Thalapakatti is a popular chain of restaurants which was first started in Dindigul, a district in Tamilnadu. Their biriyani is so popular that I am also a huge fan of it. When a friend suggested that I try Suguna Vinod’s recipe, I quickly decided to make it for the weekend. So, here it is and hope you like it.
For this biriyani, the tiny grain of rice variety known as seerage samba (in tamil) or Jeeragashala (in malayalam) is used.
Ingredients:
Seeeraga samba rice – 2 cups
Mutton with bone – 500 gms
Ghee – 2 tbsp
Oil – 3 tbsp
Red chillie powder – 1/2 tsp
Yogurt – 1/2 cup
Salt – 1 1/2 tsp
Mint leaves – a handful
Coriander leaves – a handful
Juice of 1/2 lime
For Masala:
Green chillies – 5
Cinnamon stick – 3 (2 inch sticks)
Cardamom – 3
Cloves – 3
Nutmeg (Jathika) – 1/8th of a nutmeg
Mace – (Jathi pathri) – 1 small piece
Ginger – 2 inch piece
Garlic – 12
Small onions (Shallots) – 15
Water – half cup
Preparation:
Before starting to cook, wash and soak the rice for 20 minutes in water.Do not soak it more as it may become mushy. After 20 minutes, drain it and it should be ready to use.
Wash the mutton and keep it aside.
Grind all the masalas listed under ‘masala paste’.
Take a pressure cooker and heat it. Add oil and ghee. When it becomes hot, add the ground masala to it. Saute it well and add the mutton. Saute it again for 2 minutes. Add 2 cups of water, salt, red chillie powder and the yogurt. Mix well and close the lid of the cooker and cook the mutton in it. After the first whistle, reduce the flame and cook the mutton for 20 minutes. Put off the flame and allow it to cool down.
Then, open the cooker and remove the mutton pieces from it to a bowl and roughly measure the liquid in the cooker. You should have approximately 1.5 cups as it need not be accurate.
Transfer the liquid (1.5 cups of liquid) to a wide bottomed cooking pan in which the biriyani is to be cooked. As we require 2 times water to the quantity of rice, we need to add 4 cups of water. As you would have 1.5 cups of liquid already in the cooker, add 2.5 cups of water to the pan. Then, add the chopped mint leaves and coriander leaves and let the mixture come to a boil. (The total amount of water in the pan should be 4 cups).
When it starts boiling, add the meat pieces which were taken out and check the seasoning. Adjust the salt and add the drained rice to the pan. When it starts boiling, add lime juice. Cover the pan with a lid and cook on medium flame for the first 4 minutes.
Then, open the lid. Gently mix once from the bottom, cover the lid again and simmer with lid on for 10 minutes on very low flame. Open the lid and the rice would have been three fourth cooked. Let it cook for a few more minutes.
Switch off the flame and close the lid again and let it rest with the lid on for 20 minutes. The rice will get swollen and absorb all the left out moisture. Do not rush as this step is very important.
Enjoy the biriyani with boiled egg and raita.
Meal Haven 