While researching about the Dindigul fort, came across this article about the history of Thalappakatti Biryani and here is the link. I believe the trademark issue between Thalappakatti and Thalapakattu finally came to a conclusion. Dindigul is approximately 1.5 hrs from Periyakulam. We usually board train to Chennai from Dindigul. I have a fond memory associated with this city. I am a Harry Potter fan. During the release Goblet of Fire, I participated in a contest and won two tickets for the first day show. And can you guess where the theater was? Of course in Dindigul. :-) I convinced my parents and they agreed to take me. But Appa couldn’t join us because of work and Amma had no choice, other than to accompany me. So we went all the way from Periyakulam to Dindigul to watch Harry Potter.
I prepared a rough list for this blogging marathon by Feb and I was struggling for couple of alphabets and the one that I selected for D would go for W as well if I call it by its English name. I had couple of recipes in mind for W but I wanted to post my original D recipe for W. That’s when I came across this biryani recipe at CHCook’s blog. I bookmarked it and thought I would try that after this BM. When I was discussing about this recipe with M, I thought why can’t I post this for D. So here I am naming this recipe as Dindigul Thalapakkati Biriyani with Mushrooms and Soy Chunks. I did change the spice levels, added more cinnamon and had to modify the water rice ratio (as the rice I used required more) and also grinded mint and cilantro together according to our preference. I went with 3 cups of rice so as to have leftovers as biryanis tastes great the next day. ;-) ;-) This serves 4 to 5 people. But before getting into the recipe, here is the interesting ingredient.
The unique ingredient here is the Mace and Nutmeg: When I was trying my Diwali legiyam, I couldn’t find Mace. So went without that. But luckily got it this time. Mace or Jathipathiri or Javithri is nothing but the outer cover of the nutmeg. Interesting huh? Take a look at this bud. (Lucikly I had one so reserved for the picture)
The nutmeg fruit when cut open has the seed with the red outer cover. The dried outer cover becomes the mace and inner seed becomes nutmeg. So if you are not able to get mace, add more nutmeg. Wikipedia has more images including the fruit. Without any delay here is the recipe, D for Dindigul Thalappakkati Biryani With Mushrooms and Soy Chuncks. Ingredients:
Seeraga Samba Rice – 3 cups Shallots or Small Onions or Pearl Onions – around 20. (I used white pearl onions) Garlic Cloves – 10 to 15 (depending upon the size. Mine were pretty big. So I used two bulbs which gave me close to 13 cloves) Oil – 3 tbsps Ghee – 3 tbsps Mint – one whole bunch (approx 2 cups of leaves) Cilantro – 1 cup Red chili powder – ½ tsp Salt – around 1 tbsp Mushrooms – 10 oz (I used brown crimmini ones) Soy chunks – 1 cup Water – 5 cups + for grinding masalas and for soaking the soy chunks and rice Yogurt / Curd – ½ cup (I used greek yogurt) Lemon Juice – 2 tbsps To grind: Cloves – 4 Green Cardamom – 3 Cinnamon – 4 1 inch piece. (I used 1 round stick which was close 4.5 1 inch sticks) Nutmeg – ¼ of a seed Mace – 2 Green Chillies – 5 (I used small ones) Ginger – a small 1 to 2 inch piece
Prep Work:
Wash the seeraga samba rice and soak it for at least 20 to 30 minutes. Soak the soy chunks in water for about 30 minutes.
Wash and clean the mint and cilantro leaves and pulse it once. I figured out that if I add mint directly, we weren’t eating them so I started to pulse once without adding water. Grind the dry masala ingredients given under “To grind” first. Grind cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, mace and nutmeg. Now add the green chillies and ginger and add about 2 to 3 tbsps of water and grind them together and set aside. Peel the onions and garlic and grind them together and set aside.
Biriyani Preparation:
Heat a wide pan or kadai and add oil and ghee. Once the ghee melts and it is hot, add the chopped onion-garlic paste and also the biryani masala. Mix well and let it cook till the raw smell goes away and the oil gets separated. As we are using lots of garlic and shallots, make sure you cook till the raw smell goes. I cooked this medium heat and it took approx 10 minutes.
Then add the mushrooms and soy chunks. Don’t need to add water as mushroom oozes out water.
Let it cook for 3 to 4 minutes and then add the salt and red chilly powder.
Mix well and let it cook for couple more minutes. Now add the yogurt and cook again till everything comes together and thickens.
Now add 4 cups of water. (2 cups of rice soaked water + 2 cups of regular water). When the water starts to boil, add the lemon juice and the pulsed mint and coriander mixtures.
Mix well and check for spice and salt level and adjust accordingly. Now add the seeraga samba rice and let it cook on high flame for 5 minutes.
After 5 minutes, if required add 1 more cup of water. The seeraga samba that I used requires more water. So I added additional 1 cups of water at this time and then covered the pan with a lid and cooked under low flame for 15 minutes.
Then turn of the heat and let it rest with the lid on for another 15 to 20 minutes.
Pressure Cooker Method: If you are doing this in pressure cooker, add water and pressure cook unto 2 whistles. (I didn’t try this one with pressure cooker, but that’s what I do for chettinadu biryani)
Notes:
Depending upon the soaking time of the rice, the cooking time varies. Don’t soak more than 30 minutes. Also depending upon the rice the water level might vary. Since we want non-sticky rice for biryani go for 1:1.5 (rice to water) ratio. Seeraga samba by nature is not as fluffy as basmati. Adjust the green chillies and salt according to your preference. Depending upon the size of shallots and garlic, adjust the quantity. If you are not able to find mace, increase the nutmeg to ⅓ of a seed or if you are using nutmeg powder around ½ tsp should be enough. Pulsing cilantro and mint is completely optional. Also you can reduce the quantity of mint to 1 cup of leaves.
📖 Recipe
