|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Don’t we all know that a plateful of long-grained golden sela, blended with spicy meat curry, sprinkled with a few drops of iitr do not make a biryani? Some cooks are even bold enough to claim that their fake product is the authentic Hyderabadi culinary classic. Only rarely have we come across the real Mc Coy. Preparing a mutton biryani is a laborious task—there are no short cuts. A qorma or yakhnai pulav may have its own attraction but neither is a biryani. Don’t lose heart—if you can do without the red meat you can enjoy a biryani-inspired delicacy that can be habit forming. Good friend Mahavir introduced us to a Malabari master chef who specialises in delectable take-away fare who treated us recently to a prawn biryani—he calls it chemeen pulav but we shall let that pass. For once, we thought some worthy rival has at least for once surpassed Miyan Farouk in tantalising innovation. Farouk insists that to qualify as biryani the rice has to be biriyan—fried in original Persian. Fry it a little by all means if you wish to assert purist snobbery; we on our part are quite happy with the fishy Kerala special as it comes. It is beautiful to look at and can do without fancy accompaniments or garnishes. If you are not very partial to southern flavours, the recipe can easily be adapted to local palate preferences by substituting the sambar masala with garam masala and tamarind with tomatoes. Chef’s corner Ingredients Prawns (shelled and de-veined) 250 gm Dried prawns 250 gm Oil 4 tbsp Onions (sliced) 150 gm Ginger (crushed) 1 inch piece Garlic cloves, crushed 10 Green chillies (slit) 10 Coconut milk (thick) 1/2 cup Coconut milk (thin) 1 cup Tamarind extract 3 tbsp Sambhar masala 3 tbsp Salt to taste Method Mix the dried and fresh
prawns along with salt and keep aside for 30 minutes. Boil rice in
salted water till 9/10th done. Keep aside. Heat the oil in
a pan, add onions, ginger and garlic and stir-fry on low heat till
golden brown, stirring continuously to ensure that it does not stick
to the pan and burn. Return the onion mixture to the pan along with
the prawns and green chillies, stir-fry for 3-4 minutes. Blend the sambhar
masala with the thin coconut milk and put it in a pan with prawns
to boil. Stir in the tamarind extract and mix well. Cook for about 10
minutes more. Remove prawns from gravy and thicken the gravy by
boiling it briskly. Line a pan lightly with butter/oil, then put a
layer of rice, then add the reserved prawns, top with rice and finish
with prawns. Pour the thick gravy, cover and place on a pre-heated tawa
for about five minutes. Serve hot with rice.
|
||
|
|
||
There
was a time when biryani was our most beloved delicacy—a
convenient one-dish feast that was nourishing, flavourful and
romantically exotic at the same time. Disillusionment followed swiftly
in the footsteps of enchantment (or infatuation). We discovered that
at most outlets, including the much-hyped five star eateries, what was
passed off as biryani was a hastily made concoction that owed
its lackluster existence more to the frying pan than to a deg
basking in the glow of dum.