Jasmine and Jinns
Page 8
Biryani
Everybody loves a good biryani. It is invariably associated with a dinner or banquet hosted by Muslims. The Sindhis, Bohras, Hyderabadis and others have their own versions of the biryani, which are becoming popular. Readymade masala mixes from Pakistan help you produce wonderful Sindhi biryani. However, I believe our biryani is the ultimate, especially the biryani cooked by professionals that is served at weddings and other occasions. Dilliwalas have a couple of different recipes for biryani, but I am going to reveal the easiest home version.
I don’t remember eating chicken biryani in my childhood, for biryani was traditionally made with mutton. However, in the last decade or so, chicken biryani has become quite popular, even at weddings. I think the rising cost of mutton is the reason for the changeover. Chicken biryani tastes good but, frankly, it doesn’t come close to the original mutton biryani.
Traditionally, the ratio of meat used in biryani is ded guna, which is one-and-a-half times the quantity of the rice. In the old days, saffron was used but with good quality saffron difficult to find, most of us use food colouring. If you add saffron, then nothing like it. Earlier, haarsingar flowers, called night jasmine in English, were soaked in water that was added to biryani for colouring and fragrance. Women used the remaining water to colour their dupattas. Commonly used in ayurvedic and unani medicine, these flowers are sold at about `3,000 a kilogram in some shops in the old city.
¾ kg mutton or chicken
½ kg basmati rice
2 tsp garlic
1½ tsp ginger
10 green cardamoms
8 cloves
300 gm curd
¾ cup oil or desi ghee
½ cup milk
2 tsp kewra water
½ tsp saffron or saffron colour
1 cup desi ghee or oil
Salt to taste
Soak the basmati rice for 30 to 45 minutes. Heat oil, add 4 cloves and 5 green cardamoms and leave for a minute or two. Cardamoms are best when slightly crushed. Add the garlic, ginger, salt and meat, frying for a few minutes. Add the curd and continue frying till the oil separates from the meat. Now add about 2-3 cups water, and pressure-cook for one whistle. Or let the meat cook on slow flame till the meat is three-fourth done.
Now add the soaked rice along with the remaining 4 cloves and 5 cardamoms to the meat. The water in the utensil should remain about 2½" above the rice. Add a little more water if necessary. Cook on medium flame, when the water is absorbed, then minimize the flame. Now, mix the saffron or saffron colouring with milk and pour around the rice. Sprinkle the kewra over it as well.
Place a thick cloth or small towel over the utensil before placing the lid. Leave on dum for 10 to 15 minutes till the rice and meat are done. One of the signs of a good biryani is that the rice should not be overcooked. Each grain of rice should remain separate from the other.
Kofta – Meat Balls in Gravy
Kofta is a bit tricky to make and needs a little practice. So don’t be disillusioned if you don’t get them right in the first attempt. Since kofta require fine mincemeat, the butcher needs to be informed so that he makes the meat accordingly. In our families, when getting meat for koftas, ingredients such as green chillies, onions, fresh coriander leaves are sent to the butcher to add to the meat in the mincing process. Kofta are cooked throughout the year and a great hit with everyone, particularly with those who prefer boneless meat.
One of the ingredients used in kofta is khush khaash, poppy seeds. I know some people who got into serious trouble with customs in Saudi Arabia for carrying poppy seeds. The Arabs refused to believe that they were meant for cooking. They just see poppy as a form of drugs! I learnt how to make kofta from Asiya, Khala Rabia’s younger daughter.
Kofta
½ kg fine mincemeat
2 green chillies, finely chopped
½ tsp poppy seeds
3 tbsp roasted chana, powdered
3 tbsp curd (optional)
2 medium-sized onions, finely chopped
1 tsp garam masala
1 tbsp oil or desi ghee
25 gm fresh coriander leaves, finely chopped
Salt to taste
It is best to grind all the ingredients in a blender and mix with mincemeat. Now make small round balls by gently rolling the mince in your palms. Wet your hands before making the kofta. You can make 12-14 small koftas with ½ kg of mincemeat.
