The Best Mutton Biryani Recipe ever! This is an authentic Bombay Mutton Biryani recipe where juicy succulent mutton pieces are cooked beautifully in spices and fragrant layers of biryani rice, this combination is to die for.
Here are some more Biryani recipes, that you would love to prepare for your loved ones – Chicken Dum Biryani, Hyderabadi Vegetable Dum Biryani, Chettinad Chicken Biryani, Mushroom Dum Biryani and One-Pot Mushroom Biryani
WHAT IS BIRYANI?
Biryani is a classic Indian mixed rice dish that is part of the Indian Mughlai culinary tradition, which traces its roots to central Asian cuisine and a rich fusion with Indian flavors and techniques.
It is such a versatile dish that you can prepare so many types of biryanis with so many different vegetables and meats. Whichever part of India you are, there is an amazing biryani recipe waiting to be enjoyed!
It is prepared with layers of fluffy basmati rice, marinated meat or chicken or any vegetables, browned onions, cilantro, mint, yogurt, saffron, ghee and spices. Classic biryani can justly be called the crown jewel of Indian cuisine, a dream dish that should not be missed.
WHAT IS DUM BIRYANI?
Dum Biryani is a favourite, which is a one-pot dish of aromatic spices and delightful flavours – a result from slow cooking the ingredients in a sealed, heavy bottomed vessel for hours or even overnight in certain cases.
Dum pukht can be translated as ‘dum’ meaning ‘breathe in’ and ‘pukht’ meaning ‘to cook’. It basically refers to letting the dish breathe in its own aroma or juices to make it more flavourful. Therefore large handi’s are sealed with dough or cloth to trap the steam, which then cooks the meat or rice until tender.
STEPS TO MAKE MUTTON BIRYANI:
I’ve broken down the steps involved in making mutton biryani, so that you have all the elements ready before you begin layering away.
Start by marinating the mutton
Roast the potato and make mutton gravy for biryani
Cook the basmati rice till its par boiled
Layer the mutton masala and rice, and cook on a low flame till the mutton is fork tender and the rice is perfectly cooked
Garnish and serve
HOW TO LAYER THIS MUTTON BIRYANI:
Layered biryani is typical of most Hyderabadi biryanis. Use a heavy bottomed pan for this so that the bottom and edges don’t burn.
Here’s the order in which to make the layers in this Mutton Birynai:
- Par cooked and flavored basmati rice
- Mutton masala (or Mutton Curry)
- Fried onions, Mint and coriander leaves, Saffron milk mixture, Ghee
- Par cooked and flavored basmati rice
- Saffron milk mixture, Ghee
Once the biryani is layered in this order, let it cook on high heat for 5 mins and on low heat for another 20 minutes. This is where all the flavours come together and the rice gets fully cooked.
TIPS TO MAKE PERFECT MUTTON BIRYANI:
Some of the tips I used to follow,
- Always use top-quality long grain basmati rice for making any biryani, this makes fluffy and fragrant Biryani.
- Always rinse the rice and soak for 30 minutes before cooking which helps in softening the rice.
- Over cooking or under cooking of rice will spoil the biryani. Fluffiness of rice is very important for any biryani recipe, each and every grain should be separate and perfectly cooked. So make sure to cook the rice for 80% only.
- Adjust the spiciness of the biryani as per your preference.
- If you do not have the fried onions, then finely slice 2 large onions and fry it in oil until golden.
- Use a heavy bottom pan to make dum biryani.
- Use Mutton pieces with bones for this biryani
- You can choose to skip potatoes if you do not like or prefer it.
- I have made biryani masala gravy in a pot, but you can make it in pressure cooker as well. Pressure cooking will save the time.
WHAT IS BEST RICE FOR MAKING BIRYANI?
I prefer to use Long Grain Basmati Rice to make any biryani recipe, as they turn out fluffy and flavorful.
For a healthy version, you can also use Quinoa, Brown Rice, any Millet or Couscous in place of white rice to prepare this Biryani.
HOW TO SERVE MUTTON BIRYANI?
I personally like to serve briyani with any kurma/salan or also just serve this with a side of yogurt or with onion raita or boondi raita.
HOW TO STORE LEFTOVER MUTTON BIRYANI?
Mushroom Dum Biryani will last in the fridge for a good 3 to 4 days when stored in an airtight container. If you feel it has become a little dry, sprinkle a little water and mix it well while reheating.
If you have a lot of portions, heat only the amount you want to serve. Use a clean and dry spoon every time you take out the biryani from the container.
You can even freeze Biryani for about a month. Just let it cool down completely before freezing. Thaw it overnight and heat it again, before serving. I will suggest you store biryani in portions so that you don’t have to thaw only the amount you want to eat.
