Ingredients

1. Oil – 1/3 cup or less
2. Mutton/Lamb (with bones) – 1 kg
3. Onion (medium size) – 5 or 500 gms
4. Oil - for frying onion
5. Mint – 2 cups
6. Coriander leaves – 1 1/2 cup

For marinade

7. Oil – 1/3 cup
8. Ginger and garlic paste – 3 tbsp
9. Curd – 2 cups
10. Chilli powder – 2 tbsp
11. Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
12. Biryani masala (home made) – 1 tsp
13. Mace and nutmeg (javitri and jaiphal) – 3/4 tsp
14. Green cardamom powder – 1/2 tsp
15. Cinnamon powder – 1/2 tsp
16. Garam masala – 1 tsp
17. Rose water – 2 tbsp
18. Fried onion – 2 cups
19. Mint and coriander leaves – 2 cups

For cooking rice

20. Basmati rice – 600 gms
21. Mint and Coriander leaves (chopped) – 2 tbsp
22. Rose water – 2 tbsp
23. Water – 3 litres
24. Salt – as required
25. Oil – 1 tbsp

Whole spices:

26. Black cumin seeds/caraway seeds – 1 tsp
27. Black pepper seeds – 1 tsp
28. Bay leaves - 2
29. Cloves – 6
30. Cinnamon sticks (2 inch size) – 2
31. Cassia buds – 10
32. Staranise – 2
33. Black cardamoms – 2
34. Green cardamoms – 5
35. Bay leaves - 2

For garnishing/layering (dum)

36. Green chillies (thin and long) – 4
37. Saffron (Kesar) and lime (yellow) colour – a pinch (each)
38. Saffron (kesar) threads – a big pinch
39. Hot milk – 1/3 cup
40. Mint and Coriander leaves (chopped) – few or 1/3 cup
41. Fried onions – few or 1/2 cup
42. Rose water – 2 tbsp
43. Ghee (clarified butter) or oil – 3 tbsp

Method

Preparing for biryani

1. Chop mint and coriander leaves or easy way in a food processor. Slice the onions in a food processor. I have used mint and coriander leaves together 2cups (chopped) for the marinate and the remaining for garnishing in the dum.
2. Soak saffron in hot milk or hot water and keep it aside.
3. Fry the sliced onion in enough oil, until golden brown colour comes, it will take 10 to 12 minutes. Fry the onions in batches. Place it on kitchen tissue paper so that oil is absorbed. Spread on a plate widely, it will become crispy. I have used 2cups for the curry base that is in the marinate and the remaining for garnishing, in the dum.

There are 3 stages for the dum biryani:

1. Marinating meat
2. Cooking 50% of rice
3. Cooking meat and rice on dum process

Marination

4. First put all the marination ingredients in a big vessel or any big wider bowl and mix well.
5. Add mutton pieces and mix well.
6. Keep the marinated mutton for 4 hrs or overnight in the fridge.
7. The pieces of mutton should be of medium size and not very big.

Cooking rice

8. Soak the rice in water for about 1/2 hr.
9. Preparing for the fragrant stock, with whole spices.
10. When the water starts to boil, add all the spices and mint leaves, boil for 5minutes high flame, 15minutes on medium flame and 15minutes in simmer by closing the lid.
11. Drain the stock in a strainer and put it back in the same vessel.
12. Boil the fragrant stock; add rice, rose water cook for about 4 to 5 mins only. The rice has to be cooked roughly about 50%. Keep it aside and add saffron milk, colour and mix in the rice, partial mixing is enough. Keep it ready.

Layering (marinated meat and rice)

13. Take a big vessel, grease the vessel by adding oil and coat it around the vessel.
14. Add the marinated meat in the vessel and addition of 1/3rd cup water in the marinated vessel to clear any attached marinate to it. Add on the meat. Heat the vessel and keep it on high flame for 2 to 3 minutes.
15. When steam starts to come from the mutton and bubbles (slightly boiling) are seen (mutton is heated up nicely), add the rice, which is half cooked. Spread evenly on the heated marinated mutton. Keep the flame low at this stage, while layering the rice and other ingredients.
16. spread the garnishing ingredients on the rice; mint and coriander leaves, fried onions, and green chillies evenly.
17. Drizzle ghee or oil on top of the rice, spread evenly and rose water also evenly all over the rice.

Dum process

18. After the layering is done, keep the flame to high for about 5 mins until you see some steam coming from the corners below the rice.
19. Now immediately put the flame to simmer and then cover the biryani vessel with aluminium foil and close the lid tightly.
20. After closing the lid, put the flame to medium and cook for about 5 mins. Then lower the flame and cook the biryani for about 35 to 40 mins or until the rice and meat are cooked.
21. The sign of whether the biryani is cooked and ready is when you can smell its aroma from the nearby rooms or from the kitchen.
22. Switch off and let it rest for 15 to 20 mins. Do not open the lid immediately because the steam inside the vessel will continue to cook the biryani.
23. When the biryani is cooked, you need to be careful while serving. Take the biryani out with a wide spoon or a saucer slowly from one side to prevent the rice grains from breaking.
24. Serve it with raitha or mirchi ka saalan (chilli curry) or brinjal curry (chutney) or with chicken 65 as a side dish.

Notes

1. You can reduce the chillies if you do not eat spicy food or if your chillies are very hot.
2. Rice should be only 50% cooked. While cooking the rice you can add a few drops of oil or vinegar and while draining wash it under cold water. This will keep the rice grains all nice and separated.
3. Rice has to be cooked in advance and kept aside, readily available for layering.
4. You can buy ready made biryani masala. If you want to make it yourself, refer to my biryani masala recipe.
5. Add salt carefully for the marinade and rice. Divide the salt quantity to portions and add as it will be easier this way and will not risk adding more salt.
6. Mix colour with 2 tbsp of water or milk and then add to the rice. Alternatively, you can even just sprinkle the colour on the biryani. You can also use saffron instead of the colour.
7. While giving dum you can keep a flat tawa beneath the vessel or even better if the utensil has a thick bottom. This will prevent the biryani from sticking to the bottom of the utensil. I have used a non stick vessel, so I did not use a tawa while giving dum.
8. For making any biryani, you can maintain from 2:1 to 1:1 mutton to rice ratio. For example, you can use 500 gms to 1 kg of mutton for 500 gms of rice. Obviously, you need to adjust the spices appropriately.
9. I have cooked my biryani in oil and only drizzled a little ghee on top of the rice while layering. You can choose the proportion of oil and ghee and also how much according to your liking.
10. Shahjeera is also known as black cumin seeds (kala jeera). If black cumin seeds are not available, you can use caraway seeds. The caraway seeds also belong to the cumin family. Shahjeera is darker in colour and thin. Some also say both are same.
11. while layering you can also mix the layering ingredients with the half cooked rice. Mix it partly so that some white rice is still seen. Add this rice to the gravy and spread evenly in the vessel, while giving dum.
12. Biryani vessel can be sealed with the lid by using wheat dough and then dum can be given on a low flame.