Yakhni Biryani

Here goes the basic recipe for the delicious Yakhni Biryani, a meat and rice dish of marvelous taste.  It is a classic North Indian dish cooked differently south Indian Biryanis and holds a high place in north Indian menu.  It gets its name from the Yakhni - the meat stock - it is cooked in.

Home cooked Yakhni Biryani
Photo: Seema Iqbal

Ingredients - group 1

1. Lamb/Mutton: 1 Kg

2. Onion (medium size, chopped lengthwise): 3 - 4 Nos

3. Turmeric powder:  a very small pinch

4. Tomato (small - medium size chopped): 4 - 5 Nos

Ingredients - group 2

1. Oil: 5 - 6 Tablespoons

2. Onion: 2 (medium size, chopped lengthwise)

3. Ginger-garlic paste: 2 ½ Tablespoons

4. Green chilies (less hot ones): 8 - 10 Nos

5. Salt:  To taste

6. Lemon juice: 1½ Tablespoons

7. Yogurt: 2½ Tablespoons

8. Rice: 1 Kg. (Soaked in water for 10 minutes. Use short grain rice like Jeerakasala or the rice which is generally used to prepare ghee rice)

9. Coriander leaves (Cilantro) coarsely chopped:  1 Cup

10.Water (generally for short-grain rice, a ratio of 1.5 cups of water is required to every 1 cup of rice)

Ingredients used to cook this Yakhni Biryan
Photo: Seema Iqbal

Step by step method for easy cooking:
Step 1:  Keep all the ingredients ready and handy.

Step 2:  Take a cooker, add lamb/mutton, turmeric powder and chopped onion, mix it and let it cook till the mutton is 75% done.  Then remove the lid and add chopped tomatoes and cook it until tomatoes are dissolved, then keep aside. (This step needs only the ingredients listed in group 1 above. No oil or water is needed at this stage).

Step 3:  Take a heavy-bottom cooking vessel and heat the oil.  Add chopped onion, ginger-garlic paste and sauté them for 2 to 3 minutes.  Now add green chilies (less spicy ones), already cooked mutton/lamb (step 2) and sauté it for 2 more minutes.  Now add salt, lemon juice, yogurt and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, keep stirring from time to time.  Then add water as per the ratio mention above (refer item 10) and turn the flame to high.  While it starts to boil, add soaked rice and wait for 1 minute.  Now add chopped Cilantro leaves and mix the whole thing very carefully without causing any damage to the boiling rice.  Now cover the lid tightly and cook in low flame until rice is fully done.  This would take 6 to 7 minutes but keep checking to be on safer side.  The delicious Yakhni Biryani is now ready to serve.

Yakhni Biryani served with onion-tomato salad
Photo: Seema Iqbal

Serving:

Serve the hot and yummy Yakhni Biryani with a portion of traditional onion-tomatoes salad or raita, or any other side dish of your liking.  Pickle is a great combination too.  Bon appétit!

Yakhni Biryani served with home cooked KFC type chicken
Photo: Seema Iqbal

Important and useful tips:

1. You may adjust the water-rice ratio based on the type of rice you would use.

2. Short grain rice is always advised for this dish but basmati rice also goes well.

3. If the meat is real tender then avoid using cooker at Step 2.

4. You may replace the lamb/mutton with chicken or any meat of your liking, but adjust the cooking time accordingly.

5. In case you don’t find the chilies that are less hot, you may have to reduce the quantity.

My Yakhni Biryani recipe is published in:

     1.  www.coastaldigest.com

     2.  www.seemaiqbal.blogspot.in 

Fish Biryani (Dum)

The Biryani gets its name from the Persian word "biryaan" meaning roasted or fried. Among all types of Biryanis the Fish Biryani has a distinct place especially among the people living in the coastal areas.  This particular recipe of Fish Biryani is significantly modified and simplified to get the same great taste without putting much efforts.  This recipe would prove helpful to those working ladies and college goers who don't have enough time to spend in the kitchen but at the same time don't want to compromise on taste!  

