benazir's blog

Veg Or Non Veg Student Biryani

Actually there is a joke based on this very same post that was posted by a Pakistani net friend. I told Mr. Riaz too and he thought it is hilarious like I did. Student briyani is a very famous briyani in Pakistan and it is from Karachi. The post was that had me cracking up is called stupid briyani because the rice and everything else gives you high blood pressure. Not only that that too much carbs is not good for anyone especially us diabetcs.

However you will need to make Garam Masala then set this aside. In a large coldero add 1 cup of either brown or white basmati rice and rinse until the water is clear. Add 1 liter or 1 quart of water to the pot with the rice. Put on the stove and since you have ground the garam masala in the mortar and pestle, you would have to put it in a small bowl and continue to keep aside.

Grind in mortar and peslte 1 star anise, 3 cloves, 1 small piece of broken cinnamon stick, 1 pinch of black peppercorns and add to the pot with the rice. Also you can add 1 bay leaf, 1 drop of briyani essence or 1 drop each of both kerwa and rose essences. Turn heat on to high and bring to a boil then reduce heat to low and cover for 20 minutes. When rice is done just shut heat off and keep aside we are not done yet.

Now you have to make the briyani masala curry that gets combined with the rice at the end too. We are not done yet at all. It is 1 bag of frozen mixed vegetables you will need for veg and for non veg it is 1 lb or 1 kg of lamb, beef, goat, veal, chicken or fish. The firmer fish like king fish, mackerel, catfish, shrimp and perch are prefered, Also you can use fillets of fish in this dish too which is also perfered.

Add 1/4 cup of either corn, canola or vegetable oil with 3 tbs of butter ghee on high heat in to another pot for the curry. Add 1 onion or shallot and let it cook until it turns brown. Reduce heat to cook the curry from here. Mince 3 cloves of garlic, 1 small piece of ginger, 1 green chili chopped, the garam masla, 1 pinch of pink salt, turmeric and red chili powder. Stir and add 1 chopped tomato and let it turn mushy.

From here if you want to add mixed vegetables or even fish and this includes shrimp too if you want to which does not take long to cook. The fish should be opaque and the shrimp turning pink. This should be at least about 5 to 7 minutes, For chicken, lamb, beef, goat and veal it is between 30 to 45 minutes. If you are using red meat like beef, lamb, goat or veal please use 1 pinch of meat tenderizer by Shan.

Now listen up please this is where this briyani comes together. You will need to add 1/4 cup of plain desi yogurt beaten and add 1 pinch of cornstarch in it. Add 3 tbs of water to make a slurry. Add 3 strands of saffron and watch it to catch color and then add this to the rice and gently fold the saffron yogurt mixture in the rice. Then add 1 pinch of yellow food coloring in the now unfinished briyani and then add the curry to the rice and mix gently being careful not to break the kernals of rice. Cover and let sit for 20 minutes and then you can consume with lassi and achar. Oops if you are using fish avoid the lassi. Besides my mother in law said don’t drink lassi if you are eating fish because it would make problems in the stomach. I do not want to put her theory to the test. It is wise not to listen to your elders.

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