Recipe of Mutton Biryani

Recipe of Mutton Biryani:

Ingredients:

• 500 grams Mutton
• 500 grams Seeraga Samba Rice
• ½ cup (125 ml) refined Sunflower Oil
• 50 grams Garlic paste
• 50 grams Ginger paste
• 2 medium Onion, sliced
• 2 medium Tomatoes, chopped
• 8 Dried Red chillies ground to paste
• 3 Cloves
• 3 Cardamom
• 5 Cinnamon sticks
• 5 stalks Coriander leaves
• 5 stalks Mint leaves
• ¼ cup (60 ml) plus 1 tablespoon Curd
• juice of 1 Lime
• 1½ teaspoon Sea salt while cooking mutton gravy
• 1 tablespoon Sea salt while boiling rice in water

Method:

• Soak the rice in lots of water. Set aside.
• Heat oil in a pan and add a table spoon of curd. Add in the Cinnamon, cloves and cardamom. Fry for 10 seconds. Add in the garlic paste. Fry for 2-3 minutes on medium flame.
• Now, add in the ginger paste. Fry for 2-3 minutes until the raw smell of the ginger goes off.
• Add in the chilli paste, mutton, the mint and coriander leaves, chopped onions, tomatoes, sea salt, curd and lime juice. Add in a cup (250 ml) of water. Mix well to combine.
• Cover and pressure cook everything for 10-12 whistles on medium flame. Switch off the flame and wait for the pressure to release naturally.
• Bring a pot of water to a boil and add in the soaked rice. Add in the salt. Cook until the rice is half done.
• Drain the water and add the rice to the mutton pan. Mix well to combine. Place the mutton biryani pan / vessel in a preheated 400 degree Fahrenheit oven for 30 minutes. If you don’t have an oven, heat a dosa pan on the stove and put the mutton biryani pan / vessel on top of the dosa pan and allow it to cook on low flame for 15 minutes.
• Once the dum cooking is over, open the lid and gently fluff up the rice to mix. Serve mutton biryani hot with raita.

Step by Step Process:

1) We need to make 3 pastes. Garlic paste, ginger paste and chilli paste. Grind all the                     ingredients in a blender/ mixie separately to a very smooth paste. Add very little water while       grinding. Set aside. Here are the other things that you will need for making the mutton gravy       for the mutton biryani.

2) Soak the rice in lots of water. Set aside.

3) Heat oil in a pan and add a table spoon of curd. The reason for adding little curd in the oil           while making this mutton biryani is that it takes away the imperfections if any in the oil. Who         am I to question this age old tradition that they have been following since 1890. So add a           tablespoon of curd to the oil. Add in the Cinnamon, cloves and cardamom. Fry for 10                   seconds. Add in the garlic paste. Fry for 2-3 minutes on medium flame. The ginger and               garlic are added separately as garlic takes more time to fry. Ambur people feel that the               flavor of the mutton biryani comes from the ginger and for that to happen, garlic should be           fried well. Otherwise garlic will overpower the ginger.

4) Now, add in the ginger paste. Fry for 2-3 minutes until the raw smell of the ginger goes off.

5) Add in the chilli paste, mutton, the mint and coriander leaves, chopped onions, tomatoes,            sea salt, curd and lime juice. Add in a cup (250 ml) of water. Mix well to combine.

6) Cover and pressure cook everything for 10-12 whistles on medium flame. Switch off the              flame and wait for the pressure to release naturally.

7) Bring a pot of water to a boil and add in the soaked rice. Add in the salt. Cook until the rice        is half done. Its very difficult for me to give a time frame as the rice cooks differently                      according to the age of rice, amount of water added etc…The gauge for the texture of the          rice for mutton biryani is that the rice at this stage should not be fully cooked. The center of          the rice kernel should be still dry and raw.

8) Drain the water and add the rice to the mutton pan. Mix well to combine. Now its ready for           dum.

9) Traditionally, dum is done using charcoal. But that’s not feasible at home. The substitute for       dum cooking at home is to use an oven. Place the mutton biryani pan / vessel in a                         preheated 400 degree Fahrenheit oven for 30 minutes. If you don’t have an oven, heat a             dosa pan on the stove and put the mutton biryani pan / vessel on top of the dosa pan and           allow it to cook on low flame for 15 minutes. Put the whistle also along if you want the rice to       be very soft. If you are putting the whistle, then do the dum only for 10 minutes. Let the                   pressure release naturally.

10) Once the dum cooking is over, open the lid and gently fluff up the rice to mix. Serve mutton biryani hot with raita.

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