Arkot Star Hotel Kushka:

Arkot Kushka. Kushka Rice. Kushka Biriyani. Kuzhka Biriyani.

Kushka is a recipe….where the rice is cooked with meat(generally mutton and rarely chicken)! Much similar/just like a Biriyani. Then they remove the meat chunks from the rice! Rice is served in the name of Kushka! There are so many vegetarian fans too for this recipe! Actually when someone hate to take a bite of meat….but yet love the flavour of this rice! This is for you! The meat broth makes this rice very tasty! So either use meat/meat broth for preparing kushka.

Arcot, Star Hotel has one hell of a great kushka recipe….the best I ever had! They are unique….they serve their Biriyani/Kushka just in particualar time. They prepare right amount and sell withing minutes. Either if we go early or bit late…..we can’t find it. Around 11.30 to 12 almost everything will be Gaayap(over)! So I always make sure to be there before 12- 12.30! There are so many fans like me for this mouth watering Arcot Kushka!

Ingredients:

Cloves 3
Cinnamon 2
Cardamon 3
Maratti mokku 2
Bay leaves 2
Star anise 1
Ghee 1 cup
Green chilies 6 slitted
Onion 1 finely chopped
Ginger paste 1 spoon
Garlic paste 1 spoon
Mint leaves few
Coriander leaves alone few
Tomato 1 chopped
Lemon juice 1
Salt
Chili powder
Red/Kesar food color/turmeric 1 pinch(optional)
Mutton cooked broth 1 and 1/2 cup(goat’s meat cooked water alone)
Short grained rice 1 cup(seeraga samba rice)

Note: To prepare Mutton broth/Goat’s meat broth. Cook 1 cup of meat with salt and 2 cups of water. Once the meat is done. Filter and discard meat/the flesh and reserve the cooked water….the broth! One can use the same meat for some other recipes like, Arcot bonda or anything. If you wish while cooking meat, one can saute it before with little spices like onion, ginger-garlic and few spons of oil.

Method:

In a pressure pan, heat ghee. Add cloves, cinnamon, cardamon, maratti mokku, sat anise, bay leaves and green chilies. Fryt hem till the green chilies crack and turn opaque.

Now add onion and fry them till it turns to golden color. Followed by ginger-garlic paste. Fry them real good until its raw smell leaves.

Then add tomatoe and fry till its water content is lost and oil shows up on sides.

Add mint and coriander leaves and fry fry till they wilt.

Now add salt, chili powder, lemon juice and food color to this. Add rice and saute for few minutes. Maybe till the rice is slightly fried.

Then add your reserved Mutton/Chicken broth. Cook over low-medium heat till 1 whistle sound. Do not release the pressure in hurry. Let the rice stand in pressure and get cooked.

Serve hot with Brinjal Serva and onion/cucumber raita.