Mutton Biryani

Mutton biryani is a lip-smacking rice dish that is popular in the Indian subcontinent. Preparing this dish is moderately easy and consists of goat meat, rice, whole spices, powdered spices, and ghee. Sometimes, It includes vegetables and eggs too in certain regional varieties.

Generally, mutton takes a longer time to cook compared to chicken or fish. So, it is first pressure cooked to make a mutton gravy and then cooked on dum along with rice.

Prep time: 60 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Total time: 105 minutes
Servings: 4

ingredients:

250g goat meat(mutton), cut into medium-sized pieces
2 cups basmati rice
2 cups of water
1 cup whole milk/ coconut milk
1/2 cup yogurt
1 small onion, ground into a paste
10-12 green chilies, ground into a paste
1 small tomato, finely chopped
4 green cardamom
2 cloves
1/2 inch cinnamon
2 star anise
2 Bay leaves
10 – 15 Mint leaves, chopped
4 – 5 tablespoon coriander leaves, chopped
1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
3/4 teaspoon red chili powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper powder
1 teaspoon garam masala powder
Salt to taste
2 tablespoons cashews
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons ghee

For Marination:
5-6 tablespoons yogurt
1 tablespoon black pepper powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 lime juice
1 teaspoon salt

procedure:

Marination (60 minutes):

1. Rinse mutton thoroughly.
2. Into a large bowl, add rinsed meat, yogurt, black pepper powder, turmeric powder, lime juice, and salt. Combine well. Let this marinade sit in the refrigerator for 60 minutes.
3. Rinse and soak basmati rice in water for 60 minutes.

Pressure Cooking:

1. Heat vegetable oil in a cooker on a low-medium flame. Add green cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves, star anise into the cooker and fry in the oil until aromatic. 
2. Pour the onion paste and saute until transparent. Then add ginger-garlic paste and saute until the raw smell goes away.
3. Add green chili paste and fry it for a minute. Then add coriander and mint leaves and fry for another minute.
4. On low heat, stir in all the powdered spices – turmeric, red chili, black pepper, coriander, garam masala, and salt to taste.
5. Pour in the mutton marinade and combine well. Cook on high heat for about 2 minutes, pour 50 ml of water, and stir well. 
6. Pressure cook the mutton until cooked up to 80%. (This usually takes 3-4 whistles)
7. Once the cooker depressurizes, transfer the cooked mutton gravy into a large cooking pot with the lid on and keep it on low-medium heat.
8. Add tomatoes and let them soften. When you see the gravy thickening, add yogurt followed by whole milk and give it a good stir.
9. Pour water and then add rice, cashews, and ghee. Cover and let the mixture come to a boil.
10. At this point, taste for salt and spice. Add more if necessary.
11. Cover and cook rice on medium heat until cooked up to 70%.
12. Lastly, to cook biryani on dum – Place a pan/Tawa on low heat. Then place the cooking pot containing partially cooked biryani on it. Cover and let biryani cook on low heat until no water remains and rice has cooked. It usually takes 10 – 15 minutes to be done. (Make sure to close all the openings with the wheat dough if the cooking pot has any)
13. Turn off the heat and let biryani sit for 10 minutes.
14. Enjoy delicious mutton biryani with onion raita.

note:

• You can tweak the quantity of each ingredient as per your taste and preference.
• For 2 cups of rice to cook, 4 cups of liquid are required; which is divided here into 2 cups of water, 1 cup of whole milk and 1/2 yogurt. Since already some amount of liquid is present after pressure cooking mutton this measurement is perfect.
• While cooking on dum, maintain heat on low. And make sure to cover all the openings if the cooking pot contains any. You can also place a heavy container on top to ensure the steam does not get out of the cooking pot.
• Mutton biryani can be stored in the refrigerator for 2 days.