Cooking Delights: Hyderabadi Mutton Biryani

Thanks Manoj for the recipe!

Finally I could make it:)
This biryani is made with Banne Nawab`s Ethnic Hyderabadi biryani masala.
Well it is not easy as it looks, where you just have to mix the packet spices,marinate the mutton and then mix with pre cooked rice and then finally layer them and let it simmer and cook on a water bath.
Well making kache gosht ki biryani has never been easy!
You have to make it a few times to get the perfection.
When I made it for the first time,the mutton was not tender!
Sometimes the rice is overcooked!
But this time the biryani`s mutton was tender and the long grain rice was not broken.
Usually kache gosht ki biryani is slow cooked on a tawa,but this is recipe follows a water bath method.

Masala packet is for 1 kg of mutton and 750 gms of rice.
I have made with 750 gms mutton and 500 gms rice ( 3 cups).

Ingredients for the marination of mutton:( you have a instruction leaflet inside )
Mutton-750 gms,

Onion( medium size)-3 finely sliced and fried in oil,
Curd- 200gms,
Green corinader leaves- a small bunch,
Mint leaves- a small bunch,
Saffron- a pinch dissolve in 4 tbsp of water,
Cooking oil- to deep fry the onion.
Packet masala no 1-( reduce spice mix if you do not like it spicy- forgot to take out,so my biryani was a little spicy :)

Ingredients for rice:

Daawat biryani rice-500 gms,
Packet no-2 ( reduced 2 tsp from the packet since I required less salt),
Water for boiling rice.

Method:

Heat oil in a kadhai and fry the onions till golden brown.

Place the fried onions one side of the kadhai and tilt it,to let out the excess oil.
Once the oil is drained take out the fried onions.

Dissolve saffron in 4 tbsp of milk.
Whip the curd.

Take 50 ml or half cup of water and make a paste of pouch no 1.

In a small bowl mix paste,curd, crushed onions, saffron milk, 2 tbsp of oil left after frying the onions,chopped green coriander leaves,chopped mint leaves.

Mix this with the mutton and keep in the fridge overnight.

Take out the marinated mutton from the fridge and let it come to room temperature.

Wash rice and let it soak for 1/2 hour.

Important:- you need a big pot to boil the rice.
Big size kadhai or a big bowl (in which you knead dough ) for water bath.
Big size pot to layer and cook the biryani.

Take a patila or deep pot to boil water for rice.
Keep a lid on and as water starts to boil add the contents of packet no 2.
Mix and stir.

Add the rice.

Stir once and let it come to boil.
The rice has to be half cooked (it will take 3 minutes)

As the rice is boiling,spread the marinated mutton in another pot and as rice is half cooked,

with a slotted big flat spatulla take out heapful of rice and layer it on the mutton and drain out water from the rest of the rice and spread it on top.

Put the pot again on high heat.
Pour few drops of saffron water and few drops of yellow food colour on the rice.
Pour 3 to 4 tbsp of ghee or oil on the rice.( pour any left over oil from fried onions)

Cover the pot with a tight lid and seal it with dough.

It will take 5 to 7 minutes for the steam to form on the lid,once that temperature is attained,transfer the pot to the other stove which has a kadhai on.

Meanwhile put a large size kadhai, 3/4 filled with water or a large dough bowl on heat with a small katori in the center and let it come to boil.

Place the biryani pot on the small katori in the large kadhai.
Let the water come to boil.

The biryani pot`s bottom should be immersed 1/4 to 1/2 inch in boiling water.

As water starts to boil and you see steam droplets inside the lid,then lower the gas and let it simmer for 45 minutes.
Add hot water to the kadhai twice to keep its level.
Close gas after 45 minutes.
Leave for 15 to 20 minutes in water bath.
As it cools remove pot and leave it for 20 to 30 minutes or till serving time.