In continuation of my culinary showing off - I made my now almost perfected version of mutton biryani. I have been searching for the tomato salan/sherwa recipe that is often served in restaurants. I personally love what is served at Richies and the Ammi's biryani salan too is quite nice. However I have not really found the recipe. What I did find online instead is an interesting recipe for an Afghani sherwa-e-lawang which is a Afghani garlic-tomato soup. This is not an original recipe but something I found on the net. And though it is a soup, it made an excellent accompaniment to the biryani.

Ingredients: 2 cloves of garlic crushed, 1/2 tsp of haldi powder, 2 tbsps of maida, four tomatoes peeled, four tbsps of ghee, 2 cups (400 ml) of thick yogurt.

Method: Whisk together the yogurt, haldi, 2 tbsps of maida and salt to taste along with a cup (200 ml) of water.

Heat the ghee in a pot and fry the garlic till it is brown. Chop the peeled tomatoes and add them. Cook the tomatoes well. Add in the yogurt-maida mixture and bring to a boil. Put the soup on simmer for the next 8-10 mins. The maida will thicken the soup.

This does not look nor seem like the traditional salan for a biryani, but it does make an excellent accompaniment. Just try it and see. I also have a great recipe for a garlic and lemon chutney, which I will put up soon. Silly me, took the photos of the ingredients and forgot to take one of the final dish.