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April 13, 2013

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.
Rajasthani Gatte ki Biryani

"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.

Rajasthani Gatte ki Biryani
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
Gatte-Before & After Cooking

Rajasthani Gatte ki Biryani
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.
Rajasthani Gatte ki Biryani
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.
Rajasthani Garam Masala
Just playing around with the backgrounds :-)

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

12 comments:

  1. this is nice idea, dont think it is very popular , in maharashtra, the states near the rajasthan border, usualy make gatta biryani, which is not known as rajashtani but recipe is almost the same, except for the use of local spices

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  2. Omg, such a droolworthy biryani, simply inviting, full of flavors.

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  3. Simply mouthwatering, love the click.

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  4. Wow that bowl looks awesome Pavani, biryani with gatte sounds very good, though I have only made a subji with it..lovely plating..

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  5. Bookmarking its after the kadhi this one is a must make.

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  6. yummy biryani.. must give a try...

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  7. I have seen gatte i kadi, not biryani. And for the spices, the seceond one with grey background looks good to my eyes :-).

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  8. I always love gatte ki sabzi and kadhi... but never try with briyani... awesome

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  9. I have never tried the Gatte varieties but looking at so many posts on Gatte i am tempted to give it a shot!! Lovely pictures there, Pavani.

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  10. Nice biriyani, love your presentation.

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  11. Lovely presentation. Very new to me...looks lovely

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  12. I think I bookmarked a recipe from TV show abhiruchi where a Telugu actress with Marwari background showed her mom's recipe. It has been on my list ever since. I think I can just try your recipe now. Love the various rice dishes you have come up with for this BM.

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