Page 8 - desi pages July 2022

SINDHI BIRYANI BY SIDRA ALI

Cooking Time : 45mins

Sindhi Biryani is a special meat and rice biryani dish
originating from the Sindh province of Pakistan.
Owing to its popularity, it forms one of the most
consumed dishes of Pakistani cuisine and Sindhi
cuisine.

INSTRUCTIONS
Marinate the meat in the remaining marinade ingredients for at
least 2 hours or preferably refrigerate overnight. This helps ten-
INGREDIENTS FOR MEAT derize the meat and builds flavor. Remember to remove the meat
• 1 kg mutton/goat, cut into big pieces (or half an hour before you begin cooking to bring it to room tem-
perature.
one chicken cut into 8 pieces)
• 1/4 cup yoghurt Deep fry the potato chunks on low heat until a knife pierced
through the center of each potato piece yields easily. Drain and
• 1 tsp ginger paste set aside (you may opt to boil the potatoes if you like, but I find
• 1 tsp garlic paste2 tbsp oil they hold their shape and taste a lot better fried).
• 1 tsp red chili powder Wash and then soak the rice for about 20-30 minutes.
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder Heat the half cup of oil in a deep pan and then fry the onion slices
• 1 green chili, chopped until golden. Remove a quarter of the fried onions (these will be
• 1 tsp salt used later) and leave the rest in the pan. Add the whole spices

INGREDIENTS: (cumin, cardamom, pepper, cloves, bay leaves, cinnamon, and
black pepper). Once they sizzle, add the garlic and ginger pastes,
• 5 cups long grain basmati rice and stir them in until aromatic. Next, add tomatoes, prunes, tur-
• 1/2 cup oil meric, salt, and red chili powder.
• 6 medium onions, sliced Stir and cook this down until the tomatoes are completely mushy
• 4 medium tomatoes, finely chopped and all the excess moisture is gone. You will notice that the oil
• 4 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into begins to get released from the sides. Add the green chilies and
chunks (optional) the meat with its marinade. Allow the meat to cook in the tomato
• 10 dried prunes, soaked in warm water for mixture for a few minutes, then add the whipped yoghurt plus the
5 minutes saffron mixture and mix well. Then add about a cup of water (use
• 2-4 green chilies, chopped just half cup water if cooking with chicken as it will cook faster
• 1 cup fresh yoghurt, whipped until smooth than meat) and cook until the meat is tender, and the masala/gra-
• 2 tsp garlic paste
• 2 tsp ginger paste vy is nice and thick. I normally do this in a pressure cooker when
• 1 tsp salt, or to taste working with mutton/goat, takes less time. But you can do it in a
• 1 tsp red chili powder regular pan, just keep adjusting the water until the meat is fully
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder cooked. Now add the fried potatoes and stir them in. Sprinkle the
• 1 tsp garam masala garam masala, then cover and set this aside while you prepare
• 4 cloves the rice.
• 1 tsp Chat Masala Bring a large pot of water to the boil, add about 2 tbsp salt to it
• 2 green cardamom pods and 2 tbsp oil plus a few whole spices (two pieces each of carda-
• 2 black cardamom pods mom, cinnamon sticks, cloves). Then drain the soaked rice and
• 5 whole black pepper add it in. Cook until the rice is al-dente, do not cook it all the
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 cinnamon sticks way. It should be about three quarters of the way cooked. This
• 2 bay leaves should take about 8 minutes or less. Drain the water off.
• 2 tbsp fresh mint, chopped Layer the meat masala with the rice, remembering to sprinkle the
• 2 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped reserved fried onions, chopped coriander and mint and some food
• 1 tsp saffron, crushed and soaked in warm coloring over the rice in between the layers. Cover with a tight lid
water and place on very low heat for about 15 minutes to steam. Once
• yellow/orange food color done, open and fluff up the biryani gently.
• water, as needed Serve with an onion and tomato kachumbar and some cool mint
• oil for frying potatoes and cucumber raita to counter the spices. Enjoy!

DesiPages DFW | July 2022 VOL 41 | 8