Mutton Biryani

Clean and wash 1/4 kg mutton cut into medium pieces. Pressure cook in 6 cups of water mixed with 1 tsp of turmeric, 1 medium onion diced, 1 medium tomato diced and 1/2 inch piece of ginger crushed. When the whistle sounds lower the heat and cook on pressure for 20 minutes as mutton takes that much time to cook. Take it off heat then and keep aside for the pressure to reduce.

When the mutton is cooking you can keep ready all the ingredients needed:

Whole Masala:

1 inch piece of cinnamon 2

cloves 3

Bay leaf 2

Pepper corns 1 tsp

Cumminseeds 1 tsp

To be ground into a fine paste:

2 inch piece of ginger cut into pieces

12 cloves of garlic

Method:

Wash and soak 2 cups of long grained rice in water for half an hour. (If you start these preparations after mutton has been set to cook, it will be fine.)

Slice 1 big onion into thin slices.

Chop and keep ready 1 tbsp each of coriander leaves and pudhina (mint)leaves.
Cut a tomato (round juicy variety is better rather than fleshy roma tomotoes) into 8 pieces.

Slit lengthwise 3 Green chillis.

1/2 tbsp of lemon juice and 1 tbsp of thick curds.

1 tsp chilli powder

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

When mutton is taken off the heat, keep a big non-stick pot large enough to cook the biryani on the stove. Heat 3 tablespoons of oil (Mix ghee only if you want the tastier but not-so-healthy version) and fry the sliced onions to a golden brown colour. Drain and keep aside for use as garnish later.

Take 4 cups of water from the cooked mutton and keep aside.


In the same pot add another tbsp of oil. Put in the whole masala in the list above. When it crackles, put in the chopped coriander and pudhina. When it is fried, add the ground masala paste and slit green chillis, cook it further till the raw smell goes off.

Put in the chopped tomatoes, curds, turmeric, chilli powder and lemon juice and saute till oil starts separating.

Drain the soaked and washed rice. Add to the pot and fry till the water evaporates.

Measure 4 cups of the mutton stock and add it to the pot, (instead of water), to cook the rice. Add salt to taste and when it starts boiling, mix well and keep on low heat with the lid tightly covered. Stir now and then without breaking the grains.

In the meantime, prepare the mutton for Biryani:

Grind 1 tsp aniseeds, 1 clove, 1 inch cinnamon, 1 onion, 1 tomato and 4 cloves of garlic to a fine paste. In a kadai, heat 1 tbsp oil and fry this paste, along with 1 tsp chilli powder, 2 tsp dhania powder and 1/2 tsp turmeric powder, till oil separates. Now pour in the remaining mutton stock with the mutton pieces, adding salt to taste. Cook, stirring often, till oil separates and the gravy is coated on the mutton pieces. Keep aside.

Now back to the Biryani pot. It is almost done now. Sprinkle half the fried onions and the whole of the prepared mutton. Stir lightly and keep on 'dum' (dry heat) for 10 minutes. You can keep in the oven, or on the same pot on the stove, with lid tightly closed.

Serve hot, garnishing with the other half of fried onion slices. You can use boiled eggs, cashew and kismis (dry grapes) fried in ghee, etc., for garnishing, if you want the biryani to be richer in look and calories!

Serve hot with onion raitha (vengaya pachadi).