Hyderabadi Mutton Biryani Recipe:

A perfect Sunday brunch – the celebrated Hyderabadi Style Mutton Birani with fresh curd Raita

It was quite a well chosen treat for a goOooOd Sunday brunch after a few easy and simple ones for the last couple of weeks. I had planned for this one on Saturday itself and so had the mutton marinate overnight and longer; the result was nice succulent meat melting in every mouthful.

After all the ravioli, pastas and sandwiches getting back to our Indian heritage food was like home coming for us. We ate and ate and ate till we actually dropped and the leftover went into an air tight fridge container with no regrets. The biryani turned out amazing, full of flavours from our Indian spices and the best part about home cooking these rich dishes is that you can handle the amount of oil you want and are not left feeling unpleasant about that awful lot of oil in your mouth. Oh by the way Mr H’s comment “It’s even better than the one we had at that dinner last month, quite right balance you know”(“that”- a five star hotel in south Delhi, don’t wanna name it for no reason). Now that’s a compliment that made me go around happy all day long.

Hyderabadi Mutton Biryani

Ingredients (Serves 3-4):

For Marinade:

• 800 gms mutton/goat meat, cut to medium size biryani pieces
• 2 and ½ tablespoon ginger garlic paste
• 4 tablespoon full fat curd
• 1 teaspoon hot red chilli powder
• ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
• ½ teaspoon garam masala powder
• 1 teaspoon deggi mirch or paprika
• 1 tablespoon ghee/clarified butter
• 5-6 green chillies, thin sliced
• A handful of each fresh coriander and mint leaves. Approx 10 gms each.
• Salt to taste, just for the mutton

For Rice:

• 2 and ½ cup basmati rice (approx 500 gms)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 star anise
• 5 cardamom
• 4-5 clove
• ½ teaspoon black cumin
• ½ teaspoon garam masala powder
• Salt to taste for rice
• 1 tablespoon clarified butter
• 4 and ½ cup water

For Biryani:

• 4 large onions, split into half and fine sliced
• 4 tablespoon clarified butter
• 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
• ½ teaspoon saffron strands
• ½ cup milk
• Juice of ½ lemon

For Garnish:

• 10 cashew nuts, each spilt into half
• 10 almonds, each split into half
• A handful of torn mint leaves
• 2 Boiled eggs

Preparation:

Marinate:

1. Grind mint and coriander leaves together to make a thick coarse paste, we need two heaped tablespoon of this paste.
2. Beat all the remaining ingredients together in a large bowl and then fold in the mutton in the mixture, then add 2 tablespoon of the mint-coriander paste, mix well and allow to marinate for at least two hours or overnight.

The Mutton for Biryani:

1. In a pressure cooker heat 1 tablespoon of each vegetable oil and Ghee, Divide onions into two parts and fry one part in the oil till it is slightly pink and translucent.
2. Then add the marinated mutton along with the entire marinade and pressure cook till the mutton is tender. It takes about 7-8 minute on high flame and another 10-12 minutes on simmer in my Futura pressure cooker.
3. Release the pressure and open the lid, cook further for about 5 minutes till the gravy is reduced to a very thick consistency.

The Rice for Biryani:

1. Bring the water to a boil in a deep cooking pot, add all the ingredients mentioned above other than ghee/ clarified butter. Cover and let the aroma develop for only a minute.
2. Add the soaked basmati rice, give a gentle stir and add the ghee over it and cover the lid.
3. Bring it to a boil on high flame and then simmer for 5-7 minutes. Cook only until it is not completely done and the rice strand are still hard, i.e, about 3/4th cooked.

Arranging the Biryani: 

1. Add the saffron strand to hot milk and keep aside.
2. In a frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon of both ghee and vegetable oil and fry the remaining onions till they are crisp, golden brown, strain and keep aside.
3. In the same pan roast the cashews and almonds till they are crisp and golden.
4. Now In a thick bottomed deep skillet first spread half of the cooked at the base then add a tablespoon of ghee over it. Spread half of the fried onions and then spread flat the entire cooked mutton along with the thick gravy contents. Then spread the other half of the rice and repeat the process of spreading, ghee, the remaining fried onions.

1. Also add the torn mint leaves and half of the roasted cashew and almonds.
2. Cover the lid and cook on simmer for 8-10 minutes. Leave on for 5 minutes to rest and aroma to develop.
3. Garnish with the remaining roasted nuts and serve hot with your choice of spiced curd raita.

Dos and Don’ts:

Dos:

1. Do adjust the amount of water while cooking the rice, depending on the rice quality and the skillet you are using.
2. Do adjust the salt to suit your taste.

Don’ts:

1. Don’t overcook the rice before putting it through the final stage with mutton.
2. Don’t let the mutton gravy completely dry up for it adds juice to your final biryani.
3. Don’t remove the lid immediately after the biryani is done; leave it on for the aroma to develop.