ROSEWATER BIRYANI

FAMILY SUNDAYS CURRY DAY

BEST EVER BIRYANI CURRY

What is happening here...My curry cooking is on fire...Since making Sundays our family curry day some months ago I have a new found knowledge of cooking methods and a greater use of spices in Indian cooking, I am having such fun with fabulous ingredients and spices creating inspired dishes that are simple to make and full of amazing flavours with great leftover dishes for the week.

Prep Time 15 minutes / Cooking Time 30 minutes

I have learnt that Indian mothers and wives spend a huge portion of their day preparing and cooking fresh food for their family, lunch is generally packed in tiffin tins and sent out fresh and hot to working husbands and children in school by bicycle couriers who carry hundreds and hundreds of un-labelled tiffin tins that they always deliver to the right families, while then the family evening meal is prepared, I find making four or five dishes takes me around three hours!

Madhur Jaffrey told the story of how she spent all day preparing the ingredients for the family meal, however Madhur Jaffrey decided to make all her base onions and spices in advance to save time, she did not tell her family and no one noticed a difference in her cooking, she then told her husband who was very supportive and encouraged her to sell her spice mixes to supermarkets and that is how Madhur Jaffrey became a famous household name oh and by being a awesome cook.

Ingredients

(serves 6 generously)

Chicken or Vegetable Biryani

600g chicken sliced OR

1 kg vegetables

sweet potato, butternut squash, potato,
peas and cauliflower

Marinade

1 tbsp ghee
200ml yogurt

1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp cumin seeds 

1 tsp ground coriander seeds

2 tbsp fresh grated ginger

4 cloves garlic grated

4 red chillies chopped

1/2 tsp sea salt

To Be Added Before Cooking
1 tsp cumin seeds
10 cardamon pods bruised open
1 half stick of cinnamon
5 whole cloves
4 fresh tomatoes chopped
1/2 tsp sea salt

Biryani Layering

1 ltr nut oil for frying
5 large onions finely sliced
Pinch saffron infused in 4 tbsp warm milk
150g ghee
4 tbsp water
1 tbsp rosewater
6 mollet soft boiled eggs halved
1 handful dried rose leaves
800g basmati rice soaked in cold water with 1 tsp sea salt

1.  First rinse the rice and place in a bowl cover with cold water and add a tsp of sea salt, leave for at least one hour this is really important for a perfect cook.

2.  For the perfect soft but just set boiled eggs with no white wobbly bits is down to the method, bring a pan of water to a gentle rolling boil add a pinch of sea salt then lower in the eggs, set the timer immediatly for 6 minutes or 6 minutes and 20 seconds if they are large eggs, as soon as the time is up immediately without a seconds delay pour out the boiling water and fill the pan with cold water, re-fill a couple of times this stops the eggs cooking on any further and leave to cool, peel and slice in half ready to garnish your finished dish.

3.  Warm the milk very slightly and add the saffron to infuse leave to one side.

4.  Combine all the marinade ingredients and add your chicken or vegetables and coat well, pop in the fridge while you prep the rest of the ingredients.

5.  In a dry frying pan toast the cumin, cardamon, cinnamon and cloves for a minutes or so just to warm through and release their aromatic flavours, remove from the heat and add to your chopped tomatoes along with the sea salt, now add these to your marinated chicken or vegetables, put the tbsp of ghee in the frying pan, add the chicken or vegetables and cook, you can add a little water if the marinade sticks too much.  Meanwhile...

6.  Next heat the oil for frying to 180 degrees and in batches fry the onions for about 15 minutes until crispy and dark brown, drain on some paper towel.

7.  Drain the rice and place in a large pan of boiling salted water and cook for around 5 minutes, the tip here is that the rice should break in to 3 when pressed between two fingers, that is the prefect part cooked rice that will make a perfect biryani.  Drain and now to work quickly on layering the biryani.

8.  Layering The Biryani
In a large heavy bottomed pan place half the ghee and the water, start with one third of the rice, now half the chicken or vegetables next one third of the onions, now one third of the saffron milk and rosewater, repeat that again and then finish off with the last third of the rice, saffron milk and rosewater, but not the last third of the crispy onions.  Pour the remain ghee around the edge of the pan so that it drips down the inside of the sides of the saucepan, place the pan on a high heat for a couple of minutes to get the ghee hot and some steam going then turn the heat down to a very low heat and leave to steam cook for 30 minutes.  Spoon out to serve on a large family platter, scatter over the remaining crispy onions, top with the halved eggs and sprinkle over the dried rose leaves, eat and enjoy.  I served this with crispy buttery parathas