Lamb Biryani

Lamb Biryani

I have always wanted to try making a Biryani from SCRATCH and with the help of my wonderful friend Lisha Naidu’s mom’s recipe, I finally did it.  I did tweak it here and there adding some things to the meat and I left out the fennel powder (I couldn’t find it) and the lentils. I also don’t use fresh Coriander because I hate it!! I used Italian Parsley.   Oh I ALSO didn’t use the topping they suggested, I just fried some extra potatoes, tossed them in salt and Paprika and topped the assembled Biryani with that. It takes a bit of effort to prepare everything, cook everything and assemble but it’s sooo worth it. I was busy for about 1h 30min so it’s not SOO bad. It really was DIVINE!

Lamb Biryani

750g deboned Leg of Lamb, cut into bite size chunks
3 sticks Cinnamon
3 Cardomom Pods, Peeled
1 Bay leaf
3 cloves
1tbs Crushed Ginger
1tsb Crushed Garlic
2-4 Chillies, Sliced
½ tsp Coarsely crushed Pepper
3 tsp Ground Cumin
2 tsp Ground Coriander
½ tsp Turmeric
4 tsp Chilli Powder
2tsp Garam Masala
1 tsp Fennel Powder
2 medium Tomatoes, grated
½ cup Sour Cream or Curds, salt to taste
½ cup brown lentils

  • Cook Lentils in water until tender but not mushy. Drain and keep aside.
  • Place meat and whole spices in a deep pot and cook until all traces of pink disappear.
  • Add the rest of the ingredients and stir well to coat the meat and braise until the meat is slightly tender.
  • Stir the lentils into the meat.

Rice:
1 cup uncooked Rice
1 Stick Cinnamon
2 Green Cardamom pods
2 cloves
1 bay leaf
1 tsp salt

  • Combine ingredients in a pot and boil for 10 minutes.
  • Drain off water and keep aside.

Vegetable Prep

1 cup oil
1 carrot, peeled and sliced
½ cup Peas
1 large onion, sliced
6 small potatoes, peeled and cubed
¼ cup chopped Coriander
2 stems Curry Leaves

  • Heat oil, fry potatoes until crisp but not cooked completely.
  • Fry onions in the remaining oil until they are a rich brown.
  • Add the Carrots, Peas and Greens to the onions. Fry for two minutes and keep aside.

Assembly

  • Using a flat-bottomed pot, place a thin layer of rice at the bottom.
  • Add the meat and accumulated juices.
  • Place potatoes, onions and other fried vegetables evenly.
  • Cover with rest of the rice.
  • Set oven to 200°C.

Garnishing
¼ cup Ghee
1tsp Whole Coriander
1tsp Whole Fennel Seeds
1 medium Onion, sliced
Pinch of saffron fronds
1 tbs Rose water
1 ¼ cup warm water

  • Heat ghee, fry Coriander, fennel and Onion.
  • Pour over Rice.
  • Heat saffron until crisp, add the rose water and mix until the colour is strong orange. To make the Saffron Crispy, place on lid of hot pot and then crumble with the back of a spoon.
  • Sprinkle ontop of ingredients.
  • Finally, pour the water around the inside of the pot.
  • Cover securely and place in oven for 45 minutes.

Serve with Buttermilk Mix:

1 cup Buttermilk
1tsp Ground Cumin
1 ½ tsp Ground Coriander
½ tsp Turmeric
½ tsp Chilli powder
1 tsp Salt

Lamb Biryani

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