DELICIOUS Part -3

                  While  starting to write this,  I feel  lethargic.  Because I had eaten stomach full now.

             The pleasure ,  lethargy  and  contentment  after eating well are  somethings special. 

  

                      

                      

             Next comes lunch -  In lunch varieties I elaborate about the home made Biriyani.  Biriyani is referred as the King of  Indian food .  Many of my friends,  many of  the times mentioned about the biriyanis of many times which they had at many of the occasions we welcomed them and some wondered about the preparation method. Here we go. The biriyani we prepare contain just the ingredients needed and nothing more. Birinji leaves, roja mokku  ( rose bud )  and the like we never add and also the colouring agent, we usually dont use. 

     Now , recepe'  for 1 kg of Biriyani.   

The ingredients needed: - 

biriyani rice one kg, 

mutton or chicken one to one and a half kg,

 ordinary size big onions four,

 peeled small onions  200 grams, 

green chillies six,  

ginger garlic paste 200 grams, 

oil 200 ml, 

ghee 75 grams, 

cinnamon  15 gr, cloves 15 gr, cardamom  10 

,  tomatoes eight,

 one lemon , 

red chillie powder  15 grm, salt 15 grm ( or to taste ),

 coriander leaves 10 gr and mint leaves 10 gr.

   Method of  preparation :- 

         Let us make the ingredients ready to their forms.  Clean the mutton pieces. We usually wash five times. Peel the big onions or bellary  onions and chop them.  Peel the small onions and mash  them (grind partially).  Cut the tomatoes. Keep aside one cinnamon piece, few cloves and a few cardamoms and grind the rest of the three ingredients to a powder.  Chop the coriander leaves. Biriyani can be prepared in a pressure cooker or ordinary thick bottomed vessel. But, I used to prepare with cooker now- a- days. First add oil and heat along with half the quantity of ghee.  ( The rest of the ghee is added little by little while sauteing and towards the finishing of cooking, as and how we like, so that the smell of ghee presents well. )  

     Once heated mildly add the chopped big onions and saute  till light brown ,  one cinnamon piece, few cloves and a few cardamoms, green chillies then ground small onions , ginger and garlic paste , cut tomatoes  and go on sauteing. The taste of biriyani comes not only from the ingredients, but from the methodical sauteing by adding the ingredients one by one and patience in cooking. Then add the cinnamon and the other two powder, mint leaves and chopped coriander leaves. 

     While adding these keep the flame to a minimum, because the masala powder will be sticky and burn soon. In fact right from keeping the vessel , we have to keep on adjusting the flame continuously. Now add red chillie powder and salt. In the meanwhile soak the rice in water.

   After five minutes of sauteing add some water , mix well and check the taste of the now good smelling mixture. If the taste is upto satisfaction,  add the mutton pieces, saute for a minute or so, then add some water enough to cook the mutton, close the lid, apply the whistle and cook upto  three to five whistles, according to the nature of the cooker you use. After the steam gets lessened, open and check the mutton. If it is cooked to more than 80% , add water again for the rice to get cooked. 

    Now is the important step where we have to measure the amount of water needed. For one part of rice one and quarter to one and half of water is needed. But, the important thing here is the water that is already in the cooker must also be added to the total quantity of water, that is the water to be added is the quantity  minus that is already in the cooker, namely the water of the masala (ingredient spice ), and that added to cook the mutton. One tumbler full of water can be withheld and kept aside ,for adding to the biriyani while cooking when necessary. 

    Once water is added and boiled , check again the taste  ( take the mixture with a spoon or karandi , cool it a little and taste, ), add necessary salt and again taste to find out if everything is ok. Reduce the flame and add the  soaked  and washed rice. Cut the lemon into two and squeeze the juice into the rice, meat and spice mixture . Lemon juice prevents the unnecessary sticking together of rice.

                 

            Now close the lid and increase the fire flame to the optimum.  Do not apply cooker weight. Even the lid can be used upside down, because we need to open the cooker on and off. After about five minutes , open and check for amount of water and stage of rice cooked. If needed, water has to be added and cooking to be continued. Open and see again for optimal cooking. This procedure may have to be repeated, according to how much cooked the rice is. The rice must be cooked to about  80 to 90%.  (Once again we have to eat the rice and verify.) The water must be just adequate to make the rest of the cooking. This we can easily make out.

    Thus satisfied , now we must go for the final step, which is putting  the Biriyani for Dhum , which means making  the flame low and allowing the rice to get slowly cooked to its whole. For this ,if cooked with firewood ,the flame is put out by pulling the firewood out of the oven and the burning coal is left as such inside the oven. And , a substantial quantity of hot coal is applied on the thick metal plate covering the vessel. The biriyani reaches its optimal stage within five to ten minutes. 

    While using pressure cooker on the gas stove , for the dhum, the flame is kept to the minimum,  the lid is closed and after about five minutes ,the flame is put off. After about five to ten minutes, open the cooker and the biriyani is ready.