Hyderabadi Tahari

Ingredients

• 500 g mutton, lamb, or beef (The author used lamb shoulder; cut into medium pieces.)
• 1 onion (Small; roughly sliced.)
• 5 tomatoes
• 2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
• salt (To taste.)
• 0.25 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp red chili powder
• 4.5 green chilies (Source specifies 4–5 chilies.)
• 0.5 cup oil
• 100 g yogurt
• 0.5 cup mint leaves (For the meat masala.)
• 0.5 cup cilantro (Chopped; for the meat masala.)
• 0.5 lemon juice (Juice of ½ lemon.)
• 0.75 tsp garam masala
• 550 g basmati rice
• 0.75 L water (For cooking the rice; reserve some after draining.)
• mint leaves (For the rice cooking water; amount unspecified.)
• cilantro (A few leaves for the rice cooking water.)
• 0.5 tsp shah jeera
• 1 cinnamon stick (Small.)
• 3 cloves
• 3 cardamom pods
• 1 tbsp ghee

Steps

1. 1

   Add the meat, sliced onion, tomatoes, ginger-garlic paste, salt, turmeric, red chili powder, green chilies, and oil to a pressure cooker.

2. 2

   Pressure-cook for 2 whistles. Lower the heat and continue cooking for 20 minutes. If not using a pressure cooker, add about 2 cups of water and cook until the meat is tender.

3. 3

   Once the meat is cooked, continue cooking the mixture over medium heat until the tomatoes break down and the oil begins to separate. Stir occasionally so nothing sticks to the bottom.

4. 4

   Add the yogurt, mint, cilantro, lemon juice, and garam masala. Continue cooking until the oil separates again, then set the meat masala aside.

5. 5

   Soak the basmati rice for 20 minutes.

6. 6

   Bring the water to a boil. Add the mint leaves, cilantro leaves, shah jeera, cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom pods.

7. 7

   Add the soaked rice and cook for about 3–4 minutes, until it is mostly cooked but still slightly firm.

8. 8

   Drain the rice, reserving some of the cooking water.

9. 9

   Add the drained rice to the meat masala and gently mix everything together.

10. 10

    Pour a little reserved rice water over the top, add the ghee, and cover the pot.

11. 11

    Simmer over low heat for 20 minutes, then serve.

Notes

The author offers an alternative method: add enough water and uncooked rice directly to the meat masala and cook everything together. The amount of reserved rice water is unspecified.

Nutrition per serving

• main
• South Asian
• rice dish
• meat
• pressure-cooked
• one-pot option
• halal-friendly