One legend has it that the Turk-Mongol conqueror, Timur, brought the precursor to the biryani with him when he arrived at the frontiers of India in 1398.
Believed to be the war campaign diet of Timur’s army, an earthen pot full of rice, spices and whatever meats were available would be buried in a hot pit, before being eventually dug up and served to the warriors.
However, the most popular story traces the origins of the dish to Mumtaz Mahal, Shah Jahan’s beautiful queen who inspired the Taj Mahal.
It is said that Mumtaz once visited the army barracks and found the Mughal soldiers looking weak and undernourished. She asked the chef to prepare a special dish that combined meat and rice to provide balanced nutrition to the soldiers – and the result was biryani of course - Lucknowi Biryani.
Cooked in the royal Awadhi style, the textures of Lucknowi biryani are softer and the spices milder. The first step involves making stock (Yakhni) from meat that is slow boiled in water infused with spices for about two hours or more. This is the reason why this biryani is more moist, tender and delicately flavoured than other biryanis.
Today's Sydney based Delhi 'O'Delhi's celebrated Chef Parvesh Chouhan presents us with their signature recipe with SBS Hindi's Executive Producer, Kumud Merani. Watch the video above and get the recipe below.
Goat Biryani
Ingredients
- Diced Goat – 1kg (Shoulder)
- Rice – ½ kg long grain rice
- Onions – 500 gms sliced
- Ginger - 1 tspn
- Garlic – 2 tspn
- Red Chilli powder – 2 tspn
- Fresh coriander – 1 bunch
- Fresh mint – 1 bunch
- Green chillies chopped – 4 no.
- Delhi ‘O’ Delhi (biryani masala)
Cardamom – 5 no.
Clove – 8 no.
Cinnamon – 1 inch (bark)
Caraway seeds – 1 tspn
Peppercorn – ½ tspn
- Grind cardamom, cloves, cinnamon slices, caraway seeds and peppercorn altogether
- Yogurt – 2 cups
- Milk - ½ cup
- Saffron – ½ gram
- Lemon juice – 2 lemons
- Green cardamom – 6 no.
- Cloves – 8 no.
- Bay leaf – 2 no.
- Oil – 2 cups
- Ghee – 4 table spoons
Method
- Wash the diced goat (meat). Drain all the water.
- Heat oil, fry the onions till golden brown. Let them cool.
- Rub ginger & garlic with the meat & add salt, red chilli powder, half of coriander, half of mint, green chilli, lemon juice, biryani masala (Delhi ‘O’ Delhi), add fried onions. Leave the marination for 3 hours.
- Soak saffron in milk & keep aside.
- Take a heavy bottom pan, cook marinated meat on this, stirring occasionally. Cover & cook over medium slow heat till the meat tenders.
- Simultaneously wash rice, boil about 8 glasses of water. Add whole cardamom, cloves, bay leaf & cinnamon stick to the water & add a little salt & rice.
- Cook rice to 80 – 90 % & drain all the water.
- In another heavy bottom pan put Ghee, place the half of the par boil rice in a layer of the bottom. Cover the layer with the cooked meat & again cover the meat with rice.
- Sprinkle the saffron milk over the rice, also sprinkle mint, green chilli, coriander, ghee & now put the rest of the meat.
- Again, repeat the procedure with rice.
- Cover tightly & cook over slow fire till the rice is fully cooked.
- Gently take out the rice & meat without overmixing the two. Serve hot with your choice of raita.
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