My Pishai (husband of my father’s sister) gets irritated every time I demand a plate of Biryani. “Ghee jobjobe”(gentle pouring of Ghee, aromatic Indian clarified butter) rice is gonna be too heavy for the weather, you will fall sick; he will warn me. And I will become reckless and plan an imaginary friend’s meet. Haji makes incredible biryani in close vicinity. Which mad-hatter wants to give it a miss?

Kolkata Biryani with potato

Also read, everything you need to eat when traveling in Kerala!

Life goes on. Sitting miles away from home, at the advent of Ramadan, end of calendar month when the pocket is showing me empty meagreness of life, I decide to cook it for me. I will describe the side effects of the decision and the cost-effective way we did it. Quantity exceeded our premonition and Dawat for friends was inevitable.

 

What is the magic of a Biryani?

For the beginners, assuming you are not Indians/Bangladeshi/Pakistani, Biryani is an aromatic rice preparation, prepared with choice of meat chunks. Often we Bengalis put in potatoes in it. Biryani itself is a wholesome meal, however, we had prepared Mutton Korma as an extra offering.

Kochi Patha is of Pink hue!

 

Claim to fame?

An assortment of rice and meat cooked together is age-old practice across tradition often resulting in stodgy outcome. Biryani stands out for the aroma infused in the rice grains while cooking it to perfection in “Dum” style. Accompanying mutton Korma is best tasted with beef but we have Indians generally don’t have access to beef in this turbulent political time. As a child born in Hindu household, our tastebuds are well conditioned with Mutton/goatmeat too. We really really love that meat, often more than the beef counterpart.

Also read, Ramadan in Bangalore: A streetfood affair!

The cataclysm of cooking Chickens  Biryani with mutton Korma

(In India, by day, it is getting tougher to procure beef in metropolitan areas, but trust this preparation is best cooked with beef, next comes mutton and chicken.)

Ingredients

For Biryani:

 

For Mutton Korma:

 

Optimised way to cook

Mise en Place

 To start with Biryani

Pro tip: unless there is a threat of burn it., A fowl smell, you may want to open the lid directly at the dinner table. A piece of art your biryani is, it will please everybody.

Kolkata Biryani with potato

To cook Mutton Korma

(Feel free to replace mutton with your choice of meat, just be vigilant about ample cooking time to ensure meat is cooked to taste.)

Health tip: cook it with white oil and top it up with ghee, but if you are generous do the whole business with ghee. I didn’t use pressure cooker to cook it either. You may consider that option too.
Prepare an exotic Mughal dinner for friends and let me know how they liked it. You have another way to cook biryani? Please teach me.

 

 

 

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27 Responses

    1. haha, I will soon be making a blogpost about the famous biryani joints in and around cities of Bangalore and Kolkata. I must say what I prepared did taste good, but compared to the benchmark from these traditional places, I have “Miles to go”

  1. This reminds me of Arsalan biryani.. Something that I savored during my 13 months posting in Kolkata during 2012-13 (the rest of it want not much to talk about).. And something that contributed at least 10kg to my already rotund physique.. Ah.. It will be at least a couple of months before I can get a taste of it again.. Sigh!

    1. Haha, how could I miss this comment for so long? I will be making a post about different styles) legends of kolkata biryani pretty soon. Stay put. Cheers 🙂

    1. hain na? And I tell you with every state, Biryani is India takes it’s own shape and form. My loyalty lies with Kolkata though, the Awadh style with the quintessential Aloo 🙂

      Btw welcome to my blog, You are the first gust from my neighboring country 🙂

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