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When I was in graduate school, I got hooked on the lamb biryani from a little Indian joint near campus. It was super spicy, fragrant, and amazingly delicious for such a simple dish. They would bring it out in heaping portions with plenty of raita to tame the heat. Unfortunately, since moving away, I’ve been underwhelmed every time I’ve ordered biryani in Indian restaurants (and left wishing I’d ordered curry instead). I’d basically given up on biryani when I came across this recipe in my new Indian Cooking Course book. It seemed promising and relatively straight forward so I gave it a try. The result was pretty darn good. If you like a little heat and a lot of flavor, I recommend you give this spicy lamb biryani a try!
Notes on Spicy Lamb Biryani
This dish is pretty simple to make. The active prep time is only about 15 minutes. However, you do need to get your mortar and pestle out to make a ginger-garlic paste and to crush a few spices. You may also need to make a special trip to the store for some whole spices and chilies that you may not have on hand. I would advise against trying to substitute ground spices for those called for in the recipe – I’ve tried before with other recipes and the results have not been very good. You can find the cardamom pods in many large supermarket chains. If you don’t see them at you normal supermarket, you can certainly find them at an Asian supermarket. Asian markets are a great place to find chilies and spices. They have huge varieties and cheap prices!
Making the Ginger-Garlic Paste
A ginger-garlic paste consists of one part ginger to two parts garlic (by volume). You can make with a mortar and pestle or with the aid of an appliance (e.g., food processor, blender). For smaller amounts, I just use the mortar and pestle. If you want to make a large batch it will keep in the fridge 2-3 weeks or in the freezer for a few months.
To start, peel and roughly chop the garlic and ginger. You will be able to better assess the volume of each ingredient once it’s roughly chopped. You might start with 6-8 cloves of garlic (which should yield 2-3 tbsp chopped) and a 1 inch piece of ginger (should yield about 1 tbsp chopped). Yields will vary based on size of garlic cloves and ginger diameter.
Combine 2 parts garlic and 1 part ginger in your mortar. You might start with 2 tbsp chopped garlic and 1 tbsp chopped ginger. Add 1 tsp water. Crush until a paste forms.
Spicy Lamb Biryani
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
This recipe is adapted from the Indian Cooking Course.
Ingredients
- 1 lb lamb shoulder on the bone, cut into bite sized pieces
- 2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 star anise
- 4 cloves
- 1 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
- 4 green cardamom pods, husks removed and seeds crushed
- 4 black cardamom pods, husks removed and seeds crushed
- 1 cinamon stick
- 10 fresh curried leaves (or 15 dry)
- 2 fresh green chilies, diced
- 4 dried red chilies, halved and seeds shaken out
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 cup basmati rice, rinsed
- 1 small bunch, cilantro chopped
- 3 tbsp mint leaves, chopped (optional)
Instructions
- Put the lamb, ginger-garlic paste, and salt in a large dutch oven or casserole pot. Add 2 ½ cups of water and bring to a boil. Cover the pot, reduce heat, and simmer for 40 minutes.
- Add the remaining ingredients (except cilantro and mint) to the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and cover. Cook 15 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed. Fluff with fork and service with fresh herbs and cucumber raita
Notes
A ginger-garlic paste is a simple paste made with 1 part ginger and 2 parts garlic. The notes above contain instructions on how to create your own. You may also be able to purchase it – but I recommend making your own.
Keywords: lamb, rice, biryani, spicy