Gravy
4 medium-sized onions, golden fried
200-250 gm curd
1 tsp garlic paste
4-5 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
½ tsp garam masala
½ cup oil
Salt to taste
Blend the golden fried onions with the curd in a mixer for a few seconds and keep aside. Heat oil and add garlic, coriander powder, salt, red chilli powder and garam masala powder. Fry the masala for 2 or 3 minutes with half a cup of water. When the oil rises, add the curd and onion mixture. Stir lightly and cook on medium flame for 5 to 8 minutes. When the oil rises, add about 2 cups of water for the gravy. Once it boils, lower the flame and gently add the koftas one by one. Cook on low flame for approximately 25 to 30 minutes. Do not use a ladle and do not cover the lid as the kofta might break. Just move the cooking pot around a bit so the kofta turn and cook evenly. Garnish with fresh coriander.
Note: Ginger paste is not used for the gravy because it breaks the kofta.
Shabdegh
Traditionally, Shabdegh consisted of mutton pieces, kofta and thick chunks of carrot or turnip sliced into halves. These days it is mostly made with just kofta and turnips or carrot. Shab in Urdu means night, and the degh would be left to simmer on dheemi aanch, low flame, through the night. In earlier days, shabdegh was ordered from professional cooks. Now, many of us make a simpler version at home. Even though it is a winter dish, I am adding this recipe here as a spin-off from the kofta recipe. Kofta are required for shabdegh.
½ kg mincemeat
½ kg thick carrots or turnips
Make the kofta and keep aside. Cut the carrots into 2 to 2 ½" pieces. Slit the thicker pieces lengthwise into two and then scrape out the hard, yellowish part from the upper and middle portion of the carrots. If using turnips, slice them vertically into halves.
Prepare the gravy for the kofta and add carrots or turnips. Once they are half cooked, gently drop the kofta one by one in the gravy. Leave on minimum flame for 25 to 30 minutes till both the kofta and the vegetables are done. Garnish with fresh chopped coriander leaves and a sprinkling of garam masala.
Tamatar Qeema – Tomato Mince
1 kg mincemeat
6-7 medium-sized tomatoes, chopped finely
2 tsp coriander powder
2 tsp garlic paste
1½ tsp ginger paste
5-6 medium-sized onions, golden fried
1 tsp red chilli powder
3-4 green chillies, whole
½ cup oil
Salt to taste
Heat oil and add the fried onions, garlic and ginger paste, coriander powder, red chilli powder and salt. Add a little water and fry the masala for a minute or two. When the oil rises, add the mincemeat. When it is half done, add tomatoes and green chillies. Cook on low flame till the mincemeat is done. Garnish with fresh chopped coriander leaves and a sprinkling of garam masala.
Khadey Masala ka Qeema – Whole Spice Mince
This variety of mincemeat cooked with whole spices is delicious.
1 kg mincemeat
300 gm curd
4 medium-sized onions, sliced
4 black cardamom pods
6-8 cloves
4 tbsp coriander seeds, crushed
6-8 whole red chillies
2-4" cinnamon
8-10 black peppercorns
10-12 pods of garlic, finely chopped
4" ginger, finely chopped
1 medium-sized tomato, chopped
2 bay leaves
½ cup oil
Salt to taste
Heat oil and fry the onions for a few minutes till translucent. Now add whole cloves, cardamoms, peppercorns and cinnamon. After a minute or two, add the mincemeat, ginger, garlic, red chillies and the crushed coriander seeds. Occasionally stir the pot, and cook on high flame till the water from the mincemeat evaporates. When the oil rises, add curd and tomato. Pressure-cook for one whistle or on low flame till the mince is done. Garnish with fresh chopped coriander leaves.
Shaami Kebab
Making shaami kebab can be tricky and requires some practice. Once the mixture is ready, they can be made and frozen. Most of these are now prepared plain but in the old days, Amma would add a kachumar, stuffing, in the centre of the kebab. If you plan to freeze the kebab, then do not use onions in the stuffing because they release water and spoil the texture. The best way to ensure good quality meat for shaami kebab is to get the mincemeat made from pasanda, boneless chunks from the raan.
