Kheema Biryani

Cooking is not rocket science, but it’s certainly an artistic science! Reading a recipe book is one thing and then bringing in your own twist and making that recipe yours is another. I incidentally tried this dish on a special farmaish (“wish” in Hindi) from my father-in-law. I have never made Kheema Biryani before or even tasted one. Google, my best pal threw up some recipes of this Biryani and I came up with my version of it. I was pleased, by how simple this dish turned out to be and I would recommend everyone who thinks Biryani is a complex dish, to try making this one.

Difficulty level: Average

Quantity: 8-10 Biryani Lovers

Prep time: 1 hour

Can be served as: Main course; but for Hyderabadis it's Biryani anytime!

Ingredients

For the Kheema Mix

700 kg mutton Kheema

250 gms curd; slightly beaten

Green Chillies as per spice needed (for medium 5-6; small cut lenght wise in the centre)

Fresh Ginger Garlic paste – 1 ½ tablespoon

Fresh Coriander leaves - 1 bunch

Fresh Mint leaves – 1 bunch

Chilli powder – as per spice needed

Turmeric Powder – ½ tea spoon

Dhania Powder – 1 table spoon

Jeera Powder – 1 tea spoon

Garam masala powder- 1 table spoon

Lime juice of 1 large lime

Salt as per needed

For Rice layer:

1 kg good Basmati Rice

Whole spices - cardamom, cinnamon, clove, start anise and bay leaves

Saffron few strands dissolved in about 15 ml of warm milk.

Refined Oil and some ghee

Onions – finely julienne; deep fried in oil generally done for Biryani; 

Use the left over oil for cooking the below Kheema mixture; if the oil is too much please pour out and keep aside.

Preperation: 

Heat left over oil and add ginger garlic paste and fry till brown. Add Kheema and the rest of the ingredients under Kheema mix mentioned above except lime and cook till the meat is cooked and oil comes above the mixture. Take off heat when there is some gravy in the Kheema and not completely dry. if it becomes dry then add some curd and cook for about 5 mins and take off from heat.

While the Kheema is cooking, take 1 kg of good Basmati rice in another dish, add water (1: 3 ratio of rice to water as you will need to drain out the rice) and cook it with whole spices. Also add salt as per usual preference while cooking.  Add some oil so that the rice grains don't stick to each other when the water is drained. Cook till the rice is good to eat but slightly stiff, but not raw. Drain the water from the rice completely.

If you cannot manage both at once cook the Kheema first and then the rice. Please don’t cook the rice first. The Kheema must be ready when the rice is drained out.Take a hard bottom wide vessel to layer the Biryani. Make 2 portions of the Kheema and spread one portion on the bottom of the vessel. Then sprinkle some crushed fried onions and then layer half of the rice on the Kheema. Then layer the Kheema again, top with crushed onions and then rice. Then sprinkle the rest of the onions and pour some saffron mixed with warm milk for the colour. For extra flavor I recommend,  heat 2 tablespoons of Ghee and pour over the rice. 

Take an old pan and leave it on flame; once it’s hot keep the Biryani vessel on that tightly covered. Lower the flame completely and let it stay in the low heat till you can see some steam coming from the rice. 

You don’t need to cook anything now, but doing the above procedure will help to bring out the flavors of the Biryani. 

Enjoy hot with raita. (basic recipe for raita is slightly beaten curd with onions, green chillies and chopped coriander; add salt as required).

Reality check:

• You can just say one thing about Biryani – Yummy Yummy Yummy!
• Have it with a dash of lime and sliced onions
• You can save it for the next day in the refrigerator and it will taste much better
• There are various versions of raita – mixed veg, bhoondi, fried onions, cucumber any of them will taste equally good. 

Hard Rock Cafe - Hyderabad

Choosing a place from so many options to eat n drink in Hyderabad is quite a task in itself. Hard Rock Cafe was incidentally never on my places to hang out a year ago. One work day evening, a colleague said let's hang out some where coz I don't need to be back home early to cook. I suggested Hard Rock Cafe (HRC) as it was a kilometer away from our work place.

The minute we walked in, we could feel the spur of energy around. Great rock music and a 32 teeth wide smile from one of the waiters was a great start. We were escorted to comfortable seating area and all I can remember now a year later, that we surely enjoyed the evening. Now, HRC is one of my favorite places to hang out, with friends, if not my laptop! The food is amazing always, but it's purely American. The ambiance is very energetic and you can be assured your mood will get pepped up if you are low. What I like most about HRC, is the themes / festivals they hold often; mostly American culture, but it's fun. Just to mention a few, St. Patrick's Day, Halloween night, Sizzler festival .... and they keep coming all round the year. Their effort is commendable to keep their guests happy and indulged! You can never say "Aree yaar kitne baar jagooge vahan" with HRC. There's something happening always. Summer in Hyderabad has been very humid this year and I got a great reason to check out their Mojito Mania. Out of 25 of their long list of Mojitos, HRC shortlisted these 8 refreshing summer special Mojitos. It was a treat to watch these guys serve up the glass. Each of them tastes quite distinct with the base of classic Mojito mix- Bacardi Rum (white), lime wedges and mint. I am not going to describe each one of the Mojitos as the names suggest for itself. Telling which one is best / worst will be biased coz what works for me may not work for you. Best is to pick your Mojito based on your favorite fruit/vegetable. But I'll tell you what you can expect. 

• Watermelon Mojito: Mild and refreshing but turns watery very quickly because watermelon chunks are added. 
• Orange Mojito: Citrusy & strong.
• Green apple Mojito: Slightly bitter as the lime infuses with the apple after a while changing the flavor of the apple. 
• Bell Pepper Mojito: A strong peppery taste is a really good combination with the lime and mint.
• Cucumber Mojito: You can imagine summer in your head; I couldn't get the real experience of cucumber in this Mojito because it was just chunks of cucumber I would have preferred the juice.
• Grape Mojito: Sweet n sour the balance is just right.
• Strawberry Mojito: Blended frozen Strawberries are used and hence you will get the rough seed like texture in the mouth. I couldn't feel much of difference between this one and the Grape Mojito.
• Mango Mojito: A unique summer flavor, so don't miss it otherwise. But if you don't like your cocktail very sweet please avoid this one.
• Kiwi Mojito: Again a mild one and I love the color. Just Kiwi fruit chunks are used in this one.

These Mojitos are an excellent way to beat the heat, but beware; you must have your Mojito as quick as you can. There is enough of ice to make the cocktail lose its original flavor. Some of them also have high water content fruit/vegetable chunks that can ruin the taste as well. Personally for me the amount of lime wedges and mint leaves had made all the options taste alike. And also Bacardi Rum was too strong for my palette. But as I said, you may feel otherwise; so best is to get there and try as many as you can!


So coming back to HRC, I hear that there is a Burger fest around the corner. Well, let's meet then!

Snapshot

Taste: 9/10

Ambiance: 9/10

Service: 9/10

Overall rating: 9/10

Hygienic: YES

Serves Alcohol:  YES

Children friendly: NO

Valet parking: YES

Reservation: Preferred
Cards Accepted: YES