Kerala Malabar Meat Ghee Rice (Erachi Neychoru)
Erachi neychoru layers slow-cooked mutton into Malabar ghee rice, served at weddings across northern Kerala.
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1 hrtotal
Prep 20 min · Cook 40 min
- Serves
- 2
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Spice
- Mild
Ingredients
Quantities are for 2 servings.
You'll need: Stovetop, Pressure Cooker.
Method
In a pressure cooker, add the mutton pieces, half of the ginger-garlic paste, a slit green chilli, salt, and half a cup of water. Cook until the meat is fork-tender. Reserve the flavorful stock.
In a wide, heavy-bottomed vessel, heat a generous amount of pure ghee over medium heat.
Fry the split cashews until golden, then drop in the raisins until they puff up beautifully. Remove them with a slotted spoon and keep aside for garnish.
In the same ghee, add the thinly sliced onions. Fry them slowly until they turn deeply caramelized and crispy (Birista). Remove half of these crispy onions for later.
To the remaining onions in the ghee, add the rest of the ginger-garlic paste, green chilli, curry leaves, and the Kerala garam masala. Sauté until fragrant.
Drain the washed Jeerakasala rice completely and add it to the pan. Gently fry the grains in the spiced ghee for 2 minutes until they turn slightly opaque.
2 min
Add the cooked mutton chunks into the rice. Measure the reserved mutton stock and add enough boiling water so the total liquid is exactly double the volume of the rice.
Bring it to a vigorous boil, cover with a tight lid, lower the flame to minimum, and let it cook undisturbed until all liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender.
Open, gently fluff the rice, and generously garnish with the reserved fried cashews, raisins, and crispy onions. Serve warm.
How to tell it's done
Glistening, separate, short rice grains heavily perfumed with ghee and sweet spices, studded with tender meat, crunchy nuts, and sweet bursts of raisin.
Getting it right
Tip
Frying the Jeerakasala rice briefly in ghee seals the starch, preventing it from becoming sticky and enhancing its unique, nutty, popcorn-like aroma.
What to serve it with
A true Malabar feast pairs this Neychoru with a spicy, thick coconut-based chicken or beef roast, and a side of sharp onion-tomato raita.
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