Interestingly, shaami kebab have nothing to do with Shaam, the Urdu, Persian and Arabic name for Syria. Why they are called shaami kebab remains a mystery. In Damascus, they have a dish with koftas in gravy – kebab hindi. In much the same way, these have nothing to do with Hind, Hindustan.
Kebab Mixture
½ kg mincemeat
1 cup chana dal
1 medium-sized potato
1 medium-sized onion, sliced into four
5-6 whole red chillies
1" ginger
4-5 garlic pods
2 black cardamom pods
4 cloves
1 raw egg
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
8-10 peppercorns
Oil for frying
Salt to taste
Stuffing
3-4 onions, finely chopped
Ginger, finely chopped
Green chillies, finely chopped
Mint leaves, finely chopped
1 tsp lemon juice
Salt to taste
Boil the mince with a cup of water along with all the ingredients except the egg. Once the mince is cooked and dry, grind the mixture. Now add the raw egg and mix well. Make small, flat round cakes by rolling them with your palms and put a little stuffing in the centre. Once the kebab are made, leave them in the fridge for a little while so that they set well. Keeping the flame low, shallow fry the kebab lightly on both sides till a golden crust appears. Drain excess oil on a paper towel.
Nargisi Kofta
Nargisi kofta is a rare treat. I am adding this recipe here as these kofta require the prepared shaami kebab mixture. The shaami kebab mixture of half kg mincemeat should be enough to prepare 16 portions of nargisi kofta.
8 hard-boiled eggs
½ kg shaami kebab mixture
16 black peppercorns
Prepare the shaami kebab mixture and divide it into eight equal parts. Flatten each part in your palm and wrap the kebab mixture evenly around the boiled eggs. This coating should not be very thick. Shallow fry the eggs till the kebab layering turns golden brown. Now slice the eggs lengthwise in halves and place a black peppercorn in the middle. The eggs then take the shape of nargisi aankhien, beautiful eyes. Add the eggs to the gravy in the serving dish.
Note: Prepare the gravy for nargisi kofta with the recipe for kofta gravy.
Winter
After a gruelling summer and a humid September, which Nani called sitamgar, oppressive, Dilliwalas await the pleasant cool months of October and early November. Along with February and March, these months are called gulabi mausam, rosy weather. Between October and March is when most weddings and parties take place.
As the temperatures drop, dishes like nihari, paya, shabdegh and haleem that contain more spices are made to keep the body warm. Nihari is traditionally a beef curry that is cooked all night and served at dawn. It is made in a degh that is fixed in a clay enclosure that uses coal or wooden logs for fuel. The degh is sealed while the nihari simmers and is opened early morning. It is said that a little leftover nihari is mixed with the next fresh lot of nihari being prepared. This is called taar, believed to be responsible for the unique flavour of the dish. Mamoo Abdullah said that some old shops boasted of an unbroken nihari taar going back to more than a century.
Those days, nihari and shabdegh were ordered from professional cooks and never cooked at home. We ate nihari nihar muh, on an empty stomach. Till some years ago, nihari was called gharibon ka khana, poor man’s food, and considered inappropriate for serving to guests. Over the years, it has come to be treated as a delicacy and is even served at weddings. How things change!
Legend has it that the workers engaged in the construction of Shahjahanabad began their early mornings with nihari that was cooked overnight. This wholesome dish provided them sustenance for the day’s hard work. Over the centuries, various herbs, spices and chillies were added to the nihari degh.
At Shama Kothi, in the days when Abba was the head of the family, every winter Sunday was Nihari Day. On Saturday evenings, the drivers carried a large bartan, utensil, to the outlet. We were given the first serving of nihari, which is considered the finest. On Sundays, at the crack of dawn, the driver brought the nihari and khamiri roti home. Nihari eateries in the old city still open at dawn and if one is late, you get leftovers.
