Haleem

I have lived almost all my life in various parts of Andhra and naturally I have a special affection towards Andhra cuisine. When it comes to Andhra cuisine and Ramzan time, the first thing that probably anyone would think of is the mouth watering, yummylicious Haleem. Haleem as many of you might know is originally an Arabian delicacy and is said to have been bought to India by the Mughals and is quite special when it comes to Hyderabadi cuisine.

I have been looking around for Haleem since past few years, but surprisingly we couldnt get this anywhere in Bangalore. This year I thought of giving it a shot myself and we also heard from one of our friends that Haleem can be ordered online from Pista House in Hyderabad. I thought we will keep this as a backup option and decided to give it a try.

I searched around for the recipe and I finally made it and experimented it on my toughest food critics, my daughter and my Husband :-). And to my delight, this turned out to be one of the very few things which my daughter asked for a second time.

Ingredients:

1. Mutton- 250gms (boneless)
2. Broken wheat- ½ cup
3. Tur dal- ¼ cup (optional)
4. Ginger and Garlic paste- 2tbsp
5. Green chillies- 3nos
6. Yogurt- 3tbsp
7. Red chilli powder- 1tsp
8. Turmeric powder- ½ tsp
9. Lemon juice- 1 lemon
10. Salt- as per taste
11. Onions- 3nos
12. Garam Masala powder- 1tsp
13. Water- as required

Method:

1. Grind ginger and garlic paste along with green chillies and keep it aside.
2. Wash and drain the mutton. Marinate the mutton with yogurt, ½ of ginger, garlic and green chilli paste, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, lemon juice and salt. Keep this in refrigerator for about 3-4 hours.
3. Wash and soak the broken wheat over night and pressure cook that till soft.
4. Pressur cook the washed tur dal till soft and keep it aside.
5. Pressure cook the marinated mutton till soft and when it is cooled mince it coarsely in a food processor.
6. Heat oil in  a wok and fry ½ the sliced onions till golden brown in colour and keep it aside.
7. In the same wok fry the remaining sliced onions till light brown in colour. Add the ginger, garlic and green chilli paste and mix well.
8. In this add the coarsely minced mutton,cooked broken wheat,  cooked dal and add little water if required to make a light gravy.
9. Add salt and garam masala powder  and boil it continuosly stirring till  you get a thick gravy and all the ingredients are blended together till oil separates from the side of the wok.
10. Serve hot topped with deep fried onions, lemon juice and chopped coriander leaves.

A bowl of Haleem with Sulaimani

I am sending this to Hyderabadi Ramadhan food festival 2011.