Hyderabadi Mutton dum biriyani | Kukskitchen

I frequently try new biriyani recipes, I know adding pounds is what they do, but they taste so yum. Who doesn't like biriyani, rite? Anyway, hyderabadi biriyani is one that is very popular as you know. This I hope can still be called hyderabadi biriyani, coz I've been changing it each time. Appologies if you think I've ruined the classic. Here you go.

A few things before we start:

• Please use mutton for this recipe as the smell of lamb's fat tends to not go very well with the biriani, it may well be a personal taste issue.
• I tend to leave the leaves for dum as a bunch so that I can remove them once they have imparted their flavours to the rice.
• In this dish, like many others, left overs taste much better than the day one product :)
• I frequently make the mutton part a day before and then layer it with freshly cooked rice on the day before serving.
• Goes well with onion raita, poppadams and a spicy achar :)

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Hyderabadi mutton dum biriyani

Serves: 8

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Ingredients

1. basmati rice - 2 1/2 cups
    water - 5 cups
    cardamom - 3
    clove - 2
    cinnamom - 2 sticks

2. mutton - 1 kg
    warm water - 1 1/2 cups

3. yogurt - 1 cup
    turmeric powder - 3 tsp
    ginger-garlic paste - 4 tsp
    green chilly paste - of 4 chillies
    biriyani masala - 1 tbsp

4. dried red chillies - 4
    cashew nuts - 10-12

5. onion - 5 thinly sliced and crispy fried

6. biriyani masala - 1 tsp
    chopped coriander leaves - 1/2 packed cup or more according to taste
    chopped mint leaves - 1/4 packed cup

7. juice of one lime

8. saffron strands - 2 pinches mixed in 4 tbsp of milk

9. ghee- 5 tbsp

10. salt to taste

Method:

• pre soak basmati rice in enough water for 1 hour
• chop mutton to 1 inch chunks and marinate in (3) for 3-4 hours in refrigerator.
• make a fine paste of (4).
• in a wok add the marinated mutton pieces together with 1/4th of the fried onions and 1 tbsp of ghee.
• dry fry till ghee separates and then add 1 1/2 cups of warm water. Cook on low flame till meat is tender. If you prefer this step can be done in a pressure cooker like I did.
• In a deep pan heat 1 tbsp ghee, fry the whole spices followed by drained pre-soaked rice till an occasional rice grain starts to splutter. Now add the red chillies masala and enough salt followed by 5 cups of water. Cook rice till half done, when the rice still has a bite to it.
• separate rice on a big plate and leave to dry
• dry mix (6) well.
• Take a heavy bottomed oven proof pot (biriyani chempu) and pour 3 tbsp of ghee at the bottom. make a layer of rice, then 1/4 of mutton and sprinkle some of the dry (6) mix and lime juice. Make such 2-3 layers. The top layer needs to be of rice.
• sprinkle saffron milk on top of the rice
• close the lid and oven cook at 100 degrees for 20mts and then after at 50 degree to keep warm till you are ready to eat. Alternatively make a flour dough and use this to seal the lid to the pan and cook on hob at low flame for 20-30 mts.
• to serve, carefully spoon out the biriyani to a large pan and garnish with fried onions, cashew nuts, raisins and quarters of boiled eggs.

YUMMMM!

Sherin Deepu