Try this Mughlai feast

Don’t let the techniques and elaborate preparations intimidate you. Try your hand at Mughlai cooking

Muslim Biryani

Ingredients: Half a kilo of basmati rice; ½ kg of mutton; 4 onions (sliced); 2 tomatoes (chopped); 6 green chillies (slit); a cup of mint leaves (chopped); 2 sticks of cinnamon; 6 cloves; 5 cardamom pods; 6 bay leaves; 150 ml of oil; 2 potatoes cut into big chunks; 50 gm of ginger-garlic; 2 tsps of Kashmiri chilli powder; 2 tsps of coriander powder; ½ cup of curd; 3 tsps of salt; 1 lime; 3 tbsps of ghee; ¾ cup of milk and ½ tsp of saffron soaked in milk.
Method: Soak the rice for 10 minutes and parboil it for 5 minutes. Strain the rice, add 1½ tsps of salt and spread it on a cloth to cool. Heat oil in a pressure cooker, add onions and fry till they turn golden brown. Take out half of the fried onions for later use. Now add whole masalas, mint leaves, green chillies, tomatoes ginger-garlic paste, all the spice powders, curds, salt and mutton. Fry the ingredients well. Add a cup of water and pressure cook. After one whistle, simmer for 10 minutes, cool and cook it further till the water dries out. Take a handi, heat ghee, make a layer of half the quantity of rice and top it with the mutton masala, lemon juice and mint. Alternate this with another layer of rice and mutton, sprinkle saffron with milk and fried onions. Cover the handi tightly. Keep a hot water vessel on it and dum cook for 20 minutes. Serve hot.

Khatta Baingan

Ingredients: Around 10 purple brinjals (deep fried whole); ¼ cup of oil; a cup of tomato puree; 1 tbsp of ginger-garlic paste; 1 tbsp of chilli powder; 1 tbsp of coriander powder; 1 tsp of turmeric powder; 1 tbsp of thick tamarind extract; ¼ cup of raw onion paste; salt to taste and 2 cups of water. For the paste, 1 tbsp of cumin seeds; 2 tbsps of poppy seeds and 1 tsp of black pepper. Make a paste of these ingredients.
Method: Heat oil in a pan and add ginger-garlic paste, curry leaves, onion paste, tomato puree, the spice paste, tamarind, salt, jaggery and water. Cook these to form a semi-thick gravy. Add fried brinjal and cook further. Serve hot.

Dal Phirni

Ingredients: A cup of chana dal; 400 gm of unsweetened khoya; ½ kg of sugar; 100 gm of almonds; 100 gm of cashews; ¼ kg of ghee; 2 cinnamon sticks; 50 gm of chironji and 1 tsp of cardamom powder.
Method: Pressure cook the dal with 3 cups of water for 3 whistles. Blend the dal to form a coarse paste. Powder cashew and almonds. Melt the ghee, fry the cinnamon, chironji, dal paste, khoya, sugar, cashew and almond powder. Cook till it is medium thick. Garnish with sliced almonds.