Masoor Dal Biryani

by Tarla Dalal

Added to 203 cookbooks
This recipe has been viewed 7851 times

A light biryani, delicately flavoured with spices and saffron.

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Preparation Time: 30 mins
Cooking Time: 50 mins
Makes 8 servings
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Ingredients

1/2 cup masoor (whole red lentil)
1 1/2 cups uncooked rice (chawal)
3 onions , sliced
1 chopped onion
2 tomatoes , chopped
1/4 tsp saffron (kesar) strands
5 tbsp ghee
ghee for deep frying
salt to taste

To Be Ground Into A Paste
4 garlic (lehsun) cloves
7 red chillies
3 tsp coriander (dhania) seeds
1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
4 tsp poppy seeds (khus-khus)
25 mm (1") piece of ginger (adrak)

Method

Soak the masoor in water for at least six hours.
Boil the rice. Each grain of the cooked rice should be separate.
Deep fry the sliced onions in ghee to a golden brown colour.
Heat 3 tablespoons of ghee in a vessel and fry the chopped onion for a little time.
Add the paste and fry for a few minutes. Add the tomatoes and fry again for 2 minutes.
Add the soaked masoor, salt and 3/4 teacup of water.
Warm the saffron in a small vessel, add 1 teaspoon of milk and rub in unitl the saffron dissolves.
To the cooked rice, add the saffron, fried onions and salt and mix well.
In a large baking bowl, put 2 tablespoons of ghee at bottom. Make four layers by spreading 1/3 of the rice, then spreading 1/2 of the masoor, next spreading a further 1/3 of the rice and finally spreading the remaining masoor and rice.
Cove and bake in a hot oven at 450°f for 20 minutes. Turn upside down on a big serving plate just before serving.
Serve hot.