Haleem : Ramadan Special

Haleem is a popular Asian and Middle-Eastern food. It has been around for centuries. The origin of haleem is not definite, It is said to be originated in Iran and Afghanistan region. This Persian dish was introduced to India during Akbar period.  Haleem is a Muslim dish and spread throughout the Muslim world. It is a star of Arabian, Turkish, Persian, Pakistani, Bengali and Indian cuisine and is considered to be the dish of holy months of Ramadan and Muharram of Muslim Hijri calendar. Haleem is made of meat (preferably beef or mutton), grains (wheat, barley and rice), lentils and ghee. All the ingredients are traditionaly cooked together for 5 to 6 hours and mashed up well. 

The garnishing and accompaniments are as important as the dish itself. For garnishing, caramelized onions, chopped fresh cilantro, peppermint, hot green chili peppers and Garam Masala are used.

Ingredients -

Mutton boneless - 1/2 kg
Bengal gram ( channa dal) - 1/2 cup
Green gram split ( Moong dal) - 1/2 cup
Black gram skinned (Urad dhuli) - 1/2 cup
Broken Wheat ( dalia) - 1 cup
Barley broken (jau) - 3 tbsp
Curd (dahi) - 2-3 tbsp
Onion, Chopped n deep fried - 3 med size
Garlic paste - 2 tbsp
Ginger paste - 1 tbsp
Green chilli minced - 2 
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1 tsp
Fenugrek seed crushed 1/4 tsp
Caraway seeds crushed - 1/2 tsp
Peppercorns crushed - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Clarified butter ( pure ghee) - 1/2 cup
Mint leaves - a handful (chop half of it)
Milk - 1/2 cup
Water / mutton stock - 2-3 glass

Method - 

1. Soak all the daal, dalia and barley overnight.
2. Marinate mutton in dahi and 1/2 tsp of salt 
    and keep for an hour.
3. Take a pressure cooker, drain and put the soaked
    daals, dalia and jau in it with  2 glass of water/stock.
4. Add garlic-ginger paste, green chilli, turmeric,
    marinated mutton, salt and bring it to a full 
    pressure let it be there for 10 minutes on a 
    low heat before putting it off.  
5. Open the lid and  put it on heat, add all the
    left dry masala (coriander to pepper), the 
    chopped mint leaves, half of the fried onions
    and stir it well. Add more hot water if it has 
    dried. Let it cook on a slow flame for half
    an hour, stirring it continuously.
6. Take out the mutton pieces and blend the
    daal mixture with a hand blender, all the
    daal should blend well.
7. Put the mutton pieces back again, melt and 
    add ghee with milk.
8. Serve it hot with the remaining fried onions, 
    lemon wedges and mint leaves .