A family favorite, this delicious Mutton Biryani would be perfect for a family gathering or just to enjoy your weekend with your loved ones.
This has been a highly requested recipe from you guys. But I have been delaying this post because I get nervous and fidgety even with the thought of making mutton biryani. Biryani means its always chicken, chicken, chicken; because it is easy and a little difficult to screw up. But with mutton biryani, its always a risk, I feel the chances of messing up are high. My biryani sometimes turns out like ‘Erachi Chor’ which is a one pot rice dish, just like mutton pulao/pilaf which is not how a biryani should be and it is very frustrating when that happens.
So I stay away from making it mostly. But I was craving my moms food for long. Her Mutton Biryani is hands down, the best biryani I had in my whole life. Seriously, there is no place that is better than our home and no food tastes better than mom’s food. We don’t realize the worth of something or someone until we stay far from it/them. I can’t wait for my vacation trip to Dubai…I miss uma so much.
So I decided the other day that I will try making Mutton Biryani once again, and if it turns out good I will post it with the exact measurement in the blog, so that even I will have a set recipe to refer to in the future. 😀 So I ringed my mom, asked her for the recipe maybe the 100th time, and made it with full concentration, and voila, here it is. It turned out almost perfect like moms. I don’t think I can reach mom’s level ever. But this was spot on for us. Fadal, the husband, the biryani pundit, approved it too. 😀
So here it is guys, finally…the recipe of mutton biryani for you all and if you are wondering if the recipe of that beautiful chicken fry is there in the blog, yes, here it is. Enjoy!!
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 kg mutton
For the masala:
- 2 cloves
- 1 stick cinnamon
- 3 cardamom pods
- 4 medium large onions
- 1 full pod garlic
- 2” garlic
- 6 green chillies
- 2 medium sized tomatoes
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/2 tsp garam masala powder
- 3 tbsp yoghurt
- chopped coriander leaves
- salt to taste
- 4 tbsp oil
For the rice:
- 2-3 tbsp ghee
- 2 cloves
- 1 stick cinnamon
- 2-3 cardamom pods
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 2 1/2 cups basmati/ Jeerakashala rice
- 4 cup of boiling water plus 1/4 cup more if needed
- salt to taste
Extras:
- 2 tbsp lemon juice, 2 tbsp water plus 1/4 tsp turmeric powder mixed together or few strands of saffron soaked in few tablespoons of warm milk.
- handful of cashews, slit
- handful of raisins
- extra ghee
NOTES:
- Usually when cooking the rice, the water required is double the amount of rice. But it varies depending upon the type of rice you are using. And also as the masala will have some moisture in it, the rice will absorb it evenly. If you use more water, the rice will get sticky and soggy.
- If you feel that the masala is too much, don’t add the entire masala to the rice while layering. Reserve the left over and serve it alongside the biryani and it can be used if needed.
- The biryani masala should have minimal water. The masala should be quite thick, or else during dum, the rice will absorb most of the water and it will turn mushy.
- I have used a short grained rice named jeerakashala here, but you can easily replace it with the long grained basmati rice. Always remember, the better the quality of rice, the better the biryani will turn out to be.
DIRECTIONS:
To make the masala:
In a heavy bottom pan, add in the whole garam masala. Once it releases aroma, put in the chopped onion. Sauté till it gets really soft and golden brown in color.- Meanwhile, grind together the ginger, garlic and green chillies into a paste.
- Add this paste into the sautéed onion.
- Stir around for a minute or two. Add the chopped tomatoes. Cook till the tomatoes turn all mushy and starts to leave out oil.
- Add in the coriander powder, turmeric and garam masala powders. Mix well.
- Add in yoghurt and stir till combined.
- Drop in the cleaned mutton pieces and mix well with the masala. Cover and cook for 1 1/2 hours on very low heat stirring occasionally, or until the mutton is tender and cooked. If you are cooking in a pressure cooker, cook for 15-20 minutes.
- Put the chopped coriander leaves. Mix well. The gravy should be thick.
To cook the ghee rice:
- Soak the rice in water for half an hour.
- In a pan, add the ghee. Drop in the whole garam masala.
- Once the aroma is released, add in the washed and drained rice.
Fry the rice in ghee for a minute on high heat. - Pour the boiled 4 cup of water. Pour in the lemon juice. Add in the salt.
- Let it boil on high heat till the water reduces. ( The water should be in the same level as the rice).
- Reduce the heat to low, cover with lid and cook for 10 minutes. Open lid and just stir the rice carefully. At this point, if you feel that the rice is not cooked at all and needs more water, pour in 1/4 cup more of water. Close the lid again and cook for 5 more minutes. Once the rice is cooked fluff up the rice with a fork or a large spatula carefully without breaking the rice.
Assembling the biryani:
- Divide the rice into three parts.
- In a pot, place a layer of rice.
- Then spread half of the masala on top.
- Again place a layer of ghee rice. Pour few teaspoons of ghee all over the rice.
- Place the remaining half of the chicken.
- Then the final layer of ghee rice. Pour few teaspoons of ghee all over, then pour the turmeric and lemon juice mix for the yellow color evenly over the rice.
- Place the fried onions, cashews and raisins. Cover with lid and keep for dum on lowest heat inside the oven for 30 minutes. If you do not have an oven, just cover the vessel with foil (to ensure the steam says in), then close the lid tightly. Heat a tawa on lowest flame possible, place the biryani on top and cook for 20-25 minutes. Make sure the heat is lowest both in oven and stove top or else the biryani bottom might get burnt.
Hi, Sadia. Thanks for sharing the recipe. Yes, Mothers make the best biryanis.
I would like to give this a try, but every time I try some mutton dishes, the smell of mutton stops me from having it.
Is there a particular way to wash these to get rid of the smell. And do you use Pakistani/Indian mutton?
Hey Sonam. You can reduce the smell to a great extent by cutting off all the fat from the mutton. I always use Indian mutton.
Hi Sadia.. loved the recipe and the pictures even more.. for how many people will 1 kg mutton enough for? If there are some other stuff too? Thank you
Hey Nazreen!
Thank you so much. 🙂 Extremely sorry for replying so late. I was on vacation, so didn’t check the blog at all.
1 kg mutton will be enough for 5 people.
It’s been long since I have cooked with mutton… and like you said, it’s always chicken since it’s easier… I also make almost the same way like you mentioned… 🙂 The pictures are as usual amazing…
Aha :). Thank you Rafeeda.
Hi Sadia,
Just wanted to say a big thank you for your wonderful recipe,tried it in the weekend and it was a big hit. Hubby loved it and your recipe is going to be my go to recipe for mutton biryani!
So so happy after reading this Mynu. Very glad that you found your go to recipe from my blog. 🙂 🙂 Appreciate your feedback. <3
Hi..I just wanted to check if red chilli powder has been left out on purpose??
Thank you
Yes. We don’t add red chilli powder in our biryani.