This Eid, Revel In Tradition With Rampur Special Shahjani Pulao; Recipe Inside

Eid is incomplete without the sumptuous spread of aromatic pulaos and biryanis adorning the festive table. Despite the prominence of Awadhi and Mughlai food, Rampuri cuisine has quietly contributed its distinctive cooking style. Rampur, a princely state with a rich culinary history, has a wide variety of dishes. This predominantly Muslim city has a vast variety of mouthwatering flavours. Now, for Ramadan, try this delicious Rampuri dish: Shahjani Pulao.

Rampur’s Shahjani Pulao

Pulao, with its subtle blend of spices and delicate textures, holds a special place in the hearts of many. Whether it’s the classic Vegetable Pulao adorned with vibrant seasonal produce or the indulgent Shahi Pulao enriched with nuts and dried fruits, the flavours ignite the senses and warm the heart. Few dishes hold as much historical and cultural significance as the Shahjani Pulao.

Rampur carries with it a rich culinary heritage, owing much of its gastronomic legacy to the Nawabs who ruled the region for centuries. The Rampuris are known for their fondness of pulao and dislike the biryani, a richer and spicier variation of the dish that is typically served in Lucknow and Hyderabad. The Rampuris take Shahjani Pulao as a more sophisticated Mughal adaptation of Persian pulao. But what elevates Shahjani Pulao to a culinary masterpiece is the addition of succulent pieces of meat marinated in a symphony of spices and slow-cooked to tender perfection.

Also Read: Sunil Chhetri’s Victory Meal Consists Of Samosas, Pizza, Pulao & More

How To Cook This Pulao?

This dish is a labour of love, requiring patience, skill, and a keen understanding of flavour balance. Here’s how you can cook and savour it as well:

Ingredients:

• One kilogram of meat
• One kilogram of rice
• 500g of roghan (ghee)
• 160 grams of almonds
• One hundred grams of curd
• Eighty grams of cinnamon
• Eighty grams of cloves
• 48 grams of green cardamom
• 48 g of cumin seeds
• 62 grams of Kali Mirch
• One hundred grams of white onions
• 60 grams of ginger
• 32 g seeds of coriander
• 16 grams of saffron
• 32 grams of Lahori salt

Method:

• Soak the rice in the water for approximately thirty minutes. The coriander seeds must be ground into a thick pulp.
• Peel the almonds and grind them into a paste. To create yakhni, put the meat in a deghchi along with half of the finely chopped onions, two tablespoons of ghee, half of the coriander paste, and roughly 2.5 litres of water. Continue cooking until the meat is soft.
• Slice the yakhni open to see the flesh. Strain the water (shorba). After adding around 10 cloves and ten cardamom seeds, prepare the tempering with one tablespoon of ghee.
• Add the cloves to the shorba after heating until they become red. Set it away. Heat the remaining ghee in a separate deghchi.
• Add the finely diced onions (remaining). Add the cloves and then the meat after the onions have softened and become red.
• Stir the meat until the ghee is well distributed. Stir in the remaining coriander paste. Stir in curd and ground almond paste.
• Add half of the ground spices to the gravy. Cook the rice for around 15 minutes over high heat. After draining the rice grains in a colander to remove extra water, soak them for fifteen to thirty minutes in the previously made shorba.
• As a last step, cover the meat with the whole spices and remove the rice before serving.
• Add just enough shorba to the rice to cover it. To ensure that no steam escapes, cover the deghchi and seal with kneaded flour. Simmer for fifteen minutes or so.
• Open the deghchi and put ghee on top. After soaking the saffron in warm water, sprinkle the pulao with the water and saffron threads. Serve hot.

So, will you be trying this recipe?

Cover image credits: Canva