Homemade Hyderabadi Haleem

Homemade Hyderabadi Haleem

Haleem (Persian: حلیم) is a thick Persian, Pakistani and North Indian high calorie dish. Although this dish varies from region to region, it always includes wheat, lentils and meat.

Haleem is made of wheat, meat (usually beef or mutton, but sometimes chicken or minced meat), lentils and spices. This dish is slow cooked for seven to eight hours which results in a paste like consistency, with the taste of spices and meat blending with wheat.

Haleem is sold as snack food in Bazaars all year around. It is also a special dish prepared throughout the world during Ramadan and Moharram months of Muslim Hijri calendar, particularly amongst Pakistani and Indian Muslims. In India, Haleem prepared in Hyderabad, during the Ramadan month, is very famous and is distributed all over the country. Haleem is available in Chennai at Mughal Zaika Restaurant, Kilpauk only during the month of Ramzan. I prepared it with very little oil. So oil is not floating on top and it's very tasty.

Ingredients

Lamb - 150 gm
Red lentil - 25 gm
Broken wheat - 25 gm
Channa dal - 25 gm
Urad Dal - 25 gm (washed)
Arhar dal - 25 gm
Ginger garlic paste - 30 gm ( 6 teaspoon )
Red chilli powder - 2 teaspoon
Pure ghee 50 ml ( or 1 tablespoon oil )
Turmeric powder - 5 gm
Curd - 30 ml
Green cardamom - 10 gm

Onion - 50 gm
Almond - 15 gm
Chironji - 15 gm ( optional )
Khus khus ( poppy seeds ) - 15 gm
Green chilli - 15 gm
Cooking oil oil -1 tablespoon ( In a pan, heat oil and fry 2 sliced onions until brown color )
Salt - 5 gm ( or to taste )

Method

Wash lentils. Add turmeric powder and ginger-garlic paste ( 2 teaspoon ) and boil until soft ( 1 cup lentils + 3 cups water and pressure cooking time 30 minutes ).

Wash broken wheat and soak for 45 minutes. Cook along with lentils. Roast almonds, chironji, khus khus and grind to smooth paste. Add to lentils.

Sauté meat with oil, ginger-garlic paste ( 2 teaspoon ), red chilli powder and curd. Cook till it is tender. Cool and shred into thin threads.

In a wide pan, heat ghee or oil. Add sliced onions and sauté till brown. Add ginger- garlic paste ( 2 teaspoon ) and cook further. Add lentil paste and shredded lamb and cook it on slow flame for 30 minutes till the oil floats on top.

Add ginger juliennes, browned onion, and slit green chilli as garnish and serve hot with any Indian bread of your choice.