Raw Jackfruit Biryani / Kathal ki Biryani with Kokum Kadhi and Tomato-Onion-Curd Salad.

Raw Jackfruit Biryani / Tarni Kadgi Biryani / Kathal ki Biryani Served with Kokum Kadhi and Tomato-Onion-Curd Salad.

To cook Rice for the Biryani : The procedure is same as for ghee rice but here we cook the rice till 3/4th done only. 

Soak about 4 cups of long grained Basmati Rice in water for 30 minutes. Wash well, Strain and keep aside.

Heat 1/2 cup of ghee in a kadai, when hot add handful of cashew nut pieces and fry till little colour changes now add in 4-5 whole black pepper, 3-4 cloves (lavang), 2 pieces of 1" of cinnamon, 1 Star anise, 1 tsp jeera, 2 whole green cardamom slit, 2 Black whole cardamom slit, few strands of jaivitri and stir well, fry till they swell, add 2 bay leaves, few curry leave, mix well and add the strained basmati rice and stir on low heat for one minute. Add salt as required and 6 cups of boiling hot water, bring all to a boil, lower heat to minimum, cover and cook till done. The rice should be cooked 75-80% only. Spread on a wide thali / plate and let cool a bit. This is to arrest further cooking of the rice.

Grind to a smooth paste : 1 cup of coriander leaves, ½ cup of pudina leaves, ½ cup of curds (should not be very sour), 1 inch piece of ginger, 8-10 cloves of garlic, 1 roughly chopped medium sized onion, 8-10 Green Chilies, ¼ tsp Cumin Powder, ¼ tsp Garam Masala Powder, ¼ tsp fennel seed powder, ¼ tsp dhania powder, ¼ tsp amchur powder, salt to taste. Do not add water. Grind this to a smooth paste. 

Cut 500 gms of Raw Jack fruit to equal sized pieces of about 2” size. The Jack fruit should be tender. Wash and pat dry. Apply the above ground paste to the jackfruit and marinate for 15-20 minutes.

Remove the extra marinate from the jackfruit well and then fry the jackfruit pieces slightly in oil in 4-5 batches. Retain the left over marinate masala and the oil.

Heat the left over oil in Kadai, add in 2 finely chopped onions and fry till translucent, then add in 8-10 cloves of garlic finely chopped, 1 tsp grated ginger, a few curry leaves and fry till brown in colour and in 1 Teaspoon Cumin Powder, 1 tblsp of coriander seeds powder, 1 Teaspoon Garam Masala Powder, 1/2 Teaspoon roughly Crushed pepper, 2 Teaspoon Red Chili Powder, 1 tsp of fennel seed powder, 1/3d Tsp Haldi Powder, salt to taste and fry well, add in the remaining marinate and 1 big tomato chopped finely. Mix and cook till tomato are cooked and in the fried jackfruit and mix and cook till done. Do not add water to the masala as it should be dry. The masala should just nicely coat the jackfruits. When done remove and keep aside. 

Prepare and keep ready some saffron milk by adding ¼ tsp of saffron strands in 2-3 tblsp of warm milk.

Apply 1 tsp of oil to one onion sliced thinly, mix well and micro wave till browned. Traditionally this is deep fried and kept ready. You can follow any method.

Chop finely about 1 cup of coriander leaves and ¼ cup of pudina leaves. Mix them together and keep them ready. Grate a small piece of beetroot, say about ¼ cup and keep it ready.

Now for layering of the Biryani : Take a wide and big thick bottomed vessel. Brush some ghee all round the base and side of the vessel. Sprinkle some of the browned onions at the bottom of the vessel, then spread of half of the jackfruit curry prepared evenly over it. Divide the prepared rice also into 2 parts add one part over the layer of curry evenly, now sprinkle some of the saffron milk, a few drops of kewra essence, some of the grated beetroot, add in a few drops of ghee randomly over the rice and then garnish with some coriander-pudina leaves. Now above this spread the remaining jackfruit curry over the rice to form a even layer and repeat the process by adding the rice and garnish in same way as previously done. Cover with a tight lid and cook on dum for about 20 minutes. The biryani is ready.

Note : The same procedure of layering and cooking Birayani can be done on Micro Wave which is the method I usually follow. Just follow the procedure above but in an micro wave safe dish. I use a huge borosil bowl for this. Then cover with a similar lid and microwave on high for 7-8 minutes with an interval of 2 minutes. Serve hot with Onion-tomato-curd sald or any curry or salad of your choice.

** For the Recipe of Sol Kadhi / Kokum Kadhi please refer #Beverage,

** For the Recipe of Tomato-Onion-Curd Sald please refer #Salad,