Biryani is one of the most popular foods in the world. It is the single most ordered food on Indian online food ordering and delivery services.
Biryani is a combination of long-grain basmati rice layered with spicy and flavourful mutton or chicken. Many regions make biryani in their own traditional way. Similar dishes are also prepared in other parts of the world, such as Iraq, Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia. Any party or get-together is incomplete without biryani. Today, I am sharing with you my recipe for mutton biryani. I love this mutton biryani; it is light, sweet, and spicy, full of flavours.
Table of contents
1. About the recipe
2. Ingredients
3. Step-by-step method
4. Tips
1. About the recipe
It’s a myth that making mutton biryani at home is difficult, but trust me, once you try my recipe, you will not be disappointed.
Two methods make biryani: with marinated raw meat, called Kachche Gosht ki biryani, and the other with cooked meat, called Pakki Gosht ki biryani. Today, I am sharing the Pakki Gosht ki biryani recipe, where we cook the marinated meat first and layer it with rice.
Any Biryani is completed in a series of steps. It includes marination, cooking mutton rice, layering of mutton and rice, and then dum (slow cooking). When I was a kid, the first time I watched the layering of rice, herbs, garam masala, saffron, birista and mutton, I found it very interesting. How do all these things make a perfect and fantastic meal? In this recipe, Birista ( fried onions) is a key ingredient. Birista will give a sweet, rich and royal taste to the biryani.
Birista for this recipe should be golden and crisp. And if you miss turning off the flame at the right time, you may lose the flavourful perfect biryani. Nowadays, in many supermarkets, readymade birista is readily available. Birista particularly is the most effort indulging process of making biryani.
Serving Suggestion: 5
Preparation Time: 2 hours
Cooking Time: 1 hour
2. Ingredients
For Mutton
- 1 kg mutton
- 1 cup thick yoghurt
- 2 tablespoons of ginger garlic paste
- 1 tablespoon of red chilli powder
- ½ teaspoon of garam masala powder
- 1 cup birista ( fried onions)
- 200 ml refined oil
- 4 to 5 green chilli (slit or sliced)
- 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
- Salt
- 4 to 5 clove
- Chopped coriander leaves
- Chopped mint leaves (optional)
To cook the rice
- 3 cups long-grain basmati rice
- 3 to 4 clove
- 1 ½ Cinnamon sticks
- 3 to 4 green cardamom
- 2-star anise
- 1 green chilli
- 1 tablespoon of raisins (optional)
- 1 tablespoon of chopped almonds (optional)
- Ghee
- Salt
For layering the biryani
- Chopped coriander leaves
- Chopped mint leaves
- 1 cup Birista
- 1 tablespoon of garam masala powder
- Kewra essence
- Pinch of Saffron strand ( soaked in milk) or orange food colour
3. Step by Step Method
Marination of Mutton
- Clean and wash mutton pieces. In a large mixing bowl, add mutton, ginger garlic paste, yoghurt, lemon juice, red chilli powder, garam masala powder, birista, chopped coriander leaves, chopped green chillies, and 1 tablespoon of refined oil.
- Mix all the ingredients very well and keep them aside for 2 hours.
Making mutton gravy
- Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a pressure cooker. Add black cardamom, cinnamon sticks and star anise. Fry for a few seconds.
- Now, add marinated mutton. Fry for 2 to 3 minutes. No need to add water; yoghurt is enough for mutton gravy. Cover the pressure cooker and cook on high flame. After the first whistle, lower the flame and cook for another 13 to 14 minutes.
- After 13 minutes, turn off the flame; don’t open the lid of the pressure cooker. Let the pressure cooker release the pressure on its own.
- After releasing the pressure, open the cooker and cook the mutton on high flame. Do not cover the cooker; keep stirring in between to avoid burning.
- After some time, you will notice the gravy becomes thick, and an oil layer is on the top. This is the perfect mutton gravy for the biryani.
Preparation of Rice
- Long-grain basmati rice is the key ingredient for good biryani. Here, I am using good-quality long-grain basmati rice. Wash and rinse the rice and soak it for 30 minutes.
- In this biryani recipe, I prepared rice in the same way as pulao. This way, my biryani will be more flavourful.
- First, in a deep vessel or pot, add ghee. Now add cinnamon sticks, star anise, cloves, and green chilli. Fry for a few seconds.
- Now add chopped almonds and raisins (Almonds and raisins will give a sweet and royal taste to the biryani).
- Add 5 cups of water(use the same cup of measurement of rice and water). Add salt and bring it to a boil.
- Once the water starts boiling, add the soaked rice to the boiling water. For better results, taste the water. You should feel some saltiness in the water. This means the amount of salt added is right. If the water does not feel salty, then you need to add some more salt.
- Cover the pot and cook on high flame for 2 minutes. Now lower the flame and cook the rice for 7 to 8 minutes.
Note: Rice for biryani should be 70 to 80 per cent done. Do not overcook; the rice will get sticky and break in biryani.
Layer the Biryani
- Add one-fourth of the rice to a large pot where you want to set your biryani for slow cooking (dum cooking). Then add garam masala powder, chopped coriander and mint leaves, birista.
- Now add mutton pieces and gravy and spread evenly.
- Then, add another layer of rice over the meat evenly. Repeat the same process until rice and cooked mutton are used.
- On the final layer, sprinkle garam masala powder,4 to 5 drops of kewra essence, chopped mint and coriander leaves, soaked saffron milk and a handful of birista.
- Cover the pan tightly with a lid and slow cook biryani for 20 minutes, first 2 minutes on high flame, then simmer for 18 minutes.
- Once the biryani is done, allow it to rest for 10 minutes.
- Carefully dish out the yummy mutton biryani and serve with your choice of raita and salad.
4. Tips
- Always use good quality aged long-grain basmati rice. The longer the grains of rice, the better will be the mutton biryani.
- Always marinate the mutton with masala and yoghurt before cooking. Marination is the soul of any of the biryani recipes. You can marinate overnight for more flavours and texture.
- Shoulder meat cuts and ribs are best for biryani. It gives nice and tender chunks when cooked perfectly.
- Always use the heavy bottom pan for dum (final slow cooking). It helps in generating steam well for final cooking.
- You can use cashews or pistachios in biryani for more nutty flavours.
- In some recipes of mutton biryani, potatoes are also used.
- Sprinkle good quality garam masala in each layer of biryani. After dum cooking, the aroma of garam masala will make you drool.