The hand that rules the remote control decides the menu!
Like the tiger prowls to look for its next meal...hubby dear is always on the look out for his version of a no sweet , no vegetable, highly spiced up meat dish for the next meal.
Anything belonging to the subcontinent ...even Chinese will do for him.
The colour red means YUM here!
The story begins, when one evening we were bickering like little cubs...(for the remote...I wanted to watch Charlie Sheen tell you exactly what not to do while sweet child wanted to watch fat, ugly brutes throw people on the ground-WWE) , and in saunters hubby dear..one nod of his( non existent) leonine tresses and the remote zoned in to its supposedly, rightful owner.(Me-I get to record all I may not even want to watch on the tata sky +) So , by default we saw ....
The Fat man and 13 Brides on ndtv goodtimes
And this cute, fat, man called Bikramjit Ray is looking for his bride...who can cook like his mother(the most daunting task faced by any woman!) trying out different cuisines and different foods.
This time he was meeting with a prospective Kayasth(north Indian) bride who made Yakhni Pulao( Pilau).
That was our lunch the next day.
We love Yakhni ...which is a simple spiced stock and is used in curries and rice-thus pulao.
Complicated???Any meat and rice dish that uses stock to cook the rice is a pulao and the when the rice is cooked in water and then made that is what is biryani...
Next morning...the kitchen was set up like an assembly line production...the boss was cooking -no less huh...and I was designated to the position of a sous chef-chopping and peeling and doing all the dirty jobs...
The result validates my theory...men are better at cooking meat!
The Yakhni Pulao/Pilau was so delectable, it needed no accompaniment, no raita , no gravy ...NOTHING!
Easily the yummiest non spicy yakhni ever.
We, the people from Jammu and Kashmir know yakhni like this. This was a revelation!!
And if you are new to Indian flavours ,this will be spot on!
First time I used star anise...and loved it!
With pictorial instructions,let this blog post be our new bible to the delish Yakhni Pulao.
for the
Yakhni Pulao or Yakhni Pilau -Fat Man Style (loosely adaptaed)
you need
for the yakhni
1/2 kg mutton
salt to taste
1/2 tsp turmeric
1large onion quartered
1 1-inch piece ginger
8-9cloves garlic
1 9-inch square cheese cloth
2 sticks cinnamon
2 star anise
4-5 green cardamon
2 black cardamom
1tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp peppercorns
7-8 cloves
3-4 bay leaves
8 -10 dried red chilles(optional)
for the pulao
2 cups basmati /long grain rice soaked at least 1/2 hour
3 tbsp ghee/ mustard oil
1/2 cup finely sliced onions
1 tsp shaih zeera/cumin seeds
2 tsp ginger garlic paste
salt to taste
1 tbsp red chilli flakes(omit , if you can live without your spices)
1/2 cup yogurt
Start with the spices and a clean Cheese cloth.
Tie up the bouquet garnis...
A slow cooker or an induction cooker is best. However , if you want to speed up the process, a pressure cooker will do. Hubby dear is a big fan of slow cooked food...so we started early.
Almost 2 1/2 litres of water, the mutton , the bouquet garnis, the quartered onion, whole ginger and garlic into the pot.
Now the salt- I used a tbsp of salt and the turmeric...and put this pot on to boil.
On the cooker for almost 2 hours at a low heat till the meat is 80% done and the stock is about 1 litre.
Boiling away...
After 2 hours and many smatterings of stock on the counter...I strained the whole thing and collected the stock .Pick out any offending pieces of onion or ginger or garlic and set the bouquet garnis aside to squeeze out when cool.Also taste the stock...you will be dying to.
Now the rice.
Heat the oil/ghee, Since we use mustard oil...we smoke it err heat it to its smoking point.
Add the cumin seeds and then the sliced onions.And the ginger garlic paste and a little salt. Go easy on the salt...you can add more later.
Add in the yogurt and stir furiously...till it comes to a boil.
Add in the meat pieces and squeeze the juices from the bouquet garnis into the stock. Hubby dear added all to the mutton...but I didn't approve. Discard the squeezed bouquet garnis!
And saute the mutton till it is seared.
Now add in the soaked rice stir well ...and pour in exactly double the stock into the pot.Make sure you taste for salt. An under salted pulao is not good!And in your eagerness please do not over salt it.
Let it come to a boil and then simmer till the stock is all absorbed and the rice cooked.
And we were ready to eat..
attack...
Thanks to the fat man and his prospective bride...we had an awesome lunch (only!!!no left overs)
Treat to try...
Totally desi , totally unoriginal but totally YUM!!!
You can make this with chicken too...
but come back for more.
So what are you baking today???
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