Always Hungry: Mutton Biryani

This is a quick version of mutton biryani done in pressure cooker. I had a long list for shopping today and I wanted to prepare something delicious with mutton / meat but quickly. Traditional mutton dum biryani will take hours after I keep it for dum. So I decided to do it in pressure cooker. This recipe is no fail recipe and I have been making quick version of mutton biryani over 5 years now using this method.

Few things to note for pressure cooking method. Rice to water ratio is 1 : 1 and 1/2 , i.e for one cup rice, the water should be 1 and 1/2 cups. And the mutton gravy we prepare should be thick and with almost no water. If your gravy is watery , runny you need to reduce the water for pressure cooking . Otherwise the biryani will become mushy. If your mutton gravy is runny, cook it on medium flame till it gets thicker. Or measure the gravy in cup and reduce water accordingly.

Servings : 2

Ingredients

2 Cup Basmati Rice
3 Cups of water
2 Onion chopped finely
1 Large tomato chopped finely
1 Inch Ginger
6 Garlic Cloves
10 mint leaves
1 Green Chilli
1 Teaspoon Coriander powder
1 Teaspoon Red Chilli Powder
3 Tablespoon Oil + 1 Teaspoon Ghee
2 Bay Leaf
2 Green Cardamom
1 Black Cardamom
1 Inch Cinnamon Stick
4 Cloves
Salt as required
1 Tablespoon Chopped cilantro leaves

Marinate Mutton:

500 Grams Mutton pieces with bone Chopped into cubes

1/4 Teaspoon Turmeric Powder

1/2 Teaspoon Red Chilli powder

1/2 Teaspoon Garam Masala

1 Teaspoon Lemon Juice

1 Teaspoon Ginger Garlic Paste

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

Preparation :

1. Soak Basmati rice in regular tap water for 15 minutes
2. In a spice grinder, grind ginger and garlic along with 1 tablespoon of water. Grind it to a fine paste
3. In a bowl add all the ingredients listed under marinate Mutton. Use 1 Teaspoon ginger garlic paste from the paste we prepared in the above step #2 . Mix well. let the Mutton marinate for about 1 hour. You can marinate it overnight in the refrigerator.

Directions

1. Pressure cook the marinated mutton along with 1/2 cup water on low flame for 10 whistles. I like mutton completely cooked, if you like it rare then pressure cook for 5 whistles and if you like it medium pressure cook it for 7 to 8 whistles on low flame
2. In a pan on medium flame, heat oil. When the oil is hot, add ghee and add bay leaf, cloves, cinnamon stick, black and green cardamom. Clove and cardamom will splutter
3. Now add mint leaves and Green Chilli stir it quickly. Add onion immediately and let the onions sauté till they are soft. Add the remaining ginger garlic paste and saute
4. Let ginger garlic paste sauté until the oil separates from the mixture. You should be able to see oil on the top of onions, that's the indicator that when ginger garlic is not raw
5. Add tomatoes and fry until they are mushy
6. Add coriander powder, red chilli powder and give it a good stir
7. Add the cooked mutton pieces along with the stock and increase the flame to high. Cover the pan with a lid and let it cook for 5 minutes and let the gravy get thicker
8. Wash the rice and drain completely. Add rice to the Mutton Gravy and mix everything together. Add 3 cups of water. Add salt, cilantro leaves. Check salt and spice. For 2 cups of rice you need 3 cups of water to cook in pressure cooker. For 2 cups of basmati rice, I added 3 cups of water to cook because my mutton gravy was too thick and there was almost no water in the gravy. If your mutton gravy has water, you can measure your mutton gravy in cup and add remaining water. For Example, if your mutton gravy is 1 cup, then add just 2 cups of water
9. Transfer the entire content into a greased pressure cooker. It is essential to grease the pressure cooker, otherwise the rice will get burnt at the bottom and you will end up having smoky Biryani. Cook on Medium flame for 1 whistle. Then simmer for 5 minutes and switch off the flame. Remove the pressure cooker from the stove and keep it on a wire rack or on the kitchen counter.