Adapting Madhur Jaffery

Madhur Jaffery's Lamb Biryani

This has lots of step to make it but you can cut corners to make it quicker. I made this version with rice as instructed but I think it would be good made with 'cauliflower rice' making it IPD friendly.


Worth the work!!!

The flavours are homely, comforting and get better the longer it is left. I had it for lunch the next day and everything had melded together and tasted that little bit better.

You will need
· 450ml cooked long grain rice, (Or large fresh cauliflower grated)
· 3 tbsp
· 3 tbsp Salt
· 1 tsp saffron strands or 1 tsp turmeric
· 2 tbsp Milk, warm
· 2 large Onions, peeled
· 4 garlic cloves, peeled
· 2 level tsp ginger
· 2 tbsp ground almonds
· 2 tbsp slivered almonds
· 10 tbsp vegetable oil
· 3 tbsp sultanas
· 500g boneless shoulder of lamb, cut into 2.5cm cubes
· 250ml natural Greek yogurt
· ½ tsp Cloves
· 0.5 tsp black peppercorns
· 0.5 tsp cardamom seeds
· 1 tsp cumin seeds
· 1 tsp coriander seeds
· ½ tsp cinnamon stick
· ¼ tsp nutmeg
· 25g unsalted butter
· ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
· 3 eggs, hard-boiled, peeled and at room temperature
Method
1. Put the warm milk in a small cup. Crumble the saffron into the warm milk and soak.

2. Cut 1 of the onions into fine half-rings. Set these aside. Chop the remaining onion coarsely. Put chopped onion, garlic, ginger, and ground almonds and 3 tbsp water into the container of an electric blender. Blend until you have a paste.

3. Put 6 tbsp of the oil in a non-stick frying pan. When hot, put in the onion half-rings. Stir and fry them until they are brown and crisp. Remove them with a slotted spoon and spread them out on a plate lined with kitchen paper.

4. Put the sultanas into the same oil. Remove them as soon as they turn plump - which happens immediately. Set aside on kitchen paper.

5. Put the slivered almonds into the oil. Stir and fry them until they are golden. Remove and spread out beside the sultanas. Set aside for use as the garnish.

6. Now put the meat cubes, a few at a time, into the same hot oil and brown them on all sides. As each batch gets done, put in a bowl.

7. Add the remaining 4 tbsp of the oil to the frying pan and turn the heat to medium. When hot, put in the onion-garlic-ginger-almond paste from the blender. Fry, until the paste turns a medium-brown colour. If it sticks slightly to the bottom of the pan, sprinkle in a little water and keep stirring. Add all the spices and fry for 2 minutes. Add the yogurt, 1 tbsp at a time, stirring well between each addition.

8.Now put in 1.25 tsp of the salt and 150ml water. Return the meat to the pan. Mix and bring to a simmer. Cover, turn heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes.

9. When the meat has cooked for 30 minutes. Cover again and continue to cook on low heat for 30 minutes. Remove cover, raise heat to medium and cook, stirring all the time, until you have about 200ml thick sauce left at the bottom of the pan. Turn off the heat and spoon off as much grease as possible. The meat should be pretty well cooked by now.

10. Spread out the meat and sauce in the bottom of a heavy casserole. Cover and keep warm.

11. Pre-heat the oven to 150C/gas 2.

12. Bring 3.6 litres water to a rolling boil in a large pan. Add 1.5 tbsp salt to it. Drain the rice and rinse it off under running water. Slowly, scatter the rice into the boiling water. Bring to a boil again and boil rapidly for exactly 6 minutes. Then drain the rice.

13. Work fast now. Put the rice on top of the meat, piling it up in the shape of a hill. Take a chopstick or the handle of a long spoon and make a 2.5cm wide hole going down like a well from the peak of the rice hill to its bottom. Dribble the saffron milk in streaks along the sides of the hill. Lay the pieces of butter on the sides of the hill and scatter 2 tbsp of the browned onions over it as well. Cover first with aluminum foil, sealing the edges well, and then with a lid. Bake in the oven for 1 hour. Remove from the oven. If left in a warm place, this rice will stay hot for 40 minutes.

14. Just before you get ready to serve, quarter the eggs, lengthwise. Mix the contents of the rice pan gently. Serve the biryani on a warmed platter, garnished with the eggs, remaining browned onions, sultanas and almonds.

Note: make it IPD friendly –ish - don’t use the sultanas and I use a natural 0% fat Greek yogurt (this has a very low Carb count) Instead of the rice I will use grated fresh cauliflower baking for only 30-40 minutes. (Checking to make sure the cauliflower is cooked but still has that ‘rice’ texture after 30 mins.)