Mutton Biryani Recipe

Mutton Biryani Recipe: Flavoured Feast of Flavors

Mutton Biryani is one of the most favorite and aromatic cuisines which are staples in South Asian dishes especially in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. It is a layered dish of tender, juicy mutton, popularly known as goat or lamb, and fragrant basmati rice that simmers together with a host of spices. It is surely mutton biryani irrespective of whether it is a family get-together, festival, or any celebration. Now we are going to talk about an elaborate recipe on how to prepare richly flavored biryani from scratch. Here are some tips and tricks for the same.

Ingredients for Mutton Biryani Recipe

The beauty lies in the delicate and yet highly complex ingredients made in perfect harmony. What you’ll be requiring for mutton biryani are given below.

For Mutton Marinade:
Take 500 grams of mutton, lamb, or goat meat. Cut this into pieces
1 cup curd
2 tablespoons ginger and garlic paste.
1 teaspoon of red chili powder
1 teaspoon of turmeric powder
1 teaspoon of garam masala powder
1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon chopped fresh coriander leaves,
Salt, by taste.

For the Rice :
– 2 cups basmati rice
– 4 cups water
– 2 bay leaves
– 4-5 green cardamom pods
– 2-3 cloves
– 1-inch cinnamon stick
– Salt, as per taste

For Biryani:
– 2 tablespoons ghee
– 2 medium onions, slit into thin layers
– 2 tomatoes, chopped
– 1-2 green chilies, slit
– 1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste
– 1/2 cup chopped fresh coriander leaves
– 1/2 cup chopped fresh mint leaves
– 1 teaspoon garam masala powder
– 1/4 cup fried onions to garnish
– Soak saffron strands in 1/4 cup warm milk, if color and fragrance are desired
– 2 tablespoons rose water or kewra water if aroma is desired

Preparing Mutton Biryani Recipe

1. Marinade For Mutton Preparation

First prepare the marinade for the mutton. Take all the mutton pieces in a large mixing bowl and mix with yogurt, ginger-garlic paste, red chili powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder, lemon juice, coriander leaves, and salt. Mix all the ingredients well so that the marinade spreads over each portion of the pieces of mutton. Place a lid or cover with plastic over the bowl with the content sealed inside and store it in the refrigerator for a minimum of 2 hours. Best if done overnight so it can soak well through the spices to tenderise the meat to be ready to cook by time.

2. Cook the Rice:
Now, let’s get the rice ready. As the mutton marinates, get the basmati rice. Rinse the basmati rice a couple of times in cold running water to remove extra starch. In this way, your rice will be fluffy and not stick when cooked.

Boil 4 cups of water in a large pot. Add bay leaves, cardamom pods, cloves, cinnamon stick, and a pinch of salt. When it starts boiling, add the washed rice and cook for 70-80%. The rice should be cooked but still little firm. Drain the rice and keep aside.

3. Prepare the Mutton Curry:
Now would be the time to fry the marinated mutton in ghee. Sauté thinly sliced onions until golden brown in a heavy bottomed pot or pressure cooker. Save half of these onions for garnish later at the end of this recipe.

Add ginger-garlic paste to the pan and fry until fragrant for a minute. Now, add the marinated mutton to the pot. Sear pieces of mutton in medium heat till it browns from all sides.

Now, add chopped tomatoes and sauté for 2-3 minutes. This way the tomatoes soften and get well-blended with the gravy. Add green chilies, coriander leaves, mint leaves, garam masala powder, and salt according to your taste. Now mix up all of these spices and make them coat nicely on mutton.

If using pressure cooker, cover the lid and pressure cook for about 15-20 minutes. Mutton is tender by then. Cooking in a normal pot, cover the pot and simmer on low flame for about 45-60 minutes. When the curry starts sticking, add a little water in between.
Taking it off from fire and keep it aside once mutton gets soft and the curry thickens.
4. Layering the Biryani:
And here’s the fun part— layering the mutton and rice. Take a big, heavy-bottomed pot, add a spoonful of ghee. Layer half of the partially cooked rice on the bottom of the pot. Add the cooked mutton curry over this layer by spreading it all over the rice. The remaining rice goes atop. Now comes the saffron milk, if that has been added, and a splash of rose water or kewra water for fragrance. Add a pinch of garam masala powder on top for aromatic topping.

Shut the pot with a lid-tight tightly so that all the flavors inside seal.

Actually, you can also cover a pot with a lid by keeping a heavy pan over it. This can be safely sealed and well-seasoned in the pot. Let the same be cooked in low flame for 20-25 minutes so that flavors get incorporated, and the rice would have gotten cooked well. Above all this, the process of cooking biryani explained above is referred to as “dum” style, in which all the juices and the aromatic smell are assimilated for it to infuse a rich taste to the biryani.

5. Garnishing and Serving:
After preparing the biryani, turn off the stove and let it stay unstirred for 5-10 minutes. Now, open up a bit and a little poke on the top with the help of a fork, so that grains don’t get crushed. Serve the dish with fried onions, coriander, and fresh mint leaves. It serves hot with a raita of yogurt and cucumber, salad, or tangy pickle as a meal in itself.

Tips to get mutton biryani just right

Meat Quality: Meat is the largest chunk, and meat quality ensures tender biryani. The bone marrow also adds rich flavor if it is bone-in fresh mutton.
Ghee Usage: Ghee provides deep, rich flavor to the biryani. Do not compromise on ghee. Then you can reduce the volume according to one’s taste and preference.
The biryani should just use only long grain basmati rice and the reason why its taste is so fine is due to its aroma and its long grain.

Spices: Mutton does not require long periods of being cooked; rather, it requires time for soaking in spices and flavor. There must be spices ground freshly, or there’s a guarantee of getting less quality.

Dum Cooking: The art of flavored biryani is in the slow-cooking process, or dum. The rice, with this slow-cooking process, soaks up every flavor from the meat and spices.

Mutton Biryani is that heavy, mouthwatering recipe which can be adopted for any time or family get-together. This recipe collects all the spice richness, softness of mutton, and the aroma of rice into assuring that it would really be satisfied in the taste for any foodie. The more steps involved in cooking, the better it tastes-to taste homemade mutton biryani. Be you a professional chef or just beginning to experiment, this recipe ensures you go step by step through the making of perfect biryani to please every face at your dinner table. End

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