not Indian food, but I'll make an exception for this Vietnamese dish

I must be addicted to this one restaurant my colleagues and I used to visit frequently because everytime I go back home I have to get some pho to satisfy my cravings.  I was afraid they use MSG but after making it for the first time, I think the broth for the pho noodles the restaurant makes could possibly be done without additional MSG.  Although, mine didn't quite turn out like the restaurant's version (which may very well be westernized), I did enjoy it and look forward to figuring out how to practice and improve my bowl of pho.  Usually at the restaurant I would order a shrimp based pho, but since that isn't authentic I was suggested to make a beef pho based on a colleague's recipe.         

A fun short video

If I were in India, I probably wouldn't cook either provided I had the means to hire chefs...

Dum Fish Biryani

A colleague of mine recently went fishing and was kind enough to share some fresh rainbow trout with me.  While fish curries came to mind immediately, I decided to try the same tecniques designed to make tougher meat tender on the trout.  This time the length of slow cooking was shortened to compensate for the meat type.  End results showed that a fish biryani can also be quite tasty and much different from the lamb version despite the same spice blend.  I have to recommend this for the zesty flavor that can only come from fresh fish.

Kacchi Biryani

One of the biryani cooking methods is called kacchi biryani.  Using raw meat and parboiled rice sealed in a container on low heat for longer periods of time produces very tender meat and locks the spices into the rice as it cooks together.  Sometimes called dum biryani, it often proves difficult as it takes some care to ensure the meat has been cooked.  The big pots used for this dish in India are sometimes topped with coals to provide heat from the top lid as well as the bottom.

This time I tried using a dum technique by rolling dough around the lid and trapping any escaping steam.  The lamb biryani was served with mirchi ka salan, a typical Hyderabadi side dish based on jalapeno peppers. 

Nihari

This is the reason I am trying to learn to cook.  A spicy nihari with naan is certainly one of most delicious, messy, and sinus-clearing dishes I can think of.  If I could learn how to do this dish well, I would be hard-pressed not to share it with friends to let them know what they're missing in most Indian restaurants.  I'll save the history spiel on this dish later, as 2/3 of the wiki article's sources were fabricated. 

 

This first try was a surprisingly good result.  The meat easily came off the bone and the amount of ghee or oil was not overwhelming.  Of course, I will post again if I find a better spice blend, but I'll go ahead and list what I used for this one in case anyone had any suggestions.  I used lamb for this occasion, however, purists argue that nihari is a beef based stew.  

Ingredients:

1 kilo beef, with thigh or shoulder bones cut into pieces (very important)

Grind mixture:

• 2 tb fennel seeds (saunf)
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp peppercorn
• 1/2 tsp dry ginger
• 2 black cardamom
• 1" cinnamon stick
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1-2 pieces mace
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 1/2 tsp nigella seeds
• 4 dried red hot chili peppers
• 8-10 cloves

other ingredients:
3 bay leaves
salt
1 tsp turmeric
1 large onion chopped finely
1 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp ginger paste
2 tb flour
1 tsp red chili powder
1/4 cup yogurt
oil

As I mentioned before, I would recommend dry toasting the spices prior to grinding the spice mixture, some longer than others.  Start with heating the oil, and then browning the meat just slightly.  After draining and setting aside, use the same oil to fry onions until brown.  Then add the meat to the onions, along with the ground spice mixture, as well as the ginger-garlic paste, chili powder, yogurt, turmeric powder and bay leaves.  Salt can be added at this point, and saute for just a couple minutes to blend the ingredients.   After transferring to the stew pot, add approximately between 4 to 7 glasses of water to the meat mixture and cover.  Once the steam starts forming on the lid (hopefully its glass), turn heat to low and leave on for multiple hours (if you can't do overnight, then at least 6).  At this point, you can adjust the taste by adding whichever ingredients and cooking for longer.  If it's ready, then mix the flour with 1/2 cup water and add only a little bit at a time to the nihari.  Cook for a few minutes in between and taste to check consistency, but it will more than likely not require all of the flour.
Serve with naan, lemon, fried onions, green chilies and ginger. 

I found some infuser bags after I made this nihari that allow me to place all my whole spices in a bag which can be removed prior to serving.  I will try the recipe again using some whole spices to see which one is better for a longer stew, and also test the difference in the use of beef vs lamb.