On Sunday mornings around eight, the whole family was expected to gather for nihari breakfast in the sun-soaked verandah adjoining the garden. The dastarkhwan would be spread out on the floor with all of us sitting on the dari chandni. Plates were warmed in a tub of hot water to prevent the ghee from solidifying. A lighted coal angheeti, stove, stood in a corner of the verandah.
As we sat around the dastarkhwan, each one was handed a plateful of nihari with a bhagar of desi ghee and crisp golden fried onions. Plates full of garnish were also laid out. These included chopped ginger, garam masala, sliced green chillies and slices of lemon. Hot khamiri roti, thick round yeast bread baked in a tandoor, accompanied the nihari. These were bought from a well-known rotiwala in the old city.
To neutralize the effect of the hot spices, we finished the meal with a bowlful of gajarbhatta, a porridge made from carrots with toppings of malai. We then sat in the sun and ate large santarey, oranges, the rarely seen Nagpur variety. This family tradition ended with Abba’s death almost thirty-three years ago.
The nihari we had was bought from an eatery near the Tughlaq era Kalan mosque inside Turkman Gate. Since the mosque is commonly called Kali Masjid, this nihari came to be known as ‘Kali Masjid ki Nihari’. The small, old style shop with wooden benches continues to do brisk business. Sometimes in winter, Vaseem, my younger brother, and I go there to have nihari at dawn. Although the quality has dropped over the years, it is still worth it. Other popular nihariwalas are Shabrati of Chitli Qabar, Kallu of Daryaganj and Noora of Baada Hindu Rao. Nikki of Baada makes the finest khamiri, baqerkhani and qulcha roti.
In the last many years, cooking nihari at home has become quite popular. Many of my cousins and aunts make it really well. Packaged nihari masalas, especially the ones that come from Pakistan, have made cooking nihari easier. Of course, those who use readymade masala rarely confess to using it! These days I even hear of chicken nihari, which is blasphemous for us Dilliwalas.
Other winter favourites include biryani, qorma, haleem and paya. Haleem is made with mutton, whole wheat and chana dal. Traditionally, it involves a lengthy process of washing, drying the wheat, cooking all the ingredients separately and then deboning the meat, pounding all the ingredients together. I often make haleem with whole-wheat porridge instead of whole wheat grain. However, it does not taste the same as making it with the whole wheat but is almost as good.
Nihari
1 kg mutton shanks
Nihari Masala
3-4 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
4 tsp dried ginger powder
1 blade mace
½ nutmeg
4 green cardamoms
4-6 small bay leaves
2" cinnamon
10 cloves
15 black peppercorns
4 black cardamoms
Gravy
2 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp deghi red chilli powder
1 cup oil
½ cup whole-wheat flour
Salt to taste
When you purchase mutton, tell the butcher it is for nihari so that he prepares large cuts of adla. I swear by this recipe that Ainee shared with me. She often makes the nihari masala powder and gives it to her family and others who ask for it.
We use both varieties of red chilli powder because while the regular makes it hot and spicy, the deghi adds colour to the dish. If you want the nihari spicier, increase both the chilli powders in equal proportion.
Grind all the ingredients for the masala powder together in the mixer and keep it aside. Heat oil, add garlic and ginger paste, red chilli powder and salt. Fry with a little water for a few minutes till the oil rises. Now add the meat and stir for 5 to 10 minutes till the water it releases evaporates and the oil rises. Then add the powdered nihari masala and continue to stir for a few minutes. Now add 4-5 cups of water. You could pressure-cook for two whistles or leave on low flame till the meat is done.
The wheat flour is used to thicken the nihari and for enhancing taste. Roast the wheat flour over a tawa, or in another utensil for a few minutes. The wheat should turn slightly darker but not brown. Mix the roasted wheat flour with a cup of water, and make sure it does not form lumps. The water and flour mixture is added to the boiling nihari till the right thickness of the gravy is achieved. Leave to simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. The nihari is ready to be served.