Home made Fish Biryani
Photo: Seema Iqbal

Ingredients set 1 (for marinating)

King fish: 10 - 12 pieces (steaks) of medium size

Oil:  3 tablespoon

Red chilli powder:  1 tablespoon

Turmeric powder:  1/2 tablespoon

Biryani Masala: 2 tablespoon (store-bought)

Lemon juice: 1/2 cup

Salt to taste

Ingredients set 2 (for preparing masala base)

Biryani Masala: 2 tablespoon (store-bought) 

Coriander leaves (cilantro):  1 cup (coarsely chopped)

Mint leaves: 10 - 12 leaves (fresh)

Ginger-garlic paste:  1 and 1/2 tablespoon

Green chilli: 5 - 7 No. (slit lengthwise)

Fried onion: 1/2 cup

Lemon juice: 1/4 cup

Ingredients set 3: (for preparing rice)

Long grain Basmati rice: 500 grms. (soaked in water for 20+ minutes)

Oil: 2 teaspoon

Shahi zeera: 1 tablespoon

Clove:  5 Nos.

Cinnamon: 1 and 1/2 inch piece

Bay leaves: 3 Nos.  

Star anise (Biryani flower): 2 nos.

Salt to taste

Ingredients set: 4 (for Dum process)

Saffron color (Biryani color): 1 pinch, dissolved in little water

Fried onion: 1 cup

Oil: 1 - 2 tablespoon (use oil which is used to prepare fish) 

Fish Biryani being prepared
Photo: Seema Iqbal

Method - step by step - for easy cooking.

Step 1 - marinating fish:  Take mixing bowl and add fish pieces, chilli powder, turmeric powder, biryani masala, oil, lemon juice, salt (Ingredients set 1), mix and marinate it for 10 to 15 minutes. 

Step 2 - preparing fish:  Take a heavy bottom non-stick pan and add oil and heat it, once the oil is hot shallow fry the marinated fish one side at time. (cook for 70- 80 % only).  Then remove the fried fish carefully and keep them aside.  Better use a spatula/turner to remove fish.

Step 3 - preparing masala base:  Now take the same non-stick pan which was used for shallow frying the fish.  Add biryani masala, mint leaves, coriander leaves (cilantro), ginger garlic paste, slit green chilli, lemon juice, fried onion (Ingredients set 2) to the left over oil in the pan and cook it for 10 minutes occasionally mixing all the ingredients.  Now take half of this mixture and pour it on top of fried fish, and keep the rest half of the mixture aside.

Step 4 - preparing rice:  Now take sufficient water in a rice-pot and boil it adding oil, shahi zeera, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves, star anise and salt (Ingredients set 3).  Once the water boils, add soaked rice and cook until the rice is 80% done and then drain the water immediately.

Step 5 - dum process:  Take a rice pot, add rest of masala mixture (referred in step 3), add 1 - 2 tablespoon of water in which rice was cooked and bring the mixture to a boil.  Then spread the half of the rice (which is 80% done) evenly on top of this boiling masala, add some saffron colour, fried onions and some oil in which masala was prepared, (Ingredients set 4). Now add rest of the rice and repeat adding saffron colour, fried onions and oil.  Now arrange the shallow fried fish pieces (steaks) on top of rice carefully and then cover the pot tightly, reduce the flame right after one minute.  Let it be on this Dum process for 15 - 20 minutes on a very low flame.  Now the delicious fish biryani is all done and ready to serve!

Step 6 - serving:  Transfer the fish pieces to a separate bowl.  Transfer rice to serving plate, add fish pieces with its masala on top, garnish with mint leaves and chopped cilantro and serve hot.  Riata is a good combination. 

Some of the ingredients used
Photo: Seema Iqbal

Important and useful tips:

Use only fresh ingredients for alluring aroma and taste.  Use fresh king fish (it is also known as Surmai in some areas and Anjal in Mangalore area) for better results.  Do not add fish underneath the rice because the fish may break into pieces.  

The recipe of this Fish Biryani is also published at:

     1.  www.coastaldigest.com

     2.  www.seemaiqbal.blogspot.com