QABOOLI BIRYANI AN EASY TO COOK EVERY DAY BIRIYANI WITH A TWIST BY SOUMYASHREE CHATTERJEE

IMAGE CREDIT: SOUMYASHREE CHATTERJEE

Growing up as a kid in Kolkata, one of the best treats was to feast on a plate of mughlai biriyani from an authentic biriyani joint. The juicy spicy piece of mutton broken while savouring the rice from which a heavenly aroma wafted out still triggers the salivary glands today. But with growing up came exposure and I have made a journey across India savouring the various forms of biriyani available across the country.

 Awadhi biriyani from lucknow, hyderabdi biriyani, Kolkata biriyani and pallakad biriyani are probably the most famous forms of biriyani in india, although variants from Tamilnadu, Gujarat Mumbai bhatkal in Karnataka. Some specific communities like the bohris, memonis and sindhis have their own variants of this ever popular dish. Variants from Bangladesh, Pakistan are also known along with certain variants from parts of Africa like the Swahili coast and South Africa. The popular thai dish called Khao mok is also a form of biriyani only.

Biriyani as dish is believed to have originated from the marching units of army. It is also often believed to have originated from the pulao. A pulao is a single pot preparation of rice along with other ingredients including chicken, mutton vegetables or fish that was often prepared by marching armies to save time and energy during the march. Biriyani is evolved to have evolved from this where layering was introduced into the cooking style along with more complex spices. While many believe that Oon Soru a mutton dish from the Pandyan dynasty from south India is the first predecessor of the dish, it is generally acknowledged that the biriyani that we know and love today is primarily derived as an output of additions of Persian cooking spices. In fact the name biriyani is believed to have evolved from the word birinj in Persian meaning rice or beriyan meaning to fry.

Biriyani is thus typically a dish made out of long grained rice, which is cooked by layering of the principal ingredient be it meat fish or veggies in between layers of rice and mixed with typical spices and then cooked. While the word biriyani typically illicit a vision of juicy mutton or chicken vegetable variants are also known to have evolved to cater to the various tastes of our vegetarian friends. Today I will take you through a journey with biriyani although a veg variant- Qabooli chana biriyani

Like most journeys of the stomach this one will also start with gathering of ingredients. The key ones will include some seasoning spices typically available in the market and includes.

Ingredients: -

1 cup (250 ml) cup chana dal (Bengal gram Split)

¼ tsp turmeric powder

½ tsp salt

1 big tomato pureed

3 big onions finely chopped

2 tbsp ginger garlic paste

½ tsp turmeric powder

¾ tsp chilli powder

½ cup yogurt

Oil, ghee, lemon juice

½ cup coriander leaves chopped

½ cup mint leaves chopped

¼ tsp saffron dissolved 1/3 cup warm milk

2 green chillies chopped

2 star anise

2 bay leaves

4 cardamoms

2 stick cinnamon

4 cloves

1/3 of jaiphal

2 javitri

1 table spoon shahi biryani masala

The cooking requires some amount of preparation and to that we will start with the chana dal.

Soak chana dal in water for 1 hour.  Heat 1 & ½ cups water in a pan along with salt. When water starts boiling add chana dal and turmeric. Cook till chana daal is done but not mushy.

If the dal easily smashes in your fingers, it means it is cooked. In the meantime, soak rice for 30 minutes. In a pan add 4 cups water along with 2 tsp salt, javitri, jaiphal, star anise, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, bay leaves. Cover and let it boil. Once water starts boiling, add rice. When rice is half done, add 1 tbsp ghee and 1 tbsp lemon juice. Cover and cook till rice is ¾ done. Drain any remaining water. We are now ready for the actual cook.

Heat oil & add sliced onions. Brown the onions & remove ½ of the onions & keep aside. Add ginger garlic paste and sauté for a min. Add turmeric, chilli powder, shahi biryani masala and ½ tea spoon salt. Stir & add tomato puree. Cook till oil separates. Add beaten yogurt. Stir and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add chana dal to it. Mix lightly so that chana dal retains its shape. Keep aside.

In a oven proof bowl, first make layer of chana dal mixture. Add some chopped mint, coriander, green chillies fried onions. Make another layer of half of the rice. Top the rice layer with some mint, coriander, green chillies, fried onions & saffron infused milk. Make a third layer of chana dal mixture again. Top the dal layer with mint, coriander, green chillies and fried onions. Make a fourth & last layer of rice again. Top the rice layer with mint, coriander, green chillies, fried onions & saffron milk. Cover the bowl with aluminium foil, place it in a pre heated oven for 20 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius. Serve Qabooli Biryani with mirchi ka salan & salad or raita.

But of course do remember my mom’s special ingredients towards making any dish rock-your smile and love. After all cooking is a celebration more so experimentations with the unknown so go ahead add your best smile and a healthy dose of your love while cooking and see how yum it turns out.

Note:This is the authors way of cooking this dish. The author Does not make any Representation that this is the right, Only and/or authentic way to cook this dish. Everyone is Free to make his/her Interpretation and adjustment to the dish.