Lamb Pukki Biryani Recipe

This is a type of Pukki Biryani. The rice and meat are cooked separately

It is some what like Lucknow Biryani except that the rice is not cooked in meat Shorba. The finished Biryani gives the impression of Hyderabad Biryani with pronounced missing meat flavor in the rice.

This recipe uses goat meat. You can do the same using beef (Sirloin).

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Ingredients

Savory warm water

We will need 5 cups of savory water. 4 cups for cooking Rice, ½ cup for cooking lamb, and ½ cup during layering

1. Water: 5¼ Cups

Spice Potli

1. Cheese Cloth: 1

2. Ginger chopped: 2" x 1"

3. Black Cardamom cracked open:6

4. Black Peppercorn: 10

5. Cinnamon stick 3"x¼" Broken in half: 2

6. Whole Cloves: 8

7. Fennel seeds: ½ teaspoon

8. Bay leaf: 2

9. Nutmeg powder: ¼ teaspoon
10: Salt: 1 teaspoon

Sweet aroma milk

1. Milk: ½ cup
2. Yellow Cardamom cracked: 2
3. Saffron strands: 6
4. Kewra Essence: ½ teaspoon
5. Rose essence: ¼ teaspoon

Rice Layer

1. Ghee: 3 Tablespoons
2. Basmati Rice: 2 Cups
3. Savory warm water: 4 cups

4. Saffron: ¼ teaspoon

Lamb Layer

Tenderization

1. Bone less sirloin of lamb cut in to ¾" x ¾" cubes: 1 Pound

2. Green raw Papaya mashed: ¼ Cup

3. Salt: ½ teaspoon

4. Water: 1 Cup

Sautéing

1. Ghee: 2 Tablespoons
2. Onions finely Chopped: ½ Cup

3. Garlic Minced: 4 Cloves

4. Salt to taste
5. Cayenne Pepper to taste
6. Cumin powder: ½ teaspoon
7. Coriander powder: ½ teaspoon

8. Savory water: ½ cup

Garnish layer

1. Ghee: ¼ cup
2. Onions thinly sliced vertically: 1 Cup
3. Almonds sliced: ¼ cup
4. Cashews halves: ¼ cup
5. Fresh Ginger sliced into thin sticks: 1 Inch
6. Fresh Cilantro chopped: ¼ cup
7. Fresh Peppermint: ¼ cup

Lid Seal

1. Flour: ¼ cup

2. Water: 1 Tablespoon

Method

Step 1: Savory aroma water

Fold the cheese cloth two time. Make a surface about 6"x6". Put spices in the center. Gather edges and tie a string.

Put water to and spice Potli in a pot. Bring it to a boil. Cover. Let it steep on low heat for 20 minutes.

Step 2: Sweet aroma mil

Add Cardamom pods to milk. Warm milk to 100º F. Crush saffron. Add saffron. Let it cool about 10 minutes. Add Kewra and Rose. Cover.

Step 3: Rice

Wash and rinse Rice. Presoak rice for 30 minutes in water. Drain.

Heat Ghee in a heavy bottom pan. Stir in rice. Cook till it just starts to turn opaque white. Crush and sprinkle saffron. Add 4 cups of savory warm aroma milk. Bring it to a boil. Simmer covered for about 14 minutes. Turn off heat. Wait 10 minutes, the moisture will be absorbed.

Step 4: Lamb

1. Tenderization

Pierce meat cubes. Add salt, Papaya and water. Turn on heat, till the water reaches 104º F. Cover. Cook covered on low heat for till meat is tender. The temperature during this process must remain between 104 and 140º F. The meat should be tender in about an hour. After the meat is tender, spoon it out and set aside. Discard water. I don't use the marinate to avoid the the taste of Papaya. I know some would argue that I am losing the gelatinized lamb. It is your choice.

2. Sautéing

Heat Ghee in a heavy bottom pan. Add onions, garlic and salt. Sauté till onions are clear. Add remaining ingredients except water, sauté for two minutes. Add lamb. Stir till lamb is coated. Add ½ cup of savory warm water. Cook covered about till almost all the moisture is gone.

Step 5: Condiment layer

Now we need to prepare items for the garnish layer. Keep all items separate. Sautee onions in Ghee till they are brown and caramelized. Stir-fry Almonds and Cashews so they start to turn brown.

Step 6: Layering

Choose a deep pot to assemble Biryani. You must have a tight fitting lid for the pot.

Remember the top and bottom layers are always Rice. Lay a layer of rice. Add a bit of savory water and sweet milk in circular motion, add a layer of lamb, add a 'garnish layer'. Now start over with the layer of rice. If it is the top layer of the rice, add the savory warm and sweet waters as before and the garnish layer.

Step 7: Baking

We need to now emulate Dum cooking (Cooking on low heat) in a Handi.

Make the seal by kneading dough. Apply dough to the lid all the way around. Seal the pot with the lid.

Preheat oven to 425º F. Place the Biryani pot in the oven.

After 10 minutes turn down the oven temperature to 275º F.

You can remove the pot after 15 minutes, or hold it for up to 90 minutes.

Remove the pot from the oven 15 minutes before service. At the time of service, break the seal (remove the lid).

Note: You can use Aluminum foil in-lieu of the lid and the dough.