Hyderabadi Mutton Dum Biriyani
Servings 4
Ingredients
- FOR THE MASALA:
- 3 large onions sliced
- Oil for frying
- 750 gm mutton pieces washed and drained
- 1/2 cup yogurt beaten
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
- 1 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- Salt to taste
- 3 green chillies finely chopped
- 1 tbsp chopped mint
- 1 tbsp chopped coriander
- Juice of 2 lemon
- 2 tbsp vinegar
- FOR THE RICE:
- 2 1/2 cup basmati rice
- 3 cloves
- A small peice cinnamon
- 2 cardamoms
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds
- Juice of 1 lemon
- FOR DUM:
- 1 tbsp ghee
- 100 ml milk
- A generous pinch of saffron
- 2 tbsp chopped mint
- 2 tbsp chopped coriander
Instructions
- Heat sufficient oil. Fry the onions till golden brown. Reserve the oil.
- Boil the mutton in some water with salt and 1/2 tsp turmeric for 10 minutes. Drain. Reserve the water.
- Put the mutton into a bowl. Add all ingredients from yogurt to vinegar, along with half the fried onions and mix well. Allow to marinate overnight in the fridge.
- Warm the milk and soak the saffron in it, till use.
- Bring the marinated mutton to room temperature the next day morning.
- Pressure cook the mutton with the marinate and the reserved oil used for frying for one whistle, not more. Allow the pressure to go by itself.
- Wash and drain the rice. Soak it for 30 minutes in the reserved mutton stock. Drain.
- Boil lots of water with the whole spices, cumin, lemon juice and salt. Add the rice and allow to cook for 3-5 minutes. The rice needs to be only half done. Drain the rice immediately.
- Now we will put the dum. Heat a chapathi tawa. In a warm non-stick pan, sprinkle ghee and half the saffron milk at the bottom. Put half the mutton, then half the rice. Sprinkle half of the remaining fried onions, and half of the mint and coriander. Top with the rest of the mutton and marinate, rice and finally with the remaining fried onions, mint and coriander. Sprinkle the remaining saffron milk over.
- Cover with aluminium foil, close the lid tight. Keep the dum biriyani on the tawa. Keep the hot drained rice water in a bowl on top, just to tighten it up a bit more.
- Keep on high flame for around 10 minutes. Then keep on the lowest flame for around an hour. Switch off and leave for 15-20 minutes for the rice to rest.
- Open the rice, and mix well with a spatula. Serve hot with raita, pappad and pickle!
Notes
Normally, the mutton is tenderized by using some raw papaya paste. Since I didn't have papaya, I went in for vinegar. You can even use the meat tenderizer you get in shops, though it is not recommended.
Do not dry off the mutton stock after it is cooked. It will all dry off once the dum is done.
Take care while cooking rice. After three minutes of boiling it, check for doneness. If there is a nice bite in it, immediately drain it. It will get cooked while in dum.
I thought the spice was too much when the masala was being layered, however once the biriyani was cooked, there was hardly any! Do increase the green chillies or the red chilli powder if you like your biriyani to be spicy.
Do not dry off the mutton stock after it is cooked. It will all dry off once the dum is done.
Take care while cooking rice. After three minutes of boiling it, check for doneness. If there is a nice bite in it, immediately drain it. It will get cooked while in dum.
I thought the spice was too much when the masala was being layered, however once the biriyani was cooked, there was hardly any! Do increase the green chillies or the red chilli powder if you like your biriyani to be spicy.