Mummy's Mutton Biryani

An inspired version of the Hyderabadi Dum Biryani

I grew up in the then southern state of Andhra Pradesh (now known as Telangana) in the city of Hyderabad. Wikipedia has a great article on Hyderabadi Cuisine. This recipe is a homage to my mother who is an excellent cook, not professionally trained, but self taught who loves to put together delicious meals.

Description of the conception of this recipe is incomplete without a brief introduction about my mother. Jyotshna (Jyoti, as everyone lovingly calls her) was born into a bengali household in Jalandhar and moved to Hyderabad with her family when she was under 10 years old. She eloped to marry Anil Kundra (my very handsome Punjabi Dad) and moulded herself to learn the very loud Punjabi culture and cuisine. Because my parents lived in Hyderabad, many of their likes in terms of food is inspired by Nizami and Telugu cuisine. So, imagine growing up in a household with a Bengali mum, Punjabi Dad and a whole lot of Nizami and Telugu influence around us. My mum learnt all the food that she makes on her own by experimenting in the kitchen with us as her guinea pigs (quite literally!).

My mother was (and is) a strong independent working woman. My two older sisters and I are a lot like my mum. We are strong personalities, who like things to be done in a certain way, but we don’t mind taking the backseat when needed. We love cooking and exploring new cuisines just like she does and love entertaining our friends and family over elaborate lunches and dinners. Despite working so hard, my mother always made sure to put delicious meals at the table and never compromised on the quality of the meals.

One recipe that she has perfected over years that is a family favorite is the “Mutton Biryani”. I demand (lovingly, of course!) this to be made on my birthday every year. And boy! I have no words to describe this recipe. It is delicate, yet big on flavors. It is the most “royal” recipe that I have tasted in my entire life. So here it is, my mother’s very own “adapted” version of the Hyderabadi Dum Biryani. I say adapted because there are so many different variants of the hyderabadi biryani, but this recipe, is hands down, the most rewarding and delicious of them all. My mother makes the masala from scratch, but in this adapted version, for us working moms of the 21st century, we will use pre-made/packaged MDH’s Hyderabadi Biryani Masala and Badshah’s Nawabi Mutton Masala).

Warning! As this recipe is quite rich and high on calories, I only recommend making this on special occasions. I must also warn you that it is quite a tedious task to embark on the journey of making biryani. It requires a lot of patience, time and of course, love.

So, without further adieu, here is my family secret:

Ingredients:

2 lbs mutton or goat (ask for lean shoulder meat)

For the Marination:

2 tbsp fresh ginger-garlic paste

Paste of 1 raw onion salt

2 tsp raw papaya (Shan has a bottled version)

2 tbsp mutton masala (Badshah Nawabi Mutton Masala is my personal favorite)

1 cup yogurt

1 cup chopped fresh mint leaves

1 cup chopped cilantro

2 tbsp Garam masala (MDH has the best garam masala, but fresh homemade is even better)

1 tbsp MDH kashmiri chilly powder

1 tbsp mustard oil

For the Masala:

2 tbsp ghee or clarified butter

4 large onions, thinly sliced

3 whole green chillies (if you prefer even more spicy, double the quantity of the chillies)

2 tbsp Hyderabadi biryani masala (MDH)

For the layering:

1 tbsp ghee or clarified butter

1 cup chopped mint leaves

1 cup chopped cilantro

Half of the fried onions

Juice of 2 lemons

Pinch of good quality saffron

1 cup warm milk

6 tej patta or bay leaves

For the rice:

4 cups good quality soaked basmati rice (I use Indian Gate)

4 black cardamom pods

4 green cardamom pods

A couple of cinnamon sticks

1 tsp shah jeera or black jeera

1/2 cup chopped mint leaves

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Juice of 1 lemon

Salt

Step 1: Marination

Marinate the meat with all the marination ingredients and let it sit for at least an hour. Marinating overnight in the refrigerator is the best if you can prep ahead.

Step 2: Masala

1. Heat 2 tbsp oil or ghee in a wide pan.
2. Add the onions and fry till golden brown/crispy. Ensure not to burn the onions by stirring constantly. If the onions burn it will ruin the taste of the biryani.
3. Take out half of the onions out and then add mutton to the remaining onions.
4. Fry the mutton till it starting browning and starts to release its fat and the oil separates.
5. Add the biryani masala.Stir.
6. Cover and cook for another 5 mins.
7. Stir in the green chillies and fry the meat for a few more minutes.
8. Cover mutton with 6 cups of water and close the lid and cook until tender on medium to low flame (approx 45 mins).

Chef Tip- At this point, you can transfer for a quicker softer mutton, into a cooker and steam it for 3 whistles on high and two on low. Once cooked, fry for another minute till the oil separates.

9. After about 40 mins (keep stirring in and checking the meat), the water should reduce at approximately 3 cups. The gravy should be in thick liquid form (not runny or too dry). If it's dry, then add 1 cup water and let it cook for about 5 mins on high flame.

Step 3: Rice

1. Simultaneously, cook the rice in a separate large heavy bottomed pan.
2. To cook the rice, boil water (for 4 cups rice, add 14 cups of water). Add all the dry garam masalas. Add dhania leaves, pudina leaves, lemon juice and salt (note you need to add a lot of salt otherwise the rice will not be seasoned well, so be generous).
3. Cook till it's about 70 percent done.
4. Drain the water and keep the rice in a colander over the same pot to drain any remaining liquid.

Step 4: Layering

1. In an electric rice cooker (if you have one), or a heavy bottom pan, first add ghee at the bottom and spread the bay leaves.
2. Layer 1. Add the first layer of rice (we will split the rice into 3 sections and mutton gravy into two -- think Rice-Mutton-Rice-Mutton-Rice), half of the cooked mutton, some chopped cilantro, mint leaves and the first half of fried onions we kept separate.
3. Layer 2. Repeat Step 2.
4. Top off with the remaining rice and cilantro, mint leaves, fried onions, lemon juice, and ½ tsp ghee on top, saffron mixed with warm milk. Note- you can add food color if you desire, but I don’t feel it’s necessary if your saffron is of good quality.
5. This step is optional, but you could place boiled eggs or (boiled and fried potato) around the corners of the dish.

Step 5: Dum

1. Option 1 - Dampen a kitchen towel, wrap around the dish. Place the lid and gather the corners of the dish towel (almost in a 'potli' form). Add some weight over the lid to prevent the steam from escaping.
2. Option 2 - Make a dough out of wheat flour and wrap it around the lid that covers the pot in a way so that it’s completely sealed.
3. If you are not using a rice cooker, then, either put a skillet under the pan and on low heat cook for 30 mins or place your 'oven friendly' pan (make sure it won’t crack in the oven) in the oven and bake for 25 mins on 350.
4. Or layer (as mentioned above) in a rice cooker and let it cook for 20 mins.

Serve with Raita and salan.