Monday, September 15, 2008

The Delectable Haleem

The Holy month of Ramzan brings to fore the ultimate delicacies of Hyderabad. For 30 days, the fast is broken with some mouth watering delicacies, mostly made with mutton. The Hyderabadi Biryani has spread its wings wide and is probably the most revered global delicacy along with the pasta and the dosa ! But mostly unseen during the normal days is one dish that will leave you begging for more... The Haleem.

No Ramzan is complete without the Haleem. It can be a snack, a side-dish, an accompliment or a full meal in itself. And all in just one avatar, unlike the 101 varieties of pasta or dosas or pizzas.

It might be a cumbersome to make, but then once you have made it, every drop of sweat spent will seem worthwhile. So lets get cooking for the Iftar party :)

Ingredients:

1kg Boneless diced mutton
400gms Whole wheat
200gms Gram Lentils (Chana dal)
2 Cups Thick Curd
3 Large Onions
2 Cups Ghee / Vanaspati
2 Tsp Chilli powder
2 Tsp Turmeric powder
2 Tsp Coriander powder
1 Tsp Cardomom powder
2 Tbsp Ginger garlic paste
50gms crushed Cashews
50gms crushed Almonds
4 Green Chillis
4 Lemons
2 bunches Fresh Coriander
2 bunches Fresh Mint
2 Eggs
Salt to Taste

Lets get cooking:

Soak the wheat and gram lentils in water for 3-4 hours or overnight. To the curds, add the Chilli powder, Turmeric powder, Cardomom powder, coriander powder, Ginger-garlic paste, green chillis and salt to taste. Mix these into a paste and marinate the mutton in this and leave for 3-4 hours.

Drain the water from the wheat, dry the wheat in a cloth and pound it. Add the marinated meat mixture to this along with the cashews and almonds. Add a cup or so of water and cook the meat and wheat mixture till the meat becomes very tender. Use an old fashioned lentil masher to literally grind this into a uniform thick paste. You can use a blender too, but that will make the mix a very fine paste which is not ideal.

Take about a cup of Ghee/Vanaspati in a pan and heat it. Finely chop 2 onions and add to the ghee and fry till golden. Do not let them go brown. Add a pinch of salt to this too. Add the blended paste of meat and wheat to the pan and mix well. Add finely chopped coriander and squeeze a couple of lemons into this. Add some water and cook till the entire mix becomes very tender and pasty.




While the above gets done, make thin slices of a large onion and fry in heated oil/ghee till golden brown. Hard boil two eggs and slice them into thin slices. Also heat one cup of Ghee/Vanaspati.

When the meat/wheat paste is completely cooked, take it into a serving dish and marinate it with hot ghee, mint leaves, fried onions and slices of boiled eggs. Squeeze lemons to taste.

Dig in and Enjoy !!!

24 comments:

  1. My mouth is watering at the sight of this!!! I so have to try this!!!! ;)

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  2. I dont eat meat...but this looks delicious...hope people enjoy it.

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  3. oki... not for me!!!
    pure veggie so didnt read it whole!! :D

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  4. @ Ani

    Do give it a try.. and I promise u its delicious!

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  5. @ Ceedy

    Tell u wat.. there is a veggie variant wherein u use a lot of carrot, peas, french beans, some capsicum and cauliflower all mashed up instead of the mutton. Although the taste cannot really match the non-veg dish, it has its own unique flavour.

    SO do give it a try!

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  6. @ Cindy

    :)

    Give it a try and lemme know how it comes..

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  7. then come up with that recipe also!! :D

    i wud welcome that move!!! :D

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  8. wow....

    soooooo yummy, i alrdy know...god knows when ill be able to cook it but m bookmarking it...

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  9. @vrij

    Sure - goes without saying - I try to do that with many dishes - replace the meat....but yes like many of my friends keep telling me - its (the taste) is not the same - you are missing something in life :)

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  10. @ Ankur

    As I said earlier to CD.. try replacing the mutton with the veggies.. boil and mash.. it should come out good.. but your quantity of wheat to veggies needs to go up so the ratio to be 1:1.

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  11. @ D gypsy/sinner

    I hope the day come pretty soon..

    :)

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  12. @ CD

    yep, give it a good try.. and no, you are not missing on something.. there is a lot more you can do with the veggies than with meat. And its healthier too.

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  13. a lot of my friends would be happy with this post.. There has been tremendous curiosity around this dish this year, a couple of my friends n Hyderbad were bowled over by this stuff.. I will forward them this post, must make them happy..

    Ramzan Kareem :)

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  14. @ Lash

    Sure do buddy! Ask them to try out the recipe and give their valuable feedback here.

    Thanx again!

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  15. @ Mia

    Chk the comments.. I've given some veggie tips to CD.

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  16. I think I gain weight.
    ;)

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  17. Hearty Haleem is definitely my favorite in Ramadan.

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  18. Yeah...lately Hyderabad haleem has been picking up in terms of its flavor.. and taste...

    Work from home India

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