Biryani a la Brigitte

Years ago, my friend Maya who is Indian, introduced me to this delicious and delicate dish.  I fell in love.  The complex layers of spice infused into basmati rice and meat gives this dish a taste experience like no other. 

 

I love the fact that it is a one pan meal.  Do not be put off by the lengthy list of ingredients.  It's mostly measuring things out, cutting up an onion and meat and chopping a garlic clove and some cilantro if you choose to use it.  The step by step instructions should help make preparation of this dish a relatively simple task.

 

This is my version of this wonderful Indian classic.

 

Here's what you'll need for 2 generous servings: 

To Prepare the Rice 

                               2 C basmati rice

                               1/2 C baby green peas

                               3 T butter

                               1/2 t whole cloves

                               1 T chopped fresh ginger

                               1 bay leaf

                               8 cardamom pods

                               1 cinnamon stick

                               1 medium cooking onion

                                  (halved then sliced cross-wise)

 

To Prepare the Meat



                                    5 ounce boneless skinless chicken breast

                                   5 ounce piece of round steak

                                   1/4 C oil

                                   1 large garlic clove, chopped

                                   1 t garam masala

                                   1/2 t cinnamon

                                   1 t turmeric

 

For the Finishing Touch

                               1/4 C currants

                               1/4 C almond slivers (toasted)

                               Coriander (optional)

 

Let's get the meat ready...

 

Now if you've been following my blog, you might remember the Asian Soup Bowl for Two where I used one chicken breast and a piece of round steak.  Each came in a package of 2 pieces.  After I made the soup, I froze my remaining meat in one package and voila, I have my meat to make biryani!  You can use all chicken or all beef and pieces that are slightly larger than I have here.



 

Cut meat on a diagonal against the grain into strips.

In a bowl, add the meat, garlic,
cinnamon, turmeric and garam masala.

Add about 1/4 C of oil to the meat and mix well until the spices are blended and the meat is thoroughly coated.
Use a neutral oil like canola or vegetable.
Let it marinate for at least 30 minutes.
If you're planning to make this for tomorrow's dinner,
just cover with plastic wrap & pop it in the fridge to do its thing.

Add a few T of oil to a deep saucepan.
Sautee the onions on medium high heat
for about 5 minutes to soften.
Remove from pan to add later.

Melt butter in the same pan.
Scrape up brown bits from the onion - lots of flavour here!
Add cinnamon stick, bay leaf, cardamom, cloves & ginger*.
Mix the spices around as you cook until fragrant
about 1 to 2 minutes on medium high heat.

*The ginger you see here is from my frozen stock. 
I buy a large bulb, chop and separate into tablespoons,
then freeze for future use - just like this!

Add the rice into the spiced butter and mix well.
Cook for about a couple of minutes until some of the grains turn a brighter white like in the picture.


Add the peas, onions and the meat
with the oil and everything.


Mix through so it's well blended.
Keep stirring around for about another minute.


Add 2 C of water and mix through.
Scrape bottom of pan to loosen any brown bits,
again, for extra flavour.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low.
Cover with a tight fitting lid and let cook for about 20 minutes until all the liquid is absorbed.

While your biryani cooks, let me give you an intro to the "mezza luna".


Mezza luna means "half moon" --
a reference to the shape of the blade.
This is a great little gizmo to chop herbs.
It has double blades to cover more surface area.
You hold it by the black knobs and rock it
back and forth to do the chopping.

Now back to our regularly scheduled recipe...

20 minutes later, your biryani is ready!


Remove the  large spices.
The cinnamon stick and bay leaf are obvious.
You'll have to root around for the cardamom and cloves.
You may not get the all the smaller ones so it's a case of,
"Let the eater beware!"


Mix in the currants and almonds.
A great substitution for almonds is unsalted cashew pieces.
I ran out of almond slivers after I made the muesli post. 
I did have whole blanched almonds so I took my mallet
to them to make smaller pieces.
You can also use dark raisins instead of currants.
The dish will need salt at this point. 
Start with a 1/2 teaspoon. 
Add in increments until it hits your personal salt palate.

Serve in bowls, top with cilantro if desired.

This goes great with beer!

 

If you've never made biryani, give it a try.

The combination of gently spiced meat, aromatically flavoured basmati, sweet currants, toasted crunchy almonds and earthy cilantro make this dish a dinner winner!