If you loved my chicken biryani recipe then I think you'll enjoy this one - delicious mutton (aka lamb) biryani.
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Category
Dinner
Servings
8
Prep time
2 hours
Cook time
2 hours
If you loved my chicken biryani recipe then I think you'll enjoy this one - delicious mutton (aka lamb) biryani.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 tsp caraway seeds
- 10 green cardamom
- 5 black cardamom
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns
- 7 dried red chillies
- 7 bay leaves
- 10 cloves
- 3 mace
- 1 tbsp kasuri methi
- 0.5 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/2 nutmeg grated
- 4 red onions, sliced into 1/2 rings
- oil for frying (I used peanut oil)
- 4 lamb hind shanks (or 750g mutton bone-in)
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tbsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
- 1 tbsp coriander powder
- 3 tbsp biryani masala
- 1 tbsp salt
- roots and stalks of 1 bunch coriander, washed well
- small handful mint leaves, chopped
- juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tbsp garlic ginger paste
- 1-2 green chillies, finely chopped
- half of the fried onions from earlier
- 3 tbsp onion oil
- 250g Greek yogurt
- 100ml water
- 750g (26.45 oz) aged basmati rice - soaked in water for 20 minutes
- 2 tbsp salt
- 1 green chilli, cut in half
- 1 star anise
- 6 green cardamom pods
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp caraway seeds
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
-
juice of 1 lemon
- cooked lamb in gravy
- cooked rice
- fried onions
- small bunch of mint, chopped
- small bunch of coriander, chopped
- 60ml warm milk with a pinch of saffron (or turmeric)
- 50ml melted ghee
Biryani Masala
Fried onions
Mutton/lamb
Rice
Assembly
Directions
Biryani Masala
In a dry frying pan, toast the spices over medium heat until fragrant.
- Grind in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle.
Fried onions
Fry the onions in the oil over medium heat, starting with the oil not too hot.
- Make sure you move them the whole time so they colour evenly.
- Remove from the oil and place them on a paper towel to drain.
Mutton/lamb
Mix all the ingredients for the marinade, then rub all over the lamb and leave to marinate for 2-24 hours.
In a pressure cooker, heat a few tablespoons of the onion oil and seal the lamb pieces off, being careful not to burn the spices (if you don't have a pressure cooker, you can use a Dutch oven on low heat for 3-4 hours).
- Once all the lamb is sealed, leave it in the cooker and add the remaining marinade also with 500ml water.
- Cook on high for 45 minutes or until the lamb is tender.
- Leave the lamb in the gravy to rest for 30 minutes before you pick the meat from the bone and mix through the gravy.
Rice
In a large pot with 5L (169.07 oz) of water, add all the spices above and set on high heat.
- Once simmering, add the soaked and rinsed rice and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often.
- After 5 minutes, drain the rice, pulling out the spices as you see them.
- Drain well.
Assembly
Add the ghee to the bottom of a large pot with a lid.
- Layer the biryani, starting with rice, then meat in gravy, fried onions, and herbs. Repeat until all ingredients are used.
- After the last layer of rice, drizzle over the saffron milk.
- Cover the pot with a clean tea towel before adding the lid, and then cook over medium to medium-low heat for 25-30 minutes.
- Don't open the lid, and once cooked, let it rest for 20 minutes.
- Serve family-style and enjoy!
