These are the 4 stages of preparing beef biryani. Long Haul Beef Biryani is a highly requested recipe, so let's break it down by stages! Follow through until the end of the recipe to see why I describe this recipe as "Long Haul" :)
A biryani is a layered rice dish highlighting the flavors of the meat we will incorporate with spices, nuts, and raisins. This dish will make your mouth water and your belly wanting more!
Stage 1: Prep rice and ingredients
Ingredients:
· 2-3 lb beef cut into small cubes and set aside
(options: London broil, top round, or beef chuck)
· 2 cups Basmati rice
(Soak the rice for 30 minutes, rinse, and drain into a strainer and set aside.)
· ½ cup of Milk 1% plus ¼ tsp of saffron strands
(Heat the ½ cup of milk in the microwave for 15-20 seconds, add the saffron strands, and let it sit aside and steep until it’s ready for use.)
· 2 medium to large red onions, thinly sliced
· Canola oil enough to shallow fry onions
(Slice the red onions thinly and shallow fry them in 1 to 2 inches of canola oil in a pot at medium high heat. Onions should be deep, golden brown in color, without crispy texture. Place onions onto a paper towel to drain excess oil. Set this aside. Save the oil after frying.)
· 1 cup of unsalted cashews (optional) plus 1 cup of golden raisins
(Remove most of the onion flavored oil to another heat safe dish, leaving ¼ cup of oil in the pot. Maintain heat at medium and lightly roast cashews and raisins until raisins are plump and cashews are light, golden brown color. Add the roasted cashews and raisins onto the paper towel as well to drain excess oil. Set this aside.)
· 1 tsp ghee
(smear the ghee all over the inside of a large dutch oven or oven safe dish to bake the biryani within. Set this aside)
· ½ of a Lemon juiced and set aside
Stage 2: Cook the rice
Ingredients:
· 2 cups of prepped Basmati rice from Stage 1
· 4 cups of water
· ½ tsp salt
· Drizzle of reserved onion flavored oil (i.e. 1 tsp) onto bottom of pot to cook rice
(Add rice to the pot, along with water and salt. Bring the rice to a boil at medium-high heat. Once it comes to a boil, reduce the heat to low setting and cover the pot with a lid. Cook the rice on low for 12-15 minutes, covered. Uncover the pot, turn off the heat, and fluff the rice with a fork. Set aside, off the heat, until the layering stage.)
Stage 3: Cook the Beef
Ingredients:
· 2-3 lb beef that was prepped in Stage 1.
· 1 large red onion, chopped
· 5 cloves of garlic, chopped
· 2 inch piece of ginger, chopped
· 1 green chili, chopped
· 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
· 1 Tbsp of freshly chopped mint
· 1 Tbsp of freshly chopped cilantro
· 1 Tbsp of biryani masala
· ¼ tsp turmeric powder
· ½ tsp cumin powder
· 2 tsp garam masala
· 1 tsp coriander powder
· ¼ tsp red chili powder
· 1 tsp ground black pepper
· 2 tsp salt
· 1 tsp fennel powder
· 1 bay leaf
· 1 Star Anise
· ¼ tsp cardamom seeds
· 1 cinnamon stick
· 4 cloves
· 2-3 Tbsp reserved onion flavored oil from Stage 1
1. Heat oil in a heavy bottom pot at medium-high heat.
2. Add bay leaf, star anise, cardamom seeds, cinnamon stick and cloves and heat through until whole spices bloom with aromas releasing.
3. Add onions, ginger, green chili and saute until onions are translucent. Add garlic and saute for another 2-3 minutes.
4. Add biryani masala, turmeric powder, cumin powder, garam masala, coriander powder, red chili powder, fennel powder, ground black pepper, and salt.
5. Sautee the spices into the onion mixture until the raw spicy smell dissipates.
6. Add the chopped tomatoes, cilantro, and mint. Cook this until the tomatoes break down and marry with the onion mixture.
7. Add the cubed beef and mix thoroughly. Cook the beef on medium-high heat for approximately 30-45 minutes, covered, letting the beef release its liquid, stirring occasionally.
8. The beef will be more than half way cooked and will finish cooking in the oven when it’s layered in the biryani. At this stage the beef should not look like beef curry. If there’s too much curry liquid, continue cooking until the excess water has cooked through. Perhaps the lid on the pot needs to be kept ajar to reach this point.
9. Discard the cinnamon stick and set the cooked beef aside to cool for 10-15 minutes before layering the biryani.
Stage 4: Layering the Long Haul Beef Biryani
****If you’ve made it thus far in the recipe, give yourself a PAT on the back!! Tasty goodness awaits your palette!
1. Line up all the layering components to layer the biryani such as:
· The cooked beef
· The cooked basmati rice
· Oven safe dish that was smeared with ghee
· Saffron infused milk
· Fried onions, roasted cashews if using, and roasted, golden raisins
· Juice of ½ of a lemon
2. We are going to approximate this process. The only requirement is that you layer beginning with rice and ending with rice and cashew/onion/raisin layer. So let’s layer!
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
4. Add a thin layer of rice onto the bottom of the oven safe dish.
5. Add a layer of beef, spreading the beef slightly.
6. Add another layer of rice, then a small handful of onions, cashews and raisins layered on top of rice.
7. Sprinkle 1-2 teaspoons of saffron infused milk on top of this layer.
8. Repeat the layers as such: rice, beef, rice, saffron milk (a couple of teaspoons for each layer)
9. After the last layer of rice is added, sprinkle a couple of teaspoons of saffron milk and the juice of half a lemon. Layer the remaining cashews, onions, and raisins atop the rice.
10. Cover the oven safe dish with lid or tin foil and bake at 350 degrees fahrenheit for 30 minutes.
11. Let the biryani rest for 15-20 minutes, serve, and enjoy! Get this into your belly because You deserve this tasty goodness!!
Questions???
Why is this called Long Haul Beef Biryani?
As you can tell, the process is lengthy, but so worth it! This biryani gets better when served as leftovers. The flavors have time to mingle and unify! If you are not serving this immediately, great! Make some raita and enjoy this meal prepped for your entire week ahead!
If you are enjoying this with guests or when entertaining, this will easily feed 6-8 people. This is a crowd pleaser and it’s there for the “ long haul” of a formal gathering or to cover your family dinners for the next week!
Is the quantity of salt in this recipe too much?
The rice component and the beef component in this dish is salted separately because once these layers are added to the dish before baking, the rice will mute the salty flavor of the beef. Therefore we salt each component adequately to enhance the overall dishes’ flavor profile.
Can I omit Cashews in this recipe?
Yes! Absolutely! If nut allergies are a concern, please omit the nuts!
Notes:
*** You will have leftover saffron infused milk and onion flavored oil that was reserved. After you have used the portions to make the biryani, discard the remaining amounts of these ingredients.
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