Kathal Biryani

Kathal commonly known as Jackfruit is a famous fruit from South India. It is high in fibre and also has lots of benefits. It is also consumed as fruit when it is riped. It very sweet in taste . Biryani is made when it is raw. Try this amazingly delicious recipe.

Ingredients

• 2 cups Basmati rice
• 500 grams Jackfruit Raw (Kathal)
• 2 tablespoons Ghee
• 2 Onions , thinly sliced
• 2 inch Ginger , finely chopped
• 6 cloves Garlic , finely chopped
• 2 Green Chillies , slit
• 2 Bay leaves (tej patta)
• 2 Cardamom (Elaichi) Pods/Seeds
• 2 Brown cardamom (Badi Elaichi)
• 4 Cloves (Laung)
• 1 teaspoon Whole Black Peppercorns
• 1 inch Cinnamon Stick (Dalchini)
• 2 Star anise
• 1 teaspoon Mace (Javitri)
• 1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg powder
• 1-1/2 teaspoons Red Chilli powder
• 1 tablespoon Coriander Powder (Dhania)
• 1 cup Curd (Dahi / Yogurt)
• Salt , to taste
• 1/4 cup Mint Leaves (Pudina)
• Few Saffron strands , soaked in 1/2 cup milk

For Dough For Dum Cooking

• 1 cup Whole Wheat Flour

For Caramelized onions

• 2 tablespoons Oil
• 3 Onions

For Garnish

• 1 tablespoon Ghee
• 1/4 cup Cashew nuts
• 1/4 cup Sultana Raisins
• 1/4 cup Mint Leaves (Pudina), chopped

Step By Step

❖ Firstly, wash the basmati rice in water and soak it for almost 30 minutes.

❖ Soak some saffron strands in warm milk and keep aside.

❖ Fry some onions till caramalized. Chop mint and coriander leaves. Saute some cashewnuts in ghee and remove.

❖ Now to start with, cut the Jackfruit. Apply oil to the palms before cutting as it may cause redness on hands.

❖ This important tip ensures that the hands don't get sticky from the natural fruit latex/sap present in the fruit does not get onto your hands and makes the cutting process hassle-free.

❖ Keep a bowl of water mixed with some salt, ready to put the cut raw jackfruit pieces to avoid discolouration of the fruit. Now that your hands and knife are well greased, cut the the jackfruit in half, discard the skin and start making 1 inch pieces and soak them in the salted water.

To make rice for the Kathal Biryani

Wash and soak rice in water for 30 mins before you start cooking.

In a heavy bottomed vessel, heat water-twice the quantity of the rice. Add few drops of ghee, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, salt and some star anise in it. As soon as the water starts boiling, add rice and cook till 80% done. Once the rice is semi cooked to 80%, pass it through a strainer and collect the rice in a large tray and spread well so that they don't stick to each other.

To make kathal ki yakhni

Now add all the whole spices along with bay leaf in the remaining ghee. Allow them to sizzle. Next add ginger and garlic and saute till light brown in color.

At this stage, add finely chopped onions,fry till raw smell goes off and it turns golden in color. Add green chilies and mix well. Once the onions are cooked, add the fried kathal pieces and yogurt and mix everything nicely so that the curd mixes well with the kathal.

Soon you will observe, yogurt will start releasing water. Cook till oil starts oozing out and yogurt starts drying up. To this, add red chili powder, coriander powder and some torn leaves of mint and coriander and fry till oil starts leaving from the sides. Add salt and give it a good stir. Turn off the flame.

To assemble Kathal Biryani

Heat a flat base iron tawa on the gas and place a large thick bottomed utensil (handi/bhagona) on the tawa in which you wish to dum the biryani.

Take 1 tablespoon of yogurt and spread it all over the base-this prevents yakhni from getting burnt. Spread the kathal yakhni all over the curd and make sure it's evenly spread on the base.

Add some ghee over it and start covering it with layers of rice and caramelised onions. Once you have covered the yakhni with the rice, pour saffron milk at one corner of the rice top. 14 Squeeze lemon all over, add lots of chopped coriander and mint on top along with fried raisins and cashews-save few to garnish before serving. Cover the vessel with aluminium foil and seal it from the sides.

Place the lid of the vessel on top of the foil and keep a heavy vessel over it so that the aroma is intact and the Kathal Biryani cooks well in dum. Simmer the gas and let the Kathal Biryani cook on dum for 20 minutes. Once the Kathal Biryani is done, remove the foil carefully and mix well by shaking the vessel. By doing this the yakhni mixes well with the rice without breaking the grains.

Serve the Kathal Biryani as a one dish meal for a weeknight dinner or as a party food along with Sweet & Spicy Coriander Tadka Raita and Mirchi Ka Salan Recipe for a sumptuous meal.