The yakhni pulao, timatar chatni, and korma (with aloo) are dishes I learned from my mother-in-law, on my first visit to their home in Nainital after marriage. It’s family festive fare and part of wedding feasts as well. My MIL learned it from her MIL; apparently it was a family recipe. The pulao is delicate enough to be fed to babies as a weaning food. You can make a small muslin bag to contain the saunf and dhania seeds, if you like. I never have. This pulao scales up really well. At a fundraiser in Sydney, I made it for 100 people. That was 10 Kg of rice, cooked in five simultaneous lots of 2 kg each!
In a small pressure cooker (3.5-4 litre), place the unpeeled, washed onion sliced in half, ginger sliced in half lengthwise, garlic, coriander, and fennel seeds in the bottom. Place the mutton pieces on top. Pour 3 cups (750 ml) water in the cooker, add salt. Do not mix. Close the lid of the cooker.
Let it come to pressure (first whistle), then lower the flame to sim for 17 minutes. Turn off the heat. Let it cool down by itself (about 15 minutes).
Open the cooker, and with tongs, remove the cooked meat pieces to a bowl. Strain the spiced soup (yakhni) into another bowl; it should be 625-750 ml.
Do not wash or soak the rice. It should absorb as much stock as possible.
In a heavy-based pot with a tight-fitting lid), heat 2 tbsp (30-50 ml) pure ghee and add in the cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, and tejpatta. Patiently fry the onions till they are golden brown. Remove half of the onions and set aside.
Add in the cooked mutton pieces and fry them for up to 2 minutes, medium flame. Add the cumin seeds and as the aroma releases, add the rice; fry for one minute, stirring lightly to coat all the grains with ghee.
Pour in 2½ to 3 cups (625 to 750 ml) of stock. Check the salt; it should be slightly salty. Bring it to a boil on medium high flame. Reduce the heat to medium and cover; wait for about 10 minutes or more till bubbles appear on the surface of the rice. Reduce the flame to absolutely low and wait another 10 to 15 minutes. Turn off the flame and leave it shut for another 10 minutes.
Open, plate, and garnish with the reserved fried onions.
Refrigerate leftovers
Choose the mutton pieces as suggested.
Good aged basmati rice gives the best results.
Our family tradition is to eat it with mutton korma and timatar ki chutney.
