Ingredients:
1 kg clams, cleaned
For Marination:
1 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste
oil, for frying
For Clams Masala:
5 onions, thinly sliced
7-8 green chillies
8-10 garlic cloves
2 ” piece ginger
3 tomatoes, chopped
1 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 sprig curry leaves
1/2 cup coriander leaves
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
3/4-1 tsp garam masala
salt to taste
2 tbsp oil
For Rice:
1 cup onion, sliced
1/4 cup oil, for frying onion
3 tbsp ghee
2 cup basmati rice/ jeerakasala rice
3 1/2 cup water
3 cloves
3 cardamoms
2 piece cinnamon
salt to taste
Preparation:
For  Rice:
- Wash and drain the rice. Boil the water and keep it aside.
- Heat 1/4 cup oil and 3 tbsp ghee in a thick bottomed pan and fry 1 cup sliced onion until it turns golden and keep it aside.
- To prepare the rice, in the same pan ( used for frying onion) , add cardamom, cinnamon and cloves and fry.
- Add drained rice to this and saute for 4-5 minutes on medium flame. Add boiled water and salt, cover and cook on low flame till rice is done.
For Clams Masala:
- Clean the clams and marinate it with 1 tsp chilli powder, 1/4 tsp turmeric powder and salt and keep it aside for 10-15 minutes.
- Heat oil in a pan and shallow fry the clams until golden in colour and keep it aside.
- Crush ginger, garlic and green chillies together and keep it aside.
- Heat a pressure cooker and add little oil and add thinly sliced onions, turmeric powder and chilli powder and saute well till onion turns transparent.
- Add ginger-garlic-green chilli paste to the onions and saute well till the raw smell disappears.
- Add chopped tomatoes and saute well till it turns soft.
- Add little water, curry leaves and enough salt to this and pressure cook for 2-3 whistles.
- Once the pressure releases, open the cooker and add fried clams, lemon juice, 1/4 cup chopped coriander leaves and half of the fried onions, mix well and cook for few minutes in low flame.
- Then layer the cooked rice over the prepared clams masala.
- Add the remaining fried onions , 1/4 cup coriander leaves and 3/4 tsp garam masala over the rice as the top layer and sprinkle saffron milk/Â little yellow food color mixed with 1 1/2 tbsp milk.
- Cover with an aluminium foil and close with a tight lid. Then cook on low flame for 10-15 minutes.
- Remove from flame and serve with raita, pickle and pappadum….
I had seen clams all cleaned up and kept in the supermarket that I normally go to… your biriyani seems a delicious idea…