Mutton biryani / Restaurant style mutton biryani / Mutton dum biryani / Must try biryani recipe/ Recipe with video

Written by: 7aumsuvai
Mutton biryani, perfect biryani recipe that I have ever tasted, was prepared by one of our friends during our recent visit to the USA. I always remember Nagar restaurant, Theni when it comes to mutton biryani. Their mutton biryani tastes very good and flavorful. My dad used to take me to that restaurant where he orders onion dosai and enjoys watching me eat mutton biryani. After this many years, I tasted the same flavorful and yummy biryani at our friend's place. I took video of her preparing mutton biryani and posting it here today.

Ingredients:
Serves 10 to 12
Ingredients:
  • 5 cups – Seeraga samba rice / Basmati rice
  • 2 medium -  Onions (grind one to paste and another one slice it lengthwise)
  • 1 medium – Tomato (chopped)
  • 10 no’s -  Garlic cloves
  • 2 inches – Ginger
  • 2 to 3 cups – Mint leaves
  • 1 cup – Coriander leaves tightly packed
  • 3 to 4 tsp – yogurt / curd
  • Salt to taste
  • 10 cups – Water for cooking rice (including the reserved mutton water)
For cooking mutton:
  • 3/4 to 1 kg - Mutton with bones
  • 1/4 tsp - Turmeric powder
  • 1 inch - Ginger crushed
  • Enough water to cook
For Biryani masala:
  • 2 inch – Cinnamon stick
  • 6 no’s – Cloves
  • 1 big - Bay leaves
  • 3 no’s – Cardamom / elachi
  • 2 no’s - Star anise
  • 4 to 5 pieces – Kadal paasi
  • 18 no’s - Dry red chillies (or add as needed)
  • 1 tbsp – Fennel seeds / Sombu
  • 1 tsp – Poppy seeds / Kas kas
Seasonings:
  • 4 to 5 tbsp Oil
  • 1 stick – Butter (around 1/2 cup)
  • 1 big - cinnamon sticks (broken into pieces)
  • 4 to 5 no’s – Cloves
  • 2 to 3 – Star anise
  • 4 no’s - Green chillies
  • 1 tbsp – Fennel seeds
  • 3 no’s – Cardamom
  • 3 to 4 -  Bay leaves
  • 2 to 3 pieces – Kadal paasi
  • 3 to 4 tbsp – Cashew nuts broken          

Preparation method: 
Pre-preparation for biryani:
  1. Heat a pan, dry roast the items given in the list for “biryani masala” until nice aroma comes and grind it to a fine powder. Set it aside.
  2. Grind garlic and ginger separately into fine paste and set it aside. Same way grind 1 onion into fine paste and keep that aside too.
  3. Wash mint leaves and coriander leaves thoroughly, set it aside.
  4. Wash and soak the rice for 30 minutes, then drain the water completely.
  5. Wash the mutton thoroughly with lemon and salt for 3 to 4 times. Pressure cook mutton with turmeric powder, ginger crushed and enough water to cook until well cooked(around 5 whistles). Always reserve the water in which mutton is cooked because it has lots of flavor. You may also marinate mutton with little salt and turmeric powder for 30 minutes.

Making of biryani:
  1. Heat butter and oil in a pan, add cinnamon sticks and green chillies, simmer for few minutes over medium flame. Followed by cloves, fennel seeds/sombu, cardamom, bay leaves, cashew nuts, kadal paasi and roast them nicely.
  2. Next add ginger paste and garlic paste, saute for 3 to 4 minutes or until raw smell goes off. Do not change the order for adding ingredients.
  3. Add onion paste and little salt (to reduce the raw smell of onion), saute nicely until the raw smell goes.
  4. Next add sliced onions and again little salt, saute for 3 to 4 minutes or until onion turns slightly brown in color. Then add coriander leaves and mint leaves(except 1 cup add all mint leaves), continue to saute for a minutes.
  5. Add cooked mutton pieces and tomato pieces, continue to saute until the tomato are slightly mushy.
  6. Next add the freshly ground biryani masala and fry for 2 to 3 minutes. Add required salt and continue to saute.
  7. Meanwhile heat butter(approximately 2 tbsp) in a pan, add the soaked and drained rice to it, gently roast it over slow flame for 2 minutes( fry until the extra moisture from the rice goes). Then add the remaining mint leaves and continue to saute for 1 to 2 minutes.
  8. Add the roasted rice to the cooking mutton and 10 cups of water (along with the reserved mutton water), mix well. Add required salt and yogurt, mix well and bring it to boil. Cover with a lid (we used aluminum foil for extra seal) and allow them to cook for 5 to 10 minutes(check in between).
  9. Once the rice has absorbed all the water, mix well gently using the back side of the spoon/ spatula. Then add little butter all over the rice and flatten it using a spatula. Cover with a lid (with aluminum foil) and cook over slow flame (dum) for 10 to 15 minutes (or until well cooked), switch off the stove.
  10. After 10 minutes, open the pan and transfer the cooked biryani to a hot pack or any serving vessel. Serve hot with onion raita, boiled egg and salna.



Notes:
  • Please follow the steps as it is in order to built flavor from each ingredients. This was a request from the recipe author as she loves to add each ingredients on flavor basis.
  • You may increase or decrease the quantity of dry red chillies and green chillies based on your spice level. Because we are not using any spice powder except dry red chillies and green chillies in this recipe.
  • Always reserve the water in which mutton is cooked. You may either make curry or biryani, use this reserved water to get extra flavor instead of our regular water.
  • Cooking time for mutton depends on the goat(I have used baby goat which cooked within 3 to 5 whistles). If you are using older goat then you may have cook for 5 to 10 whistles.
  • Just cook for 5 whistles and then check, if it is not done. Again cook it for another 3 to 4 whistles accordingly.
  • Marinating mutton (for atleast 30 mins)is very important to get soft and juicy mutton.
  • Always wash mutton with lemon juice once or twice in order to avoid the stinky smell from mutton (kavuchi smell).
  • We cooked mutton biryani in the cast iron vessel that means open cooked not pressure cooked. You may also pressure cook for 2 to 3 whistles or until well cooked.
  • Since we cooked biryani in the cast iron vessel, we immediately transferred the biryani to hot boxes / serving vessels after cooking.

4 comments:

  1. Hi biriyani recipe looks so tempting...planning to try the mutton biryani...got a doubt just wondering if the onion quantity is sufficient for 5 cups rice..coz we usually use 250 gm onions for 1kg biryani...thats why i wanted to clear my doubt...thankyou

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    Replies
    1. Hello Sabina, Thanks for stopping by. Yes I too had same doubt when our friend prepared this recipe. But it was very perfect and without any hesitation you can try with 2 onions (1 to grind and other one to chop) for 5 cups of rice. I have already tried chicken biryani with the same recipe, it came out really well.

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    2. Thank you for the reply will get back after I try this recipe for Easter...

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