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This may just be my dearest food story yet, for my mother made legendary pulao, and while researching this story I stumbled upon information that has made it even more personal.
The aromatic effervescence of fennel, coriander seeds and onions cooking in mutton yakhni (stock) takes me to a time of wonder years. Days when I thought that my dearest parents would live forever and all Friday lunches in the world would be spent eating pulao, shami kabab and chukandar raita (beetroot yogurt), sitting around a table of laughter, reprimands, family history lessons and character building. Yes, those days were cut short but the joy of cooking have remained a constant; for now I am a parent, and children, siblings, family and friends still gather around the table to eat pulao made with my sweet mother’s recipe.
Pulao is a fairly universal food; gathering most world cuisines in its embrace. Ancient conquests and nomadic shepherds were instrumental in spreading this Islamic aura centerpiece dish to all corners of the old world. History relays that the chef d'oeuvr of Persian kitchens was goat and sheep pulao and it transformed to an elegant dish as it travelled from the campfires of hardened nomadic shepherds to the courts of the caliphs.
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The Persians cooks let the rice sit in salted water for several hours so it would shimmer like crystals, and expected the rice to plump to perfection in the boiling meat stock. They rejected the quality of the rice and pulao if it clumped up or became sticky. Centuries later Tavenier, a French traveller and cultural anthropologist observed that the best rice suited to make pulao was cultivated southwest of Agra. It plumped to perfection, with each grain separate and fluffy, perfect for making pulao.
Pulao is supremely aromatic and its exquisite usage of elegant spices makes it a very sophisticated dish. It’s this very subtle elegance that played a key role in spreading it to the world at large. From ancient Persia it spread far and wide to the entire Muslim world and beyond. The Spanish added a host of seafood to it, infused it with saffron and called it paella, the Turks referred to it as pilav, and the Latin race from Italy called it risotto.
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Babur arrived in the subcontinent and abhorred the cuisine, he was used to a hearty meat-based nomadic shepherds diet, and hailing from central Asia the pulao was a fundamental repertoire to any central Asian kitchen. The cultural mesh of Persia, central Asia and India gave birth to an offshoot of pulao, the wonderful biryani; it was in the Mughal kitchens that the elegantly subtle pulao was introduced to the Indian spices giving birth to the delightfully fiery biryani; but that is another food story in itself.
The chefs in Lucknow prided in making the fragrant pulao and maintained that the sophistication of the dish was in its subtlety of flavours, where the floral essence of the rice was enhanced by the gentle fragrance of fennel and coriander seeds. The nawabs inherited their cuisine from the Mughal courts, and legend suggests that Awadhi cooks famously fed the domestic fowls musk and saffron so when they cooked the lavish bird its fragrance permeated haveli to haveli (mansion to mansion), speaking of luxury.
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The elite cooking of Pakistan and India expresses its central Asian, Turkish, Afghan and Persian roots, but we cannot ignore that its nourishment and beauty was epitomised because of spices, cultures and races indigenous to the region. The subcontinental food is unique and has evolved over centuries to become what it has today, rich, vibrant and flavorful.
The surviving pulao recipes as relayed in books written by scholars from centuries past suggest the usage of very few spices; the four whole garam masalas, namely (black cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, black peppercorns), ghee (clarified butter) coriander seeds, cumin, fennel seeds, onions, ginger and garlic. But the real oomph came from preparing the goat, sheep or fowl yakhni (meat stock), and then straining it through mulmul (muslin) cloth, and cooking the rice in the deliciously subtle stock. Once the rice was almost fluffed in the broth, the pot was sealed shut and steam cooking was initiated until completion.
The earliest mention of a dish named pilaf can be found in the transcripts of the history on Alexander the Great. It is believed that the young Greek conqueror enjoyed the reception he received at the hands of the locals of Bactria. The military forces accompanying Alexander savoured the Bactrian dish of rice and meat, and took the recipe back with them to Greece and voila, we have the Mediterranean Pilaf.
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Pilaf’s arrival in Greece initiated its spread to Eastern Europe and it entrenched itself permanently into most cuisines of the ancient world. And at this point in my research, I found myself looking for a map of Bactria, and to my amazement sitting in the centre of Bactria was a city names Termez. It gave me pause, and in that moment of discovery my emotional connection to pulao became even deeper.
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Armed with this deep connection, I recalled eating pulao every Eid-ul-fitr. It was cooked by Nani Amma and served onto our plates as she sat on a peeraa (low wicker stool) and we lined up for the treat. Their were arguments amongst cousins as to who got the best boti (meat), but there was always enough to go around. Nani Amma, Bibi Jamila made the perfect pulao as did my dear mother, Naheed Tirmizi, and being a food romantic and a writer I cannot help but create a link between, Termez, Bactria and the legendary pulao makers that run in my family. Here it is, from my kitchen to yours.
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Pulao
Ingredients (serves 4 to 6)
2 1/4 to 2 1/2 lbs mutton, small pieces (preferably goat leg or shoulder meat)
1 1/2 tbsp fennel seeds
3 tbsp coriander seeds
2 large onions
1 tsp garam masala powder
1 tsp cumin
1/4 to 1/2 cup oil
8 1/2 mugs water
2 mugs rice
Salt to taste
1 1/2 tbsp yogurt
1 tsp fresh ginger (chopped)
1 tsp fresh garlic (chopped)
Method
Slice one large onion in fours quarters, add mutton, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, salt to taste and water, bringing to boil and reducing heat to medium until mutton is cooked and stock (yakhni) is reduced to half its original quantity (4 1/4 mugs).
Remove mutton pieces from stock (yakhni), and strain stock thoroughly through sieve, discarding the drained fennel, coriander and onions. In a large pot, pour oil and brown thinly sliced onions. Once the onions are golden brown add mutton, ginger, garlic, garam masala powder, cumin, salt to taste and yogurt, stir on high heat for a few minutes.
Now add mutton stock, and bring to boil on a high heat, adding pre-washed rice. Maintain high heat until the rice fluffs and the stock is just a thin layer on the top.
Taper heat to low and seal the pot initiating the dum (steam cooking) method. Let it sit on a low heat for 30 minutes. And, your perfect pulao is ready.
Beetroot (chukunder) Raita
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Take two beets, discarding the stems. Boil until cooked. Remove from water, peel and slice julienne.
In a bowl whisk 2 to 2 1/2 mugs yogurt, add 1/2 cup washed and chopped onions, salt, a pinch of black pepper powder, 2 chopped green chillies, add the beets, sprinkle with chopped mint and cilantro and serve with pulao.
Photos By Fawad Ahmed.