It’s said that once you have experienced the taste of a rich haleem, you can never forget it. The rich Mughlai mutton-lentils wheat stew dish -which traces its origins in Arabia, where it is known as Hareesah – is a nutritious meal in its own right. Slow-cooked for 6-8 hours with lots of labour and love, the mix is as wholesome as it gets.
Some say Haleem originated in Iran and Afghanistan region. It was introduced to Hyderabad by the Arab diaspora during the rule of the sixth Nizam, Mahbub Ali Khan, and later became an integral part of Hyderabadi cuisine during the rule of the seventh Nizam, Mir Osman Ali Khan.
About the Recipe:
Traditionally, Hyderabadi haleem is cooked on a low flame of firewood for up to 6 to 7 hours in a bhatti (a cauldron covered with a brick and mud kiln). One or two people are required to stir it continuously with wooden paddles throughout its preparation. For home-made Hyderabadi haleem, a Ghotni (a wooden hand masher) is used to stir it until it reaches a sticky-smooth consistency, similar to minced meat.
The ingredients include meat, barley, pulses, pounded wheat, spices, especially kabab chini (all spice) and ghee. The meat is cooked along with the spices. It is then shredded and added to the pounded wheat and barley mixture and cooked for hours. The garnish includes fried cashews, golden fried onions and a slice of lime.
It is said that preparing is a time consuming and difficult process but if you want to prepare in less than 2 hours then you can try this recipe at home. It tastes exactly as restaurant’s Haleem. You don’t need any extra ingredients to make Haleem, all ingredients are easily available at home. So, give it a try and let me know how it turned out for you.
Ingredients:
- 1 kilograms mutton boneless
- 250 grams mutton with bones
- 3 cup broken wheat (Dalia)
- 3 tbsp ginger garlic paste
- ½ cup urad dal
- ½ cup chana dal
- ½ cup moong dal
- ½ cup barley
- 3 tbsp red chilli powder
- 2 ½ tsp black pepper powder
- ¼ tsp turmeric
- 2 cups yogurt (curd)
- 1 cup onion (golden fried)
- 1 cup onion (golden fried for garnish)
- ½ cup cashews (golden fried for garnish)
- 1 tsp garam masala
- ½ tsp whole peppercorns
- 2 inch cinnamon stick (4)
- 6 cardamoms
- 1 tsp kabab chini (whole)
- 1 tsp loung
- 2 tsp dry rose petals (boil it along with potli ka masala mentioned below)
- 1 packet potli ka masala (need to use it after its boiled in 2 cups of water turns to 1 cup)
- 1 cup ghee
- 1 cup oil
- Salt to taste
- 2 cup coriander leaves (keep extra for garnish)
- 1 cup mint
- 10 green chillies
- Lemon wedges for garnish
Method:
- Step 1:
- Wash and soak the broken wheat for half an hour, Clean and trim mutton (boneless).
- Step 2:
- To the mutton, add 1 tbsp of ginger garlic paste, 1 tsp of salt, 2 glasses of water and pressure cook the mix for 8 to 10 minutes (or until 4 whistles) and simmer for another 15-20 minutes. Shred and keep aside, remove very small bones if any so they don’t come in your bite. Leave a few bigger ones, they will become juicy and chewy!
- Save the juice from the boiled mutton DONT DISCARD OR DRY UP.
- Grind half of the boneless mutton to paste.
- Step 3:
- Grind coarsely urad, chana, moong dal and barley.
- Boiled the broken wheat along with dals and barley and half of those cinnamon sticks. (You can pressure cook this too up to 2 whistles).
- Once it’s cooled grind half of the batter to fine paste.
- Step 4:
- After removing some of the curry add juice left from the mutton along with 1 cup of potli ka masala water (add a cup more if less juice is left from boiled mutton) and bring it to boil.
- Step 5:
- To this, add all of the mutton, blended wheat and dals and mix well.
- You can add more ghee as you go if needed.
- Let it simmer and cook slowly for at least half an hour. Keep stirring it continuously else it sticks to the bottom of the pan.
- Towards the end add half of the fried onions and mix well.
- Step 6:
- Serve hot, garnished with fried onions, cashew nuts, lemon wedges and fresh coriander, topped with some saved curry for that extra kick.
Tips:
- Grind half of the batter to fine paste, this will save you from the harsh mixing effort.
- Grind half of the boneless mutton to paste, this gives the elasticity to the mutton which adds to its texture while still having a few shreds of mutton here and there.
- Sauté the curry for a min and then save some for topping later.
THANK YOU
