hi Im Kishore from Hyderabad, well Priya you have not mentioned how much water at the end for cooking the whole Biryani, will the same amt of gravy/broth will be enough .
Hello,
I was going through Vineet Bhatia's program on Awadhi Biryani where the process was a bit different.
Instead of frying the garam masalas and pouring the parboiled rice onto it, he, put in the garam masalas along with the rice during the boiling of the rice.
Infact I tried making biryani that way and it was good with strong flavours.
However need your views on which process is actually "Authentic"
Dear Sayak, thanks for your comment.I really don't know which process of adding the garam masalas work - I like the strong smells and flavours when they touch some hot oil for a few seconds, perhaps the same effects come from boiling them with the rice.
This is no way a luckhnowi biryani. Use of parboiled rice, star anise, dum process and initial preparation of rice & meat separately are missing, so u have a good recipe but not the one named
Im from Lucknow and the recipe mentioned here is named very wrong. This might be a delicious variant of Biryani but its definitely NOT Lucknawi Biryani. For the Lucknawi Biryani the rice is cooked separately with whole spices. Mint and coriander are NEVER used in Lucknawi Biryani. The Lucknawi Biryani rice will have no color except the one from saffron DUM and added biryani red color. But the recipe mentioned here is a good attempt.
Thanx Ria, first time saw your blog. Authentic or not your Biriyani sounds easiest & "home made". I would like to read more about dishes the ingredients of which are easily available & slightly different from the traditional way. Best of luck.
Thanks Diya !
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