Rajasthani Gatte ki Biryani

Blogging Marathon: Week 2/ Day 5
Theme: Traditional Dishes
Dish: Rajasthani Gatte ki Biryani

I have been planning to make this dish for over a year. I wanted to make it for BM# 12 when Valli had a theme for Rajasthani dishes. It was when BM was for 7 days and I actually made 4-5 dishes, but had to opt out of the marathon because I started having some serious morning sickness in my initial stages of pregnancy. So finally got to make it for this week's "traditional' dishes.

"Gatte' are boiled besan/ chickpea flour logs that are cut into bite size pieces and cooked with other masalas and layered with rice to make this hearty, protein rich biryani. This is a very filling dish and one bite into 'gatte' will have you hooked with the earthy taste and soft texture.

Recipe courtesy from one of the Telugu cooking shows that I have gotten obsessed with recently. This dish is quite easy to make, but makes quite a few dirty dishes since all the components are cooked and then assembled.

Ingredients: Serves 3-4 people
For Gatte:
Besan - 1 cup
Salt - to taste
Fennel seeds - ½tsp

For Rice:
Basmati Rice - 1½cups, soaked in cold water for 30 minutes
Cloves - 3
Cardamom pods - 3
Cinnamon stick - 1" piece
Bay leaf - 1
Salt - to taste

For the Curry/ Masala:
Onion - 1 large, thinly sliced
Ginger + garlic paste - 1tsp
Tomato - 1 large, chopped
Mint leaves - ½cup lightly packed
Cilantro - ½cup lightly packed
Yogurt - ¾cup, well beaten
Turmeric - ¼tsp
Red chili powder - 1tsp
Ground coriander - 1tsp
Garam Masala/ Rajastani Garam masala (recipe follows) - 1tsp
Salt - to taste

Method:

• Make the Gatte: Combine besan, fennel seeds and salt. Add enough water to make a stiff dough almost like roti dough. Then divide the dough into 8-10 3" long logs. 
• Bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan, add the besan logs gently into the boiling water. Lower the heat a little and then simmer these logs for 10-15 minutes or until they are cooked through. You can check the doneness by inserting a sharp knife right into the middle of the gatte and if it comes out clean, then the gatte are ready. 
• After cooking, the outer surface of the gatte gets quite rough and bubbly. Let the gatte cool, then using a sharp knife, cut the gatte into bite size pieces. Keep aside until ready to use.
• Cook Rice: In a microwave safe bowl, add rice and all the whole garam masala listed above along with 1½cups of water and salt. Cook for 7-8 minutes or until all the water is evaporated and rice is 70% cooked through. Alternately rice can also be boiled until 70% cooked on the stove top.
• Make the Curry/ Masala: Heat 2tbsp ghee and 1tbsp oil in a saute pan; add onions and cook until lightly browned around the edges. 
• Add ginger+garlic paste and cook for 1 minute. Next add chopped tomato and cook covered until it turns mushy.
• Add yogurt along with turmeric, red chili powder, garam masala and salt. Mix well and bring the mixture to a simmer. Next add the gatte, half of the chopped mint and cilantro leaves and ½cup of water. Let this mixture simmer for 5-7 minutes.
• To Assemble Gatte ki Biryani: Add a layer of the masala in the bottom of a heavy bottomed pan; next add 1/3 of the rice, followed by half of the remaining masala, followed by 1/3 of the rice and rest of the masala. Finally add the remaining rice and top it with the rest of the chopped mint and cilantro.
• Cover the pan and cook for 10-15 minutes or until the rice is completely cooked through and flavors meld.

Serve hot with raita and papad.

Rajastani Garam Masala:
Recipe from Raghavan Iyer's 660 Curries:
Ingredients: Makes 3tbsp
Black Peppercorns - tsp
Black Cumin seeds - tsp (use lightly toasted regular cumin seeds if you don't have black cumin)
Whole cloves - tsp
Cardamom seeds - tsp
Dried Bay leaves - 1-2
Dried Mint leaves - 2tbsp, crushed or crumbled
Ground Kashmiri chilies - 1tsp
Ground Ginger - tsp
Ground Nutmeg - tsp
Ground Mace - tsp
Ground Cinnamon - tsp

Method:

• Grind peppercorns, cumin,cloves,cardamom and bay leaves in a spice grinder or coffee grinder and grind until smooth.
• Dump the mixture in a bowl and add all the other ingredients.
• Store this in an airtight container in a cool, dry place. Don't refrigerate as it might affect the flavors adversely.

Just playing around with the backgrounds :-)

Lets check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked today for BM# 27.