For the past seven weeks already, Rustenburg Herald's cooking page has published a mini series of international recipes which will be among those featuring at Rustenburg church, Vantage Point's International Food Festival on Friday, 27 May 2016. The Food Festival will be featuring recipes from Korean, Mexican, German, English and Indian origin (and others) and is aimed at bringing communities together and of course, introducing the congregation some 2.5 km from the Waterfall Mall on the R24. (See article elsewhere in this edition).
In the very last edition of this, (except for our visit to the Food Festival on Friday) we are guests in the kitchen of Paul and Vash Arunachellam - an Indian couple and devoted members of Vantage Point congregation.
As "traditional" is also important at the food festival - Paul and Vash have prepared an age-old Indian favourite... Biryani, sometimes known as biriyani or biriani, is a mixed rice dish originating in the Indian subcontinent or Persia. It is popular throughout Middle East, Central Asia and South Asia. It is made with spices, rice and meat or vegetables. The word "biryani" is derived from the Persian language, which was used as an official language in different parts of medieval India, by the various Turkic and Mughal ruling dynasties of Central Asian origin. One theory is that it originates from "birinj", the Persian word for rice. Another theory is that it derives from "biryan" or "beriyan" (to fry or roast). A rice pilaf with meat, called büryan is made by the Turkish and other Muslim communities of Macedonia.
Chicken/mutton Biryani
Ingredients
2 kg small chicken and mutton chunks
2 onions sliced
2 whole green chillies
4 tbsp mixed spices (mixture of curry, turmeric, chilli powder and garam masala)
2 chopped tomatoes
10 g tomato paste
½ cup chopped coriander, mint and thyme
2½ cups of rice
½ cup of lentils
4 potatoes quartered
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup plain yoghurt
salt to taste
1½ tbsp ginger and garlic paste
50 g butter
Method
Boil rice in salted water until half done. Boil lentils in salted water until half done. Fry onions until light brown, add ginger and garlic paste. Add chillies. Allow to cook for 1 minute, add mixed spice, tomato paste, tomatoes, chopped herbs and chicken and mutton chunks. Add salt. Mix everything together. Cook for about 10 minutes. Add water for meat to get tender when mixture is half done. Then add rice and lentils. After 10 minutes add potatoes. Toss gently and add 1 cup water. Add 50 g butter. Bring to boil, then allow to steam in the oven with lid on for 1 hour at 180 °C. Serve with greed salad and enjoy... For those who enjoy biryani, the good news is that Vash cooks biryani to order every Wednesday and really is a "master" of this popular dish. WhatsApp 084 555 3065 or phone 074 385 6151 for orders or more information.
