Layered Beef Biryani with Green Onion Mint Raita and Dates Chutney

Layered Beef Biryani with Green Onion Mint Raita and Dates Chutney

     

FOR THE BIRYANI

Marinate 500 gms beef with two tablespoons ginger garlic paste, half tsp turmeric, two teaspoon red chilli powder, one cup yogurt and salt to taste. Marinate for 4 to 8 hours.

Dry roast and grind to a fine powder - one bay leaf, 7 peppercorns, 5 cloves, 3 cardamom, 3 strands of mace, 1 big black cardamom, a small piece of nutmeg half tsp each cumin, caraway and fennel seeds (alternatively you can use one tablespoon of garam masala).

Peel and slice 4 medium potatoes and soak in salted water for an hour. Fry these till 3/4th done and keep aside.

Peel and slice finely 6 onions.

Hard-boil 5 eggs. Slice three of the eggs and cut three in halves.

Take 700 gms rice. Wash and soak for 15 mins. Drain and dry on a muslin cloth or paper towel for half an hour.

Roughly chop some cashews, almonds and add a few raisins to the mix.

Finely chop two large tomatoes.

Finely chop two hands full of coriander and mint leaves.

In the pressure cooker, add two tablespoons of ghee and fry the dry fruits. Remove once the raisins puff up.

Now add two tablespoons more of oil, add two onions and a fat pinch of salt and fry till the onions are nice and brown. Remove and keep aside.

In the same oil add the rest of the onions and fry till golden brown. Add the marinated beef and fry till the oil comes up and the raw smell is gone. Add the powdered masala and the chopped tomatoes. Close the cooker and cook till the meat is done.

In a large deep dish that you will use for layering the biryani boil water and add salt and two pieces of cinnamon sticks, a couple of cloves, cardamom and few pepper corns. When the water is boiling away add the rice. Cook the rice only till its 3/4th done. You should be able to see the white grain inside. Keep aside half a glass of the rice water. Drain the rice in an collander.

Put the oven to heat at 150 degrees.

For the layering....work fast or the rice will turn mush.

In the deep dish first add a thin layer of the beef masala. Add a layer of half the rice. Then a layer of sliced eggs, a layer of the fried potatoes and half the fried onions and sprinkle some coriander-mint leaves. Add the rest of the beef masala. Now add the rest of the rice on top. Layer the rest of the potatoes. Sprinkle the onions and dry fruits. Sprinkle the coriander leaves and arrange the halved eggs on top. Cover the dish with aluminium foil and keep in the over for 25 minutes.

Serve the biryani with raita and pickle, papad, chutney etc.

This is a time consuming recipe, but makes a very tasty biryani.
For the biryani I have used a jeerakashala rice (normally used in the Malabar region for biryani and ghee rice). My husband likes the flavour of this rice. You can use any raw rice for this. Basmati, Kaima, jeerakashala, kolam are a few good choices.

If your dish doesn't fit in the oven the last step can be done on the stove top also. While layering put a flat tawa to heat. After sealing the dish, place the dish on the stove and keep on the lowest heat setting for about half an hour.

FOR THE DATES CHUTNEY

Make a coarse paste of about 20 dates, 3 dry red chillies, 3 cloves of garlic, one clove, a tablespoon of malt or apple cider vinegar and salt to taste.

FOR THE RAITA

Beat a cup and half of curd. Add salt to taste. Add a handful of finely chopped mint leaves and the green of 3 Springfield onions. You can also add a couple of chopped green chillies (depends on how spicy you would like it)