Recipe for Mommy’s Homestyle Beef Biryani

Follow these steps to Boil the Beef

• Wash the beef cubes and transfer it into a pressure cooker. Add ginger garlic paste, salt and water.
  
• Allow the Beef to cook on medium heat until 2 whistles are released. Once the Beef is soft, keep the it aside.

  Note: DO NOT discard the water. We will use it for the gravy
  

For the Colour (optional)

• Take two small microwavable bowls and add 1.5 tbspn milk in each bowl. Heat the milk in the Microwave for 30 seconds

  In one, add a drop of Green food colour, mix it well and keep aside

  In the other, add the Saffron stands and orange food colour, mix it well and keep aside
  

Follow these steps to Boil the Rice

• In a bowl soak the rice for 20 minutes

  Note: Soaking the rice helps the rice grains to soak up some water making it softer and fluffier, thus reducing the cooking time
  
• After 20 minutes Wash the rice very gently and drain out all the water till the last drop

  Note: You have to wash the rice till the water is clear and the rice can be seen

  Tip:- there should be absolutely no starch left in the rice as starch makes the rice sticky once cooked. You may have to wash the rice about 4-5 time
  
• Now in a large vessel, add the Water, Oil, Whole Spices, Lemon Skin(Lemon skins soak up any starch in the rice water and takes away the stickiness from the rice) and Salt(all mentioned under the ingredients for the Rice section)

  Tip:-the vessel has to be Really wide whenever you make Rice or any Rice dish .Themore wider and bigger your vessel, the fluffier the Rice grains will be! This happens because each rice grain gets more space to cook and fluff up... I call it breathing space🙈🙈🙈

  Note: The whole spices add to the flavour to the rice

  DO NOT forget to add oil as Oil enables the rice to remain separated. This is one of the most essential element in a good textured Biryani – Fluffy Separated Grains

   
  
• Once the water comes to a rolling boil, Add the soaked Rice into the vessel

  Note: DO NOT continuously stir the Rice it will cause the grains to break and we don’t want broken grain for Biryani. Stir the Rice ONLY once and very gently. I prefer using a silicone spatula to stir the rice as it is very gentle and keeps the rice intact

   
  
• In exactly 5 minutes, I turn off the heat

  Note: This is for a small quantity. You may need to check if you’re using a bigger quantity. The whole point is to not cook the rice until it’s filly cooked

  Some things to keep in mind as to why we undercook the Rice:

  1)    The rice was soaked initially. Hence this step reduced the cooking time

  2)    When we take some time to remove the whole spices from the rice, the rice is getting cooked a little more in that hot water

  3)    After straining the rice, the rice will remain hot for some time. The heat that remains on the grains will further cook the rice

  4)    The Biryani will be given a Dum(further heat) later which will further cook the Rice
  
• You will see all the whole spices and lemon skin floating in the vessel. It’s better to discard it as it’s not very pleasant when you bite into it when eating the Biryani….mood off types!
  
• Strain the Rice in a colander
  
• Once all the water is drained out, divide the rice into two trays or vessels so that the rice cools faster and doesn’t get further cooked for too long due to the heat. Let the Rice come down to room temperature

  Note: Please treat the Rice like a baby or better still like your Lover with utmost gentleness, unless you’re a tough lover then please calm down at this stage! Hahahah

  Use a silicone spatula or better still, directly pour the rice into the trays. This will keep the grains intact and long
  

Follow these steps to cook the gravy

• Peel the Potatoes, cut them to halves or quarters and soak it in a bowl of water and add 1tspn salt

  Note: Potatoes once peeled starts turning black. Ensure to immediately soak it in water. I prefer soaking it in Salt water so that by the time the Potatoes are ready to use, it is nicely coated with some salt. It enhances it’s taste
  
• Soak the Mint leaves and Fresh Coriander in a bowl of room temperature water and keep it aside

  Note: Soaking any leaves and herbs, separates all the impurities and it becomes easier to wash the leaves
  
