Mutton Biriyani

It was couple of years back when I visited Hyderabad for my friend’s marriage. I was staying with my friend and ex-tutor whom I was meeting her after a 5 long years. The momentI landed Hyderabad, i had only one think in my mind. I want to eat a biriyani.

As all know Hyderabadi Dum Biriyani is very famous. And I was so lucky that my friend decided to prepare a Biriyani on one day. The Biriyani was prepared by her maid  (who is basically a Hyderabadi). The cooking process started. I wasn’t allowed to do anything or help her. The maid want to do all the preparations by herself. And as a viewer it was so boring and I started to think why it is taking such a a long time. At the end when we got to taste, it was so nice.

But the real taste of biriyani I enjoyed was at the dinner. The resting time made all the aromas blend well and it was just yumm

So here is the recipe….This recipe should serve 2-3 persons

You need,

For Fried Onions, Cashews & Raisins

• Onions – 2 big thinly sliced
• Cashew nuts – 1/4 cup
• Raisins – 1/4 cup
• Refined Oil – to deep fry (1 cup should do)

For garam masala powder

• Caraway seeds/shahi jeera – 1/2 tsp (This is a mandatory ingredient)
• Cinnamon sticks – 1
• Black peppercorn – 1/4 tsp
• Cloves – 1/4 tsp
• Cardamom – 6

For Marination

• Mutton chunks – 1/2 kg 
• Ginger paste – 1 tbsp
• Garlic paste – 1 tbsp
• Yogurt/Curd – 1 cup
• Mint leaves finely chopped- 1 tbsp
• Coriander leaves finely chopped- 1 tbsp
• Red chili powder – 1 tbsp
• Salt to taste

For Rice

• Long grain basmati rice – 1.5 cups
• Salt
• Bay leaves – 2 nos
• Green cardamoms – 5 nos
• Mace – 1 piece
• Black peppercorns – 1/2 tsp
• Cinnamon sticks – 1
• Caraway seeds/shahi jeera – 1/4 tsp
• Lime – 2 

Other ingredients

• Cinnamon sticks – 1
• Ghee – 2 tbsp +  2 tbsp
• Onions – 2 big sliced
• Cinnamon sticks – 1
• Black cardamoms – 2
• Mint leaves finely chopped- 1 tbsp
• Coriander leaves finely chopped- 1 tbsp
• Saffron  – 1 pinch
• Milk – 1/4 cup

Let us do this step by step,

Step 1

• Heat oil in pan in a medium to high temperature
• Add sliced onions
• With a slotted spoon stir in between. 
• Once the onions turn golden brown remove from oil and keep it in a dry strainer to remove the excess oil
• You have to keep 1/3 of this aside for garnishing (rest will be used for marination)
• Now add cashew nuts in the same oil. 
• Once it is light brown add in the raisins
• Raisin will puff up. 
• Remove all from oil and keep aside

Step 2

• Powder all the ingredients mentioned under “for garam masala” in a grinder. 
• Keep it closed aside

Step 3 (Marination)

• Take the Mutton in a large bowl
• Crush the fried onions in your hand and add on top of Mutton
• Add the rest of the ingredients mentioned under “For Marination”
• Marinate well. 
• Transfer this in a zip lock bag 
• Leave it chiller for 2 hours. (Preferably overnight)

Above 3 steps you could do the previous day night. This will make the cooking process easy the next day

Step 4 (cooking mutton)

• Heat 2 tbsp ghee in a pressure cooker pan
• Add in cinnamon stick and black cardamom
• After 10-15 seconds add the sliced onions
• Saute well till the onions turn light brown
• Add in the Mutton along with the marination and in high heat fry well for few minutes
• Add 1/4 cup of water and cover the lid. 
• Pressure cook for 5-6 whistles.
• Turn off heat and wait till the pressure of the cooker is done

Step 5 (Cooking rice)

• Wash rice in a colander.
• Keep aside to strain
• In a large deep vessel boil 10 cups of water with all the ingredients except rice which mentioned above, “For rice”
• Now slowly add the rice to the boiling water
• Add freshly squeezed lime juice
• Cook the rice till 3/4-th done.
• Transfer this to a colander and allow to rest.

Step 6 (You can do this before you start cooking the mutton)

• Warm the milk 
• add the saffron strands
• Let it stand for 15 minutes

Step 7 (Layering)

• Heat 2 tbsp ghee (low flame) in a thick bottom vessel or large pan which can accommodate the rice and mutton.
• Layer 1/3 of rice evenly on the bottom of the vessel
• Spread little coriander leaves and mint leaves and mutton over the rice.
• Add the remaining rice and spread
• Now sprinkle the remaining coriander and mint leaves , saffron milk ,fried onions, cashews and raisins
• Cover the vessel with a lid 
• If you have heavy vessel you can place on top of the lid.
• Cook this in a low flame
• In 30 – 40 minutes the biriyani will be done.
• Serve with raita and pickle 

Notes:

• You can do the step 1, step 2 and step 3 on the previous day evening
• Try not cook any thing in high flame. Entire process is medium to slow. And that is what makes this biriyani yum