Masterclass – Mutton Biryani at Home

Biryani is not food, it’s an emotion.  I have seen biryani war reach its peak with different biryanis having their own followers from Awadhi, Hyderabadi, Malabari to the Uru’s own donne and military biryani.  Traditionally the militry biryani is technically a pullav as its not made in layers like a dum.  While I do not fully trip on what kind of biryani it is, I do enjoy a well made one from time to time.  What better way to have this than having an expert come over to your house and cook it for you?

We had an expert come home and prepare mutton biryani for us. He was very specific about the ingredients that went in and insisted we get everything he said he would need, no questions asked. I make a pretty decent biryani myself (the post is in dum. Will be prepared soon) and  was very surprised with some of the ingredients such as channa masala, kasuri methi chat masala etc. So off we went with a shopping list all puzzled. So lets begin the biryani class shall we? This was made for around 6 – 8 persons.

Ingredients for Biryani

  1. Basmati rice – 2 kg – Used India Gate
  2. Mutton – 2.5 kg
  3. Different Masalas – Channa Masala, Meat Masala, Chat Masala, Kasuri Methi – He was very specific to get masalas from a good company and seemed happy with Everest (this is not an Everest promotion !!)
  4. Chilli powder
  5. Cardamom pods
  6. Tomato Ketchup
  7. Curd
  8. Mint Leaves
  9. Ginger Garlic paste
  10. Saffron (good to have but not mandatory)
  11. Fried and caramelized crispy onions… Use groundnut oil for a great flavor
  12. Drinks for inspiration

Lets get started

  1. Take a sip of the drink to begin with and get into the right frame of mind
  2. Mix all of the masalas to form a fine powder mix

2. Add rest of the ingredients except mutton, salt (adjust as chat masala has salt as well), chilli powder and the mixed masala to form a bright reddish orangy paste. Keep it aside and don’t keep licking it, the biryani needs that more than you.

3. Grab the drink and take a deep gulp.

4. Now boil the mutton till it is 75% cooked

5. Once it cools down a bit add the mutton to the paste and mix well with the friend onions

Crispy fried onions and Biryani cant be separated. Made for each other
Crispy fried onions and Biryani cant be separated. Made for each other

6. After that hard work, you deserve a drink now

7. Now chop some more mint and take some cardamom pods.  Keep it aside.. If you are beginning to wonder why the hell did you keep it there, slow down with the drink

8. Fill water in the designated pot for rice and add the chopped mint leaves and cardamom pods. You can also add some ghee for flavor and put in the washed and drained basmati rice. Keep checking it till its about 60% done and starts to bloom. If it’s overdone  say bye bye to the fine grained biryani.

Adding whole spices and mint gives a great flavor to the biryani rice
Adding whole spices and mint gives a great flavor to the biryani rice
60% cooked Basmati rice for the final Biryani
60% cooked Basmati rice for the final Biryani

9. Move the mutton to the biryani vessel with a thin layer of onions or rice as a base so the mutton burning can be avoided. However there is something about burnt smoky meat too :). Your choice really.  Add the rice to the mutton mix as another layer, pour a generous dollop of ghee and tightly cover the lid of the biryani vessel with an alumimium foil. Ensure no steam escapes. You can also wrap a cloth around the lid and put a heavy weight on top to keep the lid pressed. An ideal condition will have charcoal burning on top of the lid as well as bottom but at home so this arrangement will have to do. Using induction may lead to confusion in the time and burning so I prefer to do it on gas.

Cooking Biryani in Dum at Home
Cooking Biryani in Dum at Home

10. Cook it for about 15-20 minutes in high heat and your biryani is done. Keep your sense of smell sharp and switch off if you find any slight burning. The 15-20 mins period is extremely dicey. Utilize the 15 minutes by having a go at your drink and refill the glass maybe? I find my sense of smell gets better 😀

11. While serving, mix biryani well by bringing the bottom part to the top. The bottom part has the masala and the mutton. That’s called a cutting

Triva Time – The art of cutting can define the making and breaking of a well made biryani is all in the cutting so you get the right blend of spices in the portion that is served on the table. A badly cut biryani is a disaster… Period.. Professional cutting masters are used in traditional places and events.

Biryani Ready
Biryani Ready

The chef did not have any set measurements. It was all by practice. His family has been making biryani for over 50 years.  Although it is not an authentic style of cooking biryani that I have seen, the taste was exquisite with tender morsels of mutton with beautifully spiced rice that packed with enough heat to make you sweat.

 

This was the usual way… Wanna know how to make a chicken biryani in 6 minutes? Stay tuned 🙂

For more info

For more related posts click here

For my experience in Meghna click here

About The Author

Pravin Menon aka PhenoMenon is a corporate junkie by day and a food experiencer when he is not working (which he usually is most of the time). He is into adventure sports, food experimentations and when he is not carrying out explosions in the kitchen, he usually is eating (or drinking!) Contact him at pravs@phenomenalworld.in

19 thoughts on “Masterclass – Mutton Biryani at Home

  1. I am glad to see my trusted brand (Everest masalas) to begin with. The biryani sure looks delicious to me!! I will definitely give this recipe a shot. My only concern is that 15-20 minutes stretch of cooking on high heat seems like a bit too tricky. Nevertheless, keen to have a go at it. Will let you know how it turns out.

  2. I have tried to make Biriyani several different ways, but have never tried mixing those masalas together. Definitely going to try it out!

  3. Hi could you pls tell me what all did you add along with mutton m did you cook mutton in cooker or in a pot

  4. The recipe is truly different from any other Biryani recipe! So did you use the entire packs of all the masalas?

    1. It’s as per your requirement.. Curd keeps the moisture in the biryani and keeps it from becoming too dry.. Just remember the final mutton marinade should not be too watery or the biryani will be heavy and moist. We went with 3 packets curd but go with your instict. Fried onions have no limit. The more the merrier 🙂

  5. No usage of oil in cooking at any stage ?????
    Boiling meat without ginger- garlic paste ????
    Spices, pepper, cloves, Cinnamon not used ????
    Pl elaborate a little for clarity ???

    1. Yeah I missed adding ground nut oil which was used to fry the onions. The rest we used was ghee in the biryani pot… Its been updated… This biryani uses just ghee and no oil.

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