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Mutton Biryani
Ingredients
Masala paste to grind:
- 1/4 cup Coriander Leaves
- 4 Green Chilies
- 3 Cardamom
- 3 Cloves
To marinate the mutton:
- 1/2 cup Thick curd
- 1/4 cup Fried Onions
- 2 tbsp Ginger-Garlic paste
- 1 tsp Garam Masala
- Salt To Taste
- 1/2 kg Goat Meat on bone Cut in medium sized pieces
For roasting potato:
- 2 tbsp Oil
- 2 medium-sized Potatoes cut in large cubes
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
For biryani gravy:
- 2 tbsp Oil
- 1 inch Cinnamon Stick
- 1 tsp Cumin Seeds
- 1 Onions thinly sliced
- 1 Tomato sliced
- 4-5 Green Chilies slit or sliced
- 1 tsp Turmeric Powder
- 3-4 tsp Kashmiri Red Chili Powder
- 1 tsp Coriander Powder
- Water as needed
To cook the rice:
- 2 cups Long Grain Basmati Rice
- Water as needed
- 2 Bay Leaves
- 1 inch Cinnamon Sticks
- 2 Cloves
- 2 Green Cardamom
- 1 Star Anise
- 1 tbsp Ghee
For layering the biryani:
- 2 tbsp Mint leaves chopped
- 2 tbsp Cilnatro chopped
- 3 tbsp Ghee
- A generous pinch of saffron soaked in 2 tbsp of milk
- 1/4 cup fried onions
Instructions
Marination:
- Blend the ingredients under “masalas to grind to paste” to a fine paste.
- In a large bowl, add ground masala paste, fried onions, whisked curd, ginger-garlic paste and garam masala along with salt.
- Add clean and washed mutton and mix well. Allow the mutton to marinate for at least 2 hours under refrigeration.
Cook the biryani rice:
- Clean and wash biryani rice and soak it for 45 minutes, strain the rice and set it aside.
- In a large pot, add enough water, bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, cumin seeds, cloves, cardamom, star anise, ghee and salt. Bring it to a boil.
- Once the water starts boiling, strain the soaked rice and add into boiling water.
- Cook the rice until 80 percent done. Immediately strain the water and set the rice aside.
Making the biryani gravy:
- Heat oil in a pan, add potato cubes. Fry the potatoes with salt and red chilli powder until golden, take them out and set it aside.
- Heat remaining oil in a heavy bottom pan, add whole spices, sliced onions, salt and fry until pink and soft.
- Add tomato with spice powder and cook until oil separates.
- Add marinated mutton and saute on high 5-6 minutes until raw small goes off.
- Add 2 cups of water, cover and cook the mutton until tender( it took approx. 30-40 minutes). Keep stirring at regular intervals, if water dries up, you may add more.
- Add roasted potatoes and chilies and cook for another 6-8 minutes.
Assemble the biryani:
- In a large pot in which you want to dum (slow cook) the biryani, add half the cooked rice as a bottom layer.
- Add cooked mutton masala and spread evenly.
- Sprinkle mint leaves, cilantro , 1 tablespoon ghee, 1/2 of the soaked saffron and fried onions on the mutton. Add the remaining rice over the mutton layer evenly.
- Add remaining ghee, saffron milk and reserved oil that we scooped out from the mutton masala.
- Cover it with the lid putting heavy weight on the top of the lid.
- Dum the mutton biryani for 20 minutes, first on high flames for 5 minutes and then simmer for 15 minutes. Let it to rest for 15 minutes.
- Serve hot biryani with raita of your choice.
Notes
- Always use top-quality long grain basmati rice for making any biryani, this makes fluffy and fragrant Biryani.
- Always rinse the rice and soak for 30 minutes before cooking which helps in softening the rice.
- Over cooking or under cooking of rice will spoil the biryani. Fluffiness of rice is very important for any biryani recipe, each and every grain should be separate and perfectly cooked. So make sure to cook the rice for 80% only.
- Do not stir the rice too much while boil as it may break the rice grains, hence, the result will not be as we want it to be.
- Adjust the spiciness of the biryani as per your preference.
- Always marinate the meat in masala for at least 2 hours, I prefer the marination overnight.
- If you do not have the fried onions, then finely slice 2 large onions and fry it in oil until golden.
- Do not use thin bottom pan, always use heavy bottom pan or handi or dutch oven to make the dish. For the final dum, always, cook the biryani on high for 5 minutes and them simmer to dum for 15 minutes. This helps in generating steam well cooking the rice perfectly each time.
- Use Mutton pieces with bones for this biryani
- You can choose to skip potatoes if you do not like or prefer it.
- I have made biryani masala gravy in a pot, but you can make it in pressure cooker as well. Pressure cooking will save the time.
