Khushka
Long-grain rice, layered and cooked on dum—a Siddique family recipe
- Cooking time30 mins
Calorieskcal
This khuska, is cooked like a biryani. The rice is partially cooked, then layered with spices and nuts and then cooked again on dum (pressure) to complete the cooking. It is different from a polao where the rice is cooked together with the spices in stock or in water. Khuska is as elegant as it is light—perfect for those occasions where you want your meat dishes to take centrestage but want to serve something more celebratory than plain rice. We've served this with mutton stew and a green salad.
The key ingredients here are the rice (use the best basmati rice you can find) and the biryani masala (get a good one or make it at home).
In the first stage, the rice has to be cooked until it has reached its maximum size but is still firm. If overcooked, the khushka will be mushy and may stick at the bottom when you layer and cook it on dum the second time. If undercooked, the khuska will be chewy and dry. It is best to work with a rice that you have cooked with before and you already know well.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ingredients
To boil rice
- 500 g basmati rice (soaked)
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp white ghee
- 1 black cardamom
- 2 green cardamom
- 2 cloves
- 1 cinnamon
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 L water
- 25 g salt
For layering
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil (for birista)
- 250 g onions (for birista)
- ¼ tsp sugar (for birista)
- 4–5 strands saffron
- 2 tsp kewra water
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 tbsp ghee
- 1 tsp biryani masala
- 10–12 raisins
- 10–12 cashew nuts
Method
- Wash and soak the rice for about 30 mins. Strain over a colander.
- In a large boiling pot, heat vegetable oil and ghee. Temper with black cardamom, green cardamom, cloves, cinnamon and bay leaves.
- Add 2 L water and salt, and allow it to come to a boil.
- Once the water is boiling, add the soaked rice and cook it until it is nearly 90% done. Strain immediately.
- Bloom a few strands of saffron in kewra water. Set aside.
- Slice the onions. Heat oil in a frying pan. Fry the onions until golden brown. Set aside.
- To layer the khushka, grease the boiling pot with some ghee.
- Layer in the rice, ghee, milk, biryani masala, saffron and kewra water mixture, cashew and raisins, and top with the fried onions.
- Close the lid, and set it on high flame for 5 minutes, until you hear crackling sounds. Then, transfer to indirect heat (over a preheated chatu or iron skillet) and cook for another 15 minutes on dum.
