SHAKIRA ’S MUTTON BIRYANI

My mother’s friend Sweet Pasha serves a fabulous biryani! This recipe has been handed down from her royal background and has been perfected in her kitchen by her cooks Shakira and Govindamma.

This recipe makes a huge amount of biryani – enough to feed an army! Please do turn your calorie counters off because there is a lot of oil used – but its all well worth it to achieve the authentic taste of this Royal Hyderabadi dish.

You can half or third this recipe, when you make it at home. I love eating this with any kind of raita – try my recipe for a spinach raita.

SHAKIRA AND GOVINDAMMA’S MUTTON BIRYANI

Serves 30- 35

3 kg mutton

2 kg long grained basmati rice (soaked for one hour in water)

1 ½ cups ground garlic

1 ½ cups ground ginger

2 bunches mint leaves

2 bunches cilantro leaves, chopped

¼ kg long green chilies

12 ripe small plum tomatoes, chopped

14 small red onions, sliced

1 cup yogurt

8 tsp. red chili powder (or to taste)

2 tsp. coriander powder (dhaniya)

½ tsp. turmeric powder (haldi)

5-6 green cardamom seeds (elaichi)

1-2 sticks of cinnamon (dalchini)

5-6 cloves (laung)

5-6 bay leaves (tej pattas)

5 small limes, squeezed

1 cup milk

1 tsp. saffron

1/2 cup of oil

Preparing the mutton:

• Wash and clean out mutton.
• Place the mutton in a pressure cooker.
• Pressure cook for one whistle till the mutton is cooked.
• Strain the mutton stock from the pot and set mutton aside.

Method:

• Heat oil in a large pot.
• Add the whole spices – cardamom seeds, cloves, and cinnamon.
• Sauté for a minute till spices sizzle and pop.
• Add the sliced onions and fry till onions turn brown (20–25 minutes).

• Add garlic and ginger and stir for five minutes.
• Add red chili powder, haldi, dhaniya powder and stir.
• Add green chilies.
• Add kosher salt to taste.
• Add 1 cup yogurt and stir for 2 minutes.
• Add chopped tomato and mix well.

• Add chopped mint and cilantro leaves.
• Cover and cook.
• Add a little mutton stock to thicken up the gravy.
• Add the bay leaves and mix and cook covered on medium heat.
• Cook for 25 minutes or so till all the spices are well combined.
• Add the mutton with little stock to the gravy and mix well.
• Cook for about 10 minutes till well combined (do not cook for too long or else the mutton will turn black).
• Take off fire and set aside.

Rice:

• Boil a large pot with water.
• Add a few bay leaves and salt.
• Add the presoaked rice to the boiling water.
• Cook the rice till it is ¾ cooked (should not be completely cooked).
• Drain the water out and set aside the rice.

Topping:

1 tsp kesar (saffron)

1 cup milk

• Add the saffron to the milk and set aside for 15- 20 minutes.

Putting the biryani together:

• Preheat oven at 250°F.
• In a large bottomed pot, ladle out some of the mutton gravy as a base at the bottom.
• Then put a layer of the semi cooked basmati rice.
• Then put a layer of the mutton gravy.

• Add another layer of the rice.
• Repeat this one more time ending in rice.

• Take the saffron milk topping and sprinkle it on top of the rice.
• Put a few spoons of ghee and the lime juice all around the rice.
• Cover the pot tightly and put it in the oven for 15 – 20 minutes to finish cooking.

Serving the biryani:

• When you remove the pot from the oven, open the lid and immediately turn the biryani with a large spoon.
• This is a very important step.
• Taking a large ladle start from the outer sides of the pot and mix in a rotating motion moving inwards.
• Do this 2-3 three times and serve biryani hot with a raita.