Kerala Beef Biryani

Biryani is a glorious one pot meal,satisfying and delicious. It is an exotic dish prepared and served on all festive occasions. The rice and meat is gently spiced and flavored with earthy spices. Biryani is a one pot meal, but not easy (of course there is a quicker pressure cooker version! ), as prepping and making a good biryani is time consuming. But once in a while I do crave for Biryani as a weekend dinner. I have already shared a lot of Biryani recipes in this blog. Here's one more to the list- it is a Kerala style beef biryani.

Ingredients
To cook rice
Kaima Rice- 3 cups
Ghee- 1 tsp
Fried onion- 2 tbs
Salt- to taste
Water- 6 cups
Cinnamon- 2 inch
clove- 4-5
Star Aniseed - 2
Green chilly -1
Chopped pineapple- 3 tbs
Mint leaves- a few

For the masala

Beef - 1 kg
Ghee- 3-4 tbs
Shallots- 1 cup
Green Chilly- 10
Ginger- 2 inch piece
Garlic pods- 8-10
Tomato-3 small
Carrot Cubed- 3/4 cup
Chopped coriander leaves and mint- 1 tbs
Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
Chilly powder- 1 tsp
Coriander powder- 2 tsp
Lemon juice- 1 tbs
Garam masala powder- Roast and make a fine powder of the following
(Fennel- 1 tsp,Cinnamon- 1 inch thick,Cardamon- 3,Black pepper- 1 tbs,Black cumin/ jeera- 1/2 tsp, Curry Jeera/cumin- 1/2 tsp,Cloves- 5-6,nutmeg- a small piece,Mace- 2-3)
salt to taste
Lemon- 1
oil

To make a paste
Coconut- 1/4 cup
Cashew nuts- 1/4 cup
Fennel seeds- 1/2 tsp

To Garnish
Onion thinly sliced- 4 medium
Cashew nuts- 10
Raisins- a hand full
saffron- a pinch
Ghee- 2 tsp
mint leaves
Coriander leaves

Prepping for the biryani
1)Marinate the meat with chilly powder, coriander powder, salt and juice of half lemon. Set this aside for one hour.
2)Heat ghee and oil in a pan and fry raisins and cashew nuts till golden brown,drain and set aside.
3)Fry thinly sliced onions till crispy and golden brown. Drain and set aside . You can use this onions in three stages, cooking rice,masala and final garnish.
4)Make a fine paste of cashew nuts, coconut and fennel seeds.
5)Crush shallots,green chilly, garlic and ginger into a course paste.
6)Roast the spices listed under masala and make into a fine powder.
7)Chop mint and coriander leaves and set aside.

Cooking the rice

Wash and drain rice completely dry. Heat one tbs of ghee. Add the whole spices and saute. Next add green chilly, chopped pineapple and mint leaves and saute for a minute. Next add rice and 2 tbs of fried onion and stir fry gently for one minute. Add salt, and 6 cups of warm water and cook till the rice is 80% done.Squeeze half of a lemon over the rice and fluff the rice with fork.

To make the masala.
Heat oil in a pan and add the crushed onion, ginger,garlic and green chilly mixture. Saute for 5-6 minutes in medium flame till is golden brown. Add turmeric and tomatoes and cook till it is soft.Add the marinated meat,half of the fried onions and saute in low flame for five to six minutes.Add salt, coconut cashew paste and one cup of water. Pressure cook the meat till soft and tender ( 5-6 whistles). When it cools down remove the lid of the pressure cooker. There will be gravy at this stage. Add the powdered garam masala, some chopped coriander and mint and chopped carrot. Cook till the gravy thickens.

Layering the Biryani.
Use a heavy bottom pan. Add one tsp of ghee and spread a layer of the meat masala and then a second layer of rice. Add a portion of chopped mint and coriander, fried onion and a second layer of meat. Again add rice and spread chopped coriander leaves, fried onion and cashew nuts, raisins and pineapple. Add a pinch of cardamom powder a tsp of ghee on top. Cover and seal with a tight lid.Put it on very low flame for about 10 to 15. Serve with salad,pickle and papads.