11
1.
Grind into a paste ginger, garlic and green chillies, gradually
adding 2 tbsp/30 ml water.
2.
In a bowl, rub ginger paste all over mutton pieces. Add tomato,
2 tsp/10 ml lemon juice, 1 tbsp/15 ml salt, red chilli, cumin and
garam
masala
powders, coriander and mint leaves and
1
⁄
2
cup/120 ml curd. Mix.
Cover and keep aside 4 hours or in refrigerator overnight.
3.
Pour 6
1
⁄
2
cups/1.5 litres water in The Bowl. Bring to boil on high
heat – with lid covering The Bowl. Add remaining salt (1 tsp/5 ml),
cardamoms, cloves, bay leaf, cinnamon and rice. Stir. Bring to boil. Reduce
heat to medium. Cook till rice is just cooked (about 15 minutes) but not
soft. Immediately transfer rice to a colander and drain. Spread rice thinly
on 2 large plates/
thali
, dividing rice into 2 equal batches. Dribble
1 tsp/5 ml lemon juice over rice (
1
⁄
2
tsp/2.5 ml on each plate). Mix rice
and lemon juice gently with a fork. Wash and wipe dry The Bowl.
4.
In a deep-frying pan, heat oil on high heat about 2 minutes.
Reduce heat to medium. Add cashew nuts. Fry till light golden
brown, turning with a slotted, long-handled spoon to brown evenly.
Remove and drain, leaving oil in the pan. Increase heat to high. Add
potatoes. Fry till light golden brown (about 3 minutes), turning
potatoes to brown evenly. Remove and drain, leaving oil in pan.
Divide onions into 2 batches. Add one batch onions. Fry till golden
brown and crisp, turning onions frequently to cook evenly. Remove
and drain, leaving oil in pan. Fry and drain remaining onions in the
same way. Reserve 3 tbsp/45 ml fried onions. Crumble remaining
onions. Add to mutton mixture. Mix.
5.
Heat 1 tbsp/15 ml ghee in The Bowl on medium heat about
2 minutes. Add mutton mixture. Mix. Increase heat to medium-high. Stir
about 2 minutes. Add remaining water (
1
⁄
4
cup/60 ml). Stir. Reduce heat
to low. Cover and simmer 15 minutes. Add potatoes. Mix. Cover and
simmer till mutton is cooked (about 30 minutes), stirring at 10 minute
intervals.
6.
Remove The Bowl from heat. Add remaining curd (
1
⁄
4
cup/60 ml)
and lemon juice (1 tsp/5 ml). Mix. Transfer the mutton mixture to a
bowl and keep covered. Wipe The Bowl clean with a paper towel.
7.
Melt 1 tsp/5 ml ghee in The Bowl on medium heat and spread over
base. Remove The Bowl from heat. Place one batch rice evenly on base.
Place mutton mixture evenly on rice. Place remaining rice evenly on mutton.
Dribble milk over rice. Dribble saffron water over rice.
8.
In a small pan or a Futura Tadka Pan, heat remaining ghee
(2 tbsp/30 ml) on medium heat about 2 minutes. Add cumin seeds.
When cumin seeds begin to darken, immediately dribble over rice in
The Bowl. Cover.
9.
Place The Bowl with
biryani
on a
small burner
on medium-high
heat 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low
*
and cook about 20 minutes till
rice is hot and steaming. Sprinkle cashew nuts and reserved onions
over
biryani
. Cover. Serve hot, accompanied with curd.
*
The heat required is very low. Traditional
dum
cooking requires
slow cooking on very low heat to combine flavours, tenderise and
moisturise food. The low heat setting of the small burner of a gas
stove should give very low heat. If your stove is not capable of
giving very low heat, use a tava between the flame and The Bowl
or use a suitable metallic ring on the pan supports to increase the
distance between the flame and The Bowl.
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