LAMB BIRYANI: A SEALED POT OF PURE PLEASURE

My quest to catalogue some of the most popular dishes in Indian restaurants around the world continued this week with an attempt to create the perfect Biryani.

It’s no easy matter as this glorious dish, another gift of the Moghuls to Indian cuisine, is the subject of fierce debate throughout India. The arguments rage not only about how it is made, but also about what ingredients it should contain.
The only thing that people can all seem to agree on is that it is a combination of rice, spices and meat or vegetables, but that’s about as far as the consensus goes.

There are dozens of different versions of Biryani, but perhaps the three most famous are those found in Hyderabad, Lucknow and Kolkata. The Hyderabadi version is made using raw meat (usually goat) marinated in yoghurt & spices and raw rice. These are cooked in a pot with a tight fitting lid, sealed with a wheat flour rim, until the juices from the meat cook the rice. It is, I believe, also known as a “Dum” or steamed Biryani. I wonder if the word “Dum” has the same root as the French word “Daube” a stew that is cooked in a similar fashion, with a sealed pot. Anyone?

The Lucknow Biryani is made using meat and rice that have been cooked already and are then combined to make the final dish, while the Kolkata version was traditionally a poor man’s dish that replaced the meat with chunks of potato.

They are all terrific, so I looked to all of them for the inspiration for my "perfect" recipe. Goat is not that easy to find in LA LA Land, so I used lamb instead. You could also use chicken. I chose cut up lamb shanks and also added some extra lamb bones, to add extra flavour and to give me some marrow sucking action in the final dish.

The key to a perfect Biryani is to have the meat cooked until tender without over cooking the rice. I have found that par boiling the rice (some with whole spices and some with the same spices and a little saffron) and partially pre-cooking the meat, is not only a fool proof way of achieving this this, but pre-cooking the lamb and its marinade also produces a lot of cooking liquid that you can also use for the sauce as you are layering rice, meat and fried onions in your Biryani pan.

Anyway, do give it a go. It is laborious rather than difficult, but the end result is 100% worth the effort involved.

Oh, and don't forget to suck on those lamb bones, or there will be Hell to pay.

LAMB SHANK BIRYANI
INGREDIENTS
2 Cups Basmati Rice
2 lbs Lamb (Lamb shanks cut into chunks and some extra lamb bones)
2 large White Onions (sliced thinly)
4 Green Chiles (Deseeded)
2 Inches Fresh Ginger (Peeled and chopped)
5 Cloves Fresh Garlic (Peeled)
½ Cup Yoghurt
1 Cinnamon Stick
6 Cloves
6 Green Cardamom Pods
2 Bay Leaves
1 Pinch Saffron
1Tsp Ground Coriander
1Tsp Ground Cumin
1Tsp Ground Turmeric
1Tsp Red Chili Powder
1Tsp Salt
1Tsp Sugar

METHOD
Blend the green chili, ginger and garlic to a paste with a little salt and water.

Place the lamb in a bowl and add the ground spices, the salt & sugar, the ginger/chili/garlic paste and the yoghurt.

Massage these well into the meat. Cover with cling film and allow to sit in the marinade for at least three hours.

Slice the onions as thinly as possible and fry in oil until golden and crisp.

Drain the onions on kitchen paper and allow to cool.

Take two thirds of the rice and place in a pan with 3 cloves, 1 bay leaf, ½ the cinnamon stick and 3 cardamom pods.

Add twice the volume of water and par boil for 15 minutes on a low heat. The rice should still have a crunch when you bite into a grain.

Do the same with the remaining rice, adding the remaining spices and also the pinch of saffron. This will give the rice a pink/orange colour.

Drain the two rices and allow to cool.

Combine them to give you two tone rice.

After three or more hours, place the lamb and its marinade in a large covered pan and cook on a gentle heat for 45mins.

Remove the lamb from the pan and reduce the cooking liquid it has produced by half.

Take a deep oven proof casserole dish or saucepan and place a layer or rice on the bottom.

Place a handful of onions on top of that and then a ladle full of the lamb cooking liquid.

Place a layer of meat on top of this and cover completely with rice.
Repeat this process until you reach within an inch or so of the top of the pan, finishing with a layer of rice and sauce.

Traditionally a “Dum” Biryani pot would have been sealed with a pastry rim to stop steam escaping. If you have a tight fitting lid, you will not need to do this. I did it anyway.

Preheat your oven to 350F/175C and bake the Biryani for 45mins to 1 hour.
Serve with your favourite Indian bread and a raita or plain yoghurt.

CHICKEN KORMA: THE PRINCELY DISH OF PERSIA

Foreign influences on Indian cuisine are legion.

In the Southern state of Goa, you will see the influence of their former Portuguese overlords in the use of chilli, garlic and vinegar in dishes such as the Vindaloo. While, in the North, you will find many dishes display the influence of the Moghul invasion of the 16th Century.

Most famous of these dishes is, of course, the Chicken Korma, that rich and mild combination of cream, nuts, spices and chicken that has become one of the most ordered dishes from Indian restaurant menus all over the UK.

There are literally hundreds of recipes available, which reflect the changes made as the popularity of the dish spread South throughout India. In the South, you may find it called a Kurma. It will be more spicey and contain coconut and tomato. It may well even be a “Navratan” Korma which uses paneer rather than meat. In the North, however, it is normally made with mutton or chicken and the sauce is the one that will be immediately familiar to restaurant goers everywhere.

In my search for authentic versions of those dishes that have become curry house staples, I have been trying a few different Korma recipes over the years and the one below trumps any that I have tried so far. Give it a go and tell me if you agree.

INGREDIENTS (Serves 4)
6 Chicken Thighs
1 White Onion (sliced)
5 Garlic Cloves (peeled & chopped)
1 Inch Fresh Ginger (peeled & chopped)
3 Green Chillies (1 whole, 2 deseeded and chopped)
1 Cinnamon Stick
3 Green Cardamom
3 Cloves
1 Tsp Ground Cumin
1 Tsp Ground Corriander
1 Tsp Ground Turmeric
½ Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Sugar
1 Tsp Chilli Powder
1 Cup Ground Almonds
1 Pint Whipping (Heavy) Cream
¼ Cup Boiling Water
¼ Cup Chopped Coriander Leaf
2 Limes
Vegetable oil for cooking

METHOD
Skin and bone the chicken thighs and cut the flesh into 1in chunks
Mix the almond flour, cream and boiling water and allow to sit to allow the oils from the nuts to come out. This thickens the final sauce.
Heat three tablespoons of vegetable oil in a saucepan and add the cinnamon stick, cloves, cardamom pods and the whole green chilli. Cook for two or three minutes to flavour the oil.
Add the sliced onion and cook for five minutes on a gentle heat until soft and golden brown.
Add the chopped ginger, chilli and garlic and cook for a further five minutes.
Add the ground spices and cook for a further five minutes. Add a little water if it begins to stick.
Remove the whole spices and the whole chilli and then transfer the remaining to a blender.
Blend to a fine paste.
Heat two more tablespoons of oil and return the paste to the same pan.
Add the chicken and stir over a gentle heat until the chicken is fully cooked.
Add the cream/almond mixture and stir well with the chicken.
Cook for five to ten minutes until it the sauce begins to thicken.
Spoon on to a serving dish and sprinkle with the juice of one lime.
Top with a handful of coriander leaves and serve with more limes, some white rice and your favourite Indian bread.