Tambong_Glutton

I dunno which part of India's Ramzan Biryani we're talking about but down south this is what passes as HYDERABAD SPECIAL BIRIYANI and for some reson i prefer it heaps to most northern biriyanis. Most Important Things here are 1) The rice must be seperate when cooked - stickiness denotes overkill on the oil 2) The final product must be WHITE with just the strands of saffron adding colour 3) NO pastes & no spice powders. Dont worry aboout the chopped onions they melt away later 4) The meat must be halal or kosher or the blood in the meat will ruin the flavour 5) STRICTLY NO HIGH HEAT...nothing must be browned So here goes Heat a ladleful of ghee very tenderly and throw in 2 large sticks of cassia (or cinnamon if you dont get cassia) 1 Cinnamon leaf (tej patta) 4 green cardamons 4 cloves and 1 leaf of mace. when these spices start to gently sizzle add Onions, Ginger & Garlic in the ratio of 3 : 1 : 1. (you can experiment with this, sometimes i omit onions all together) fry till fragrant and the raw smell has almost gone - BUT NOT GONE COMPLETELy Add 2 chopped tomatoes. Back home we'd add almost greenish tomatoes, but under no circumstances get tempted to add tomato sugo or passata kinda stuff. must be fresh. crush the chopped tomatoes in while cooking but DO NOt let them dissolve. Now add the chicken or mutton and stir gently till the surface of the meat is sealed. Now salt to taste, and throw in 1 cup of mint leaves (that is 1 cup after removing them from the stalks) but under no circumstances are we to chop the mint or they impart a bitterness to the biriyani. Add 1 & 1/2 ladlefuls of fresh yoghurt, and stir it in well. and Slit green chillies to taste Cover and let it simmer till the meat is tender. Seperately parboil the rice till 3/4 done gently toast on a tawa and then dissDissolve 1/2 tsp of saffron in 1/2 a cup of warm cream. ASSEMBLY Layer the rice and the meat alternatingly. Add more green chillies if you wish at this stage. On th top most level pour over the saffron cream, cover with alu foil and bake bling in a 100 degree preheated over for about 40 - 45 minutes. Traditional accompaniment is BHAGARA BAIGAN. I've got a killer recipie for it if you want and no fussy POTLI MASALA's to be bought either ENJOY!!