A King’s Feast

*In celebration of the New Year, Dhaka Regency has provided us with three mouth watering recipes that will surely help us start our year on a high note!

Mutton Dum Biryani

ngredients
For the rice:
1 Star anise
500 Gram Basmati rice, blanched
2 Bay leaves
2 Black cardamom
2 tsp Black cumin seeds
6 Green cardamom
2 Cinnamon sticks
6 Cloves
1/4 Jaifal
1 Jaitric
3 tsp Salt
For marinating:
1 Kg Mutton
1 Tsp Garam masala
1 Tbsp Garlic paste
1 Tbsp Ginger paste
4 Tbsp Plain curd
½ Tea Spoon Coriander powder
½ Tea Spoon Cumin powder
1 Tea Spoon Red chilli powder
Salt to taste
Other ingredients:
4 Onions, sliced
1/4 Cup Milk (warm)
½ Cup Ghee
Saffron strands
½ Cup Oil
½ Tea Spoon Kewra essence
4 green chilies

Preparation
Marinating the mutton:
To the mutton add the beaten curd, ginger-garlic paste, chili powder, salt, garam masala. Allow the mutton to marinate for 3 hours.

Preparing fried onions or Beresta:
Slice 2 onions very thinly. Separate the slices. In a pan or karai add oil and fry the onion slices till nicely brown. Make sure you don’t burn them. Fry in small batches. Do not put all the slices at a time that will lead to lumpy messy onions.

Make sure all the onion slices frying are dipped in oil, if needed add more oil. Keep stirring continuously but gently for an even brown color. Take the fried onions out with a slotted spoon or ladle.

Keep them on a paper-towel lined plate. This crispy brown fried onion slices are called Beresta.

Cooking the mutton:
Heat ghee in a thick-bottomed pan.
Add remaining sliced onions and green chilies. Cook, stirring continuously, till onions are light golden brown. Add ginger paste and garlic paste and mix well.
Add marinated mutton and cook on high heat for seven to eight minutes. Add coriander powder, cumin powder and red chili powder. Mix thoroughly. Stir in three cups of water, bring it to a boil, reduce heat and cook covered till mutton is almost cooked. Add salt, garam masala powder and fresh coriander leaves. Cook for 15 minutes on medium heat, stirring occasionally. The ghee would be separated from the spices and there should not be any watery gravy to the meat.

Preparing the rice:
Use only good quality long grain Basmati rice. Soak the rice for 20 minutes in water. Wash well till the water runs clear. Drain all the water.

In a small piece of cloth take cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, jaitric, jaifal, shah jeera, star anise and tie a knot to make a bag (potli).

Bring 750 ml water to boil, add rice, bay leaf, salt and potli, cover and cook till rice is done 1/3rd.

Drain the water & remove the whole masala potli.

Preparing the saffron-milk:
Take 1/4th cup warm milk in a cup and dissolve saffron strands in the milk. Cover and wait for 20 minutes. Add kewra essence in the milk. Mix well and cover. Keep aside.

Layering the biryani:
Take a large heavy bottom pan with tight fitting lid. Add 2tbsp ghee to the pan. Melt the ghee on low heat. Turn and rotate the pan carefully so the ghee can coat the bottom and sides of the pan. Switch off the heat. Add a layer of cooked rice, and then cooked meat pieces, sprinkle saffron water, add fried onion slices and ghee. Again add a layer of rice, and then meat…goes on like this till you are done. Top and bottom layer will be of rice.
Cover with chopped pudina and coriander, fried onion and split green chilies and juice of half a lemon. Put the lid on. Seal the pan with flour dough or aluminum foil, then put the lid. Keep the heat to lowest. And cook the Biryani in this ‘Dum’ process for 30 minutes.
Make sure your pan is heavy-bottomed or the rice will burn. Or you can place a flat tawa then keep the pan on that tawa. After 30 minutes switch off the heat and let the biryani stand for another 10 minutes. Transfer to a serving bowl.
Serve with raita and salad.

Beef Rezala

Ingredients
½ teaspoon coriander
½ teaspoon cumin
3 lbs beef
1 cup onion, sliced
1 teaspoon ginger paste
1 teaspoon garlic paste
¼ teaspoon coriander powder
¼ teaspoon cumin powder
½ teaspoon garam masala
2-3 red chili
1-2 bay leaves
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
½ cup oil
3 tablespoons yogurt
salt, according to taste

Preparation
Dry roast the whole coriander, cumin, and grind. Set aside.
In a heavy-bottomed pan add all the other ingredients including meat and mix well. Cover the pan and cook in medium heat till the water from the beef almost dries up, stirring occasionally. Once the beef is cooked and tender, add the dry roasted powdered spices.
Stir for 8-10 minutes adding ¾ cup of water in stages. Turn off the stove once gravy boils and thickens.

NOTES
Beef releases a lot of water while cooking, so if there is a lot of gravy and the beef is tender, you may not need the additional water. If beef is not cooked and water dries up, you may need to add more water. Serve with Pillow or White Rice.

Gulab Jamun

Ingredients
1 Cup Milk Powder
1/2 Cup all purpose flour
1/2 Tsp baking soda
2 Tablespoons butter -melted
Whole milk just enough to make the dough

For the Sugar Syrup
2 Cups Sugar
1 Cup water
Oil for frying

Preparation
Make the dough by combining the milk powder, Bisquick, butter. Add just enough whole milk to make a medium-hard dough. Divide the dough into 18-20 portions. Make balls by gently rolling each portion between your palms into a smooth ball. Place the balls on a plate. Cover with a damp yet dry kitchen towel.

Heat the oil on high and then lower the heat to medium. Slip in the balls into the hot oil from the side of the pan, one by one. They will sink to the bottom of the pan, but do not try to move them. Instead, gently shake the pan to keep the balls from browning on just one side. After about 5 mins, the balls will rise to the surface. The Gulab Jamuns should rise slowly to the top if the temperature is just right. Now they must be gently and constantly agitated to ensure even browning on all sides.

If the temperature of the oil is too high then the gulab jamuns will tend to break. So adjust the temperature to ensure that the gulab jamuns do not break or cook too quickly.
The balls must be fried very slowly under medium temperatures. This will ensure complete cooking from inside and even browning.

Sugar Syrup
The syrup should be made earlier and kept warm. To make the hot sugar syrup add mix the 2 cups of sugar to 1 cup of water. Add 4-5 cardamom pods, slightly crushed and a few strands of “Kesar”. Mix with a spoon and then heat at medium heat for 5-10 minutes until sugar is all dissolved in water. Do not overheat, that will caramelize the sugar.
Transfer this hot syrup into a serving dish. Keep warm on stove. Add the fried gulab jamuns directly into the warm syrup. Leave gulab jamun balls in sugar syrup overnight for best results. They can be served warm or at room temperature.