BIRYANIIIIIIII……:D is perhaps everyone’s favorite.. I don’t know if there are people who doesn’t like this glorious dish though ( exceptions are always possible 😉 ) .. and there are of so many varieties to this. Cooking has no rules, one can make the same dish any which way they like and so is Biryani. 😀
In my childhood days, Biryani was a rare visitor, basically it was found difficult to make ( I don’t know why!, it’s not 😀 ) So, after my marriage if there is one dish that I have experimented over and over is BIRYANI!! 😀 I kept searching blogs and recipe books for more and more biryani recipes 🙂 I laid my hands on kacha biryani, pressure cooker biryani, malabar biryani, hyderabadi biryani, fried chicken biryani and what not 😀
So, this version is perhaps an easy one.. Because , I have used homemade mutton masala , which made it easier.. So, if you have it ready , this biryani hardly takes an hour to prepare. I made this in the morning and packed for M’s lunch box as well. I keep my breakfast simple ,when I do such elaborated cooking for lunch,that makes things easier.
P.S: The reason to call it a homestyle biryani , is because I have followed a simple method and adapted according to my family’s taste!
Kindly go through the notes , before heading to make this 🙂
ingredients |
Qty |
| for marination | |
| mutton | 1/2 kg – 500 gm |
| turmeric powder | 1/2 tsp |
| red chilli powder | 1/2 tsp |
| pepper powder | 1/2 tsp |
| mutton masala* | 1 tsp |
| salt | as needed |
| lime juice/ curd | 1 tbsp |
| for the gravy | |
| ginger | 1/2 ” piece 1 no |
| garlic | 3-4 cloves |
| green chillies | 3-4 or more according to spice level |
| onion | 2 medium , thinly sliced |
| red chilli powder,pepper powder | 1/4 tsp and 1/4 tsp |
| mutton masala* | 1-2 tsp (scroll down for the recipe) or more |
| coriander powder | 1/2 tsp |
| kerala garam masala* | 1/2 tsp |
| water | 1/2 cup |
| salt | as needed |
| to cook the rice | |
| kaima/jeerakashala rice | 3 cups(250 ml) |
| cinnamon | 1″ stick 2 no |
| cardamom | 3-4 no |
| cloves | 4-5 no |
| anise | 1 no |
| bay leaf | 1 no |
| ghee | 2 -3 tbsp |
| vegetable oil | 2 tbsp |
| water | 6 -6.5 cups |
| to garnish | |
| onion | 1 , thinely sliced |
| cashews | as needed |
| raisins | as needed |
| mint leaves | 10-12 leaves |
| coriander leaves | handful, finely chopped |
Mutton masala: for 1 kg( you can use this for gravy dishes as well)
- cinammon stick – 1″ piece ,1 no
- cardamom – 4-5 no
- cloves -6-7
- anise – 1 no
- pepper cons -1 .5 tbsp
- fennel seeds -1.5 tbsp
- coriander seeds -2 tbsp
Lightly dry roast these spice for 4-5 minutes and powder them . Use as it is if using 1 kg of mutton , else store the rest for future use.
Method:
Clean and drain the mutton pieces well. To which add the ingredients under marinade and set aside/refrigerate .I kept overnight as I was making it next morning. Give a resting time of at least 2 hours.
Crush together ginger, garlic and green chillies in a motor and pestle or mixer jar.
wash and soak the rice for at least 1/2 hr- 2 hr
In a pressure cooker, add oil and let it heat up. To which add the sliced onions and saute well. Once the onions turn a bit pink and translucent add the ginger garlic green chilli mix . And saute to brown well.
To which add the spice powders one by one except kerala garam masala and mix well , finally add the marianted mutton pieces and water too.Pressure cook until done.It took 6-7 whistles for me in medium flame. If you have raw pappaya, keep two-three medium pieces on top before closing the lid. This helps in cooking the meat fast and retaining it to be tender. Take them out after you open the cooker. Add necessary salt after you cook the mutton.
If you feel that the gravy still has more water, let it boil in medium flame and thicken. You can also add more pepper powder and garam masala if required. Do not dry it out completely as we need to layer and dum it further.
To cook the rice:
You can follow the method you generally follow as well 🙂 there are cook and drain method, pressure cooker method or the way you do it is also perfectly fine!
Now , in another pan, heat oil and 1.5 tbsp of ghee. to which add the whole spices .Add the drained rice and lightly roast it for 5-6 minutes in low flame.
Add the measured water to the rice and required salt and give a good mix.gently steep 1 tsp of ghee through the sides of the pan and let it boil in high flame, after which bring down the flame to low and let it cook.(do not cover)
As the rice gets cooked in low flame , you will notice formation of small holes with light bubbling here and there in the rice, and water on top being absorbed. Once there is no longer bubbling through the holes ,(you can also make a well , gently by parting the rice through the hole) shows water is being absorbed well. Now you cover it with a lid tightly and switch off. let it rest of 15-20 minutes.
I used the same pan to layer the biryani, I transfered the rice to another bowl. and transferred my mutton gravy into this. Spread the rice on top of this. And top it with mint leaves and coriander leaves +kerala garam masala.Cover it tight. I kept my stone motor and pestle’s motor on top of it. 😀 and kept this on top of an old iron skillet/pan and place it over low flame for 20 -30 minutes.
I forgot to click pictures after this 😀 , anyway the next is just layering 🙂 which I have mentioned above.
Meanwhile , in a pan heat 1 tbsp ghee. to which add raisins and fry them. followed by cashews. transfer them into apaprer towel. Now add sliced onion and fry them.Add 1/4 tsp of sugar to get it caramelized and fried ( I don’t deep fry the onions to garnish :P)
Once you open the lid after 20-30 minutes, garnish it with raisins ,cashews and onions and serve hot with raita /papppad or pickle!
Notes:
- One 250 ml cup of rice serves about 2 adults. So take the rice accordingly , if you want more rice add 1/2 cup more rice to this quantity.
- The mutton masala is the important ingredient in this, so kindly try to use the same 🙂
- Usually I add more of mint and pudina leaves, but this time i sticked to using less to see how it would taste.
- Oridnary garam masala, can be mixed with the chopped coriander leaves and added towards the end too.
- If you like more spicy, add more green chillies.
- I don’t deep fry the onions for garnish 😉 shallow fry with 1/2 tsp sugar to do so.
- We sort of like short grain rice, thus used kaima rice, you can use jeerakasala / ordianry basmati too.
- Make sure to soak at least for 1/2 hr , and also to roast it after adding to the pan well before adding water!