• In a Vessel, heat the Oil and Ghee on medium heat
  
• Once the Oil turns hot, add the Shahi Jeera
  
• Then add the Onions and sauté until it starts getting translucent
  
• Then drain out all the water from the Potatoes and add the Potatoes into the vessel. Mix this well and let the Potatoes get a light golden coating. Then cover the vessel and let the Potatoes cook a little

  Note: My Mum adds deep fried potatoes to the gravy at the end. However, to save time and make this like a One Pot gravy I add the Potatoes in the same vessel and cook it. But If you wish, you can always add fried potatoes in the end once the gravy is ready, it tastes superb

  **Also, if you wish to skip the Potatoes, you can do so
  
• After about 5-7minutes, add the Tomatoes, all the dry Spices, Salt and Ginger Garlic paste and stir it well and cover the vessel and reduce the heat

  Note: The moisture from the Tomatoes helps the spices to not stick to the bottom of the vessel. Also as the Tomatoes begin to cook and soften, it turns mushy and this helps to thicken the gravy
  
• As this is cooking, hand pick mint leaves and coriander and transfer it into another bowl. Wash the leaves with fresh water and drain out the water. Transfer the mint and coriander into a mixer grinder and make a thick smooth paste. DO NOT add any water
  
• After about 5-7 minutes, once the Tomatoes have turned completely mushy, add the beef water, lemon juice, stock cube and the mint and coriander paste and stir it well and put the lid on
  
• Allow this gravy to boil for about 10-15 minutes and then add the Beef cubes. Mix it well and let it cook
  
• After about 10 minutes, add the yogurt and mix it well with the gravy

  Note: We add the yogurt towards the end as yogurt sometimes may split on high heat or if left unattended
  
• After adding the yogurt, let the gravy boil until it’s nice and thick. Keep stirring it at intervals
  
• Once the gravy turns thick, turn off the heat and keep it aside to cool at room temperature

  Note: Once the gravy comes to room temperature, it will further thicken

  We bring the gravy down to room temperature so that when we layer the biryani, the heat from the gravy does not further cook the rice as we also have to give it Dum which will cause more heat. Making Biryani is more like a Mission to Save the Long Rice Grains
  

Follow these steps to Fry the Onions

• Slice the Onion fine and long and separate it like how you would mix or squeeze something. So that while frying, every strand of onion is separated and all the strands fry evenly
  
• In a skillet heat 1 cup oil on medium heat

  When the Oil turns hot, add the Onions and allow this to fry till it turns golden
  
• Once the Onions turn brown, turn off the heat and transfer the fried onions into a bowl or vessel and keep it aside

  Note: Ensure the heat is not too high or else the Onions will get burnt and turn darker and bitter

  Onions have a high sugar content. Hence while frying the Onions, the sugar in the Onion reaches a point of caramelization and hence turns brown
  
• Once the fried Onion turns cool, it will get crisp

  If you wish to use fried Potatoes in the gravy, you can fry the Potatoes in this Oil
  

Follow these steps to Layer/Assemble the Biryani

• Grease with oil a vessel that is deep and not very wide. It helps create more layers

  Add some rice in the vessel. This will be the first layer

  Note: Greasing the vessel with oil, avoids the rice to get stuck at the bottom while giving the Dum
  
• The add some gravy and cover the rice
  
• Then add another layer of rice

  In this way, keep alternating and layering the biryani and gravy. Ensure the last and final layer is of Rice
  
• Now with the help of a spoon, pour the orange and food colour liquid over the rice
  
• Sprinkle the fried onions over the rice

  Note: If you like lots of fried onions in your Biryani, you can fry more onions and sprinkle it over every layer of rice

  Put a lid on the vessel and place it on low heat for 30 minutes and turn off the heat
  
• FINALLLLLLLLY The Biryani is Ready!! 5 full hours but sooooooo worth the entire process!
  
• And DON'T forget the Raita! Oh Yummy yum yum! A Sorted Sunday Be like!!!!
  

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