Lamb Biryani

I was introduced to Indian Food by my Indian colleagues while working at DirecTV. Prior to this, my exposure to Indian food was in those Indian restaurants that buffet style dishes. They’re tasty, but limited in authenticity. Every place serves chicken tikka masala and lamb curry, samosa, naan, etc.  Biryani is not a common menu item in most restaurants.

Through my Indian friends/colleagues, I learned that Biryani has many versions depending on the region and method of cooking. My wife, who is very “picky” with her food, was not exposed to Indian food. The few times I tried getting her to try Indian food failed miserably.  It is usually not the food, but rather her biased opinion that I eat junk food. Well, I like to add Siracha or any kind of sweet chili sauce to my food.  That really gets her all upset. I learned the hard way to never add any of these sauces to food that she cooked.  So to her, any food I recommend should be terrible.  She always tell me she likes her food with “original” flavor. She has very sensitive senses, and she can tell what ingredients might be in a dish. She eats with her sight, smell, and taste buds. All three senses need to be aligned for her to enjoy her food.

On one of our road trip from Los Angeles to Seattle, we stopped by in Eugene, Oregon. It was around dinner time, and I was looking for a bite to eat. I noticed that there was an Indian restaurant closed. I asked the wife if she wanted anything to eat, and she decided to pass when I told her I was getting Indian food.  This restaurant was small and seem to cater mainly for take-out. I didn’t have high expectations for the quality of the food.  I saw that they offer several flavors of Biryani. I figure, it should be decent.  I ordered their lamb biryani dish and took it back to the car. In the car, the biryani aroma smells so appetizing and apparently caught the wife’s attention. She asked what it was and asked to try it. I handed her the take-out box, expecting her to hand it back right away. She took 2-3 scoops and told me to go get my own biryani.  I was surprised.  I asked Are you sure?  She said the biryani was very tasty.  Long story short, since that trip, she has constantly asked me if I can make her biryani like the one in Oregon. 

To put pressure on me, she came home one day with 2 boxes of lamb shoulder from Costco.  That is 20 packs or 40lbs of bone-in lamb shoulders! So here we are, after many attempts, I finally got it down right, with her stamp of approval!  There are so many biryani recipes online, it is really hard to know whose version is authentic and good.  They all look good.  I settled on the one in Panning the Glode and make modifications based on others.

Ingredients – Lamb Marinate:
  1.  4lbs of boneless lamb (shoulder or leg meat) cut into bite size
  2.  1.5 – 2 Tablespons of chopped ginger
  3.  4-6 Tablespoons of minced garlic
  4.   1 teaspoon of salt. Kosher salt if available.
  5.   1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
  6.   1 cup yogurt
Ingredients – Biryani Rice:
 
3 rice measuring cup Basmati Rice
6 Tablespoon Butter
2 Teaspn Cumin Seed
6 pcs cloves
1 Black Cardamon pod
2 Green Cardamon pods
2 Bay leaves
1 pc cinnammon stick  ( 1-3 inch)
1 Teaspn Sea Salt
1 Small red onion ( can use shallots  about 6 pcs)
1.5 Teaspn Saffron (crushed )
10 rice measuring cups lamb stock or other stock. Water is fine if stock is not available
 
Ingredients – Lamb Curry:
1  large red onion thinly sliced – use more or less up to you
4 – 15oz can of tomato sauce
2 tablespoon paprika 
2 teaspoon tumeric powder
2 teaspoons garam masala powder
5 teaspoons kosher Salt (season to taste)
1 teaspoon cayenne powder (optional)
 
Preparation Steps – Marinating the Lamb:
  1. I am using 2 – 4lb packs of lamb shoulders.  I had to debone it, making sure I don’t leave too much meat on the bones.  Normally, I would throw most of the bigger bone pieces away and just leave the rib bones for my pomeranian.  However, this time, I wanted to use all the bones to make a Lamb stock.  Cut the meat into bite-size chunks. For a 4 lb shoulder, after deboning, I ended up with about 2.2 lb of meat and a little fat.
  2. In a large bowl, add the lamb, minced garlic, chopped ginger, salt, pepper, yogurt.  Mix and massage everything until well-mixed.  Wrap and cover the bowl and refrigerate overnight.
Preparation Steps – Lamb Curry:
  1. Thinly slice the red onion and put it aside
  2. Gather the spices (paprika, turmeric powder, garam masala powder, salt, cayenne powder) in a bowl.  Add about 3 Tablespoons of hot water (may need more) and mix the spice powder into a paste. Add more hot water if the spice powders are too dry.
  3. Heat 3 Tablespoons of butter and 1 tablespoon of oil in a deep frying pan or heavy pot. Add the sliced onion and fry till it is caramelized and browned. Remove the onion to a plate.
  4.  In the same pan or pot, add 2 tablespoons of oil, heat the oil till you see smoke starting to rise, add a couple of scoops of lamb and fry till they are brown on all sides. Remove to a bowl, and repeat this step for the rest of the lamb
  5.  Add all the lamb and onions back to the pot, with the tomato sauce and spices. Cook on medium-low heat, stirring frequently to prevent the bottom from burning. You want to cook the lamb until it is tender. Use a fork or a sharp skewer to poke through the meat to test the tenderness.
  6. The lamb curry can be prepared ahead of time.
Prepare the Biryani Rice:
  1. In a pot, add  the butter, on medium heat fry the onion till they are translucent.
  2.  Add the spices – cumin seeds, black and green cardamon pods, cloves, saffron, cinnamon stick, and bay leaves. Fry for 1-2 minutes until you can smell the spice and onion fragrance.
  3.  Next add the rice to the above and mix thoroughly. At this point, the rice should have a yellowish color due to the saffron.
  4.  Now add the lamb stock. Make sure the rice is completely covered by the liquid by about 1-2 inches. Cook the rice for about 5-7 minutes or until it is about 70% cooked. At this point, the stock should have mostly been absorbed by the rice. To test the rice, take a bite of the rice, it should not be hard or soft and mushy. It the middle should not be cooked.
  5.  Pour the rice into a colander to drain the remaining liquid.
Layering the Rice and lamb curry:
  1.  Heat half a cup of milk and a pinch of saffron threads.  This will be used to spread over the rice layer. (optional)
  2. Using a Dutch oven or a pot with a thick bottom, thinly grease the bottom to prevent the rice from being burnt in the final stage.
  3.  First, layer enough rice to cover the bottom of the pot. Some recipes call for the bottom layer to be lamb curry.  I have tried that also. I have a tendency to burn the lamb curry. This last time, I decided to layer the rice first.
  4.  Next, layer the Lamb curry on top of the rice. Cover this with another layer of rice. At this point, if you like, you can sprinkle raisins, nuts, dried fruits, over the rice.
  5.  Repeat layering steps. The top layer should be the rice.  Over all there should be about 2 layers of lamb curry and 3 layers of rice.  Do not add too much sauce when layering the lamb curry.
  6.  When the layering is completed, cover the pot with a lid.  For a Dutch oven, the lid should be heavy enough to prevent steam from escaping. For other pot, you may need to cover the pot with a cloth or in my case, I use foil. Place the lid over the foil. Cook on medium-low or low heat.  If the heat is too high, it will burn the bottom layer. You want to use enough heat to create steam that will finish cooking the rice.  It will take about  15 – 20 minutes. Resist the temptation to check the rice too often as this will allow the steam to escape. Remember, it will take a few minutes to generate enough heat in the pot for the steam to start
  7. Once the cooking is completed.  It is ready to be served.
Subscribe
Subscribe
Verified by MonsterInsights