MUTTON BIRIYANI

Married to an IT professional for the past 13 years , I have had the opportunity to travel to various cities in India and  different parts of the World . I have been living in the "City of Pearls" for the past 9 months now  . The Charminar, Golconda Fort , Hussain Sagar ,  Nagarjuna Sagar dam are some of the places one needs to visit when one is in this city . 

As a food blogger, however, my interest will be on the cuisines of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh (Hyderabad will be the capital of both the states for a decade now ). Biriyani is woven into the life of Hyderabad. You get the best Biriyanis here . During Eid you will find biriyani, haleem, and sewayeyan in every nook and corner of Hyderabad. 

Hyderabadi cuisine is basically a meat and rice oriented cuisine, it contains a variety of ingredients that are commonly used, ranging from vegetables, spices, meats, flavors to fruits . In the city of Hyderabad and its suburb, use of flavors, tomato and tamarind are the most common ingredients. Meat (such as mutton and chicken) dishes are prepared by the technique of dum—(sealing the dish with dough and gently simmering its ingredients over a slow fire to facilitate absorption of aromatic spices.).The Nizams served some 26 varieties of biriyanis for their guests .

Today is  "Sunday" and  the weather is perfect  to relish home made Mutton biriyani ! Here goes the Biriyani, the way I prepare my perfect Sunday meal for my family . You may as well try this to make a memorable and prefect Sunday lunch for your family and loved ones !

Ingredients-

Mutton: 1kg
Basmati rice: 500 gm
Cumin (jeera): 1 tsp
Whole garam masala:  2 tbsp
Garam masala powder:   2 tsp
Garlic-ginger paste: 2 tbsp
Golden-fried sliced onions: 2 cups
Mint leaves: 1 bunch
Curd: 2 cups
Turmeric powder: 1 pinch
Saffron: 1 pinch
Coriander leaves: 1 bunch
Salt: As per taste
Kashmiri red chilli powder: 1 tbsp
Oil: 5 tbsp

Procedure -

For the marination of mutton 
Wash mutton, pat dry and add garam masala, salt, ginger-garlic paste, red chilli paste, and 2 cups of curd. Mix well and store it in a clean container and keep it in the refrigerator to marinate overnight.

Method
1)Boil the water, add oil, 1/2 tea spoon jeera, salt and half-cook the rice.
2) Fry thinly sliced onions until golden brown. Add a pinch of salt . Add 1/3 of the golden-brown onion to the mutton marination and rest keep aside.
3)Now in a handi (deep pan) add the marinated mutton in the bottom and top it  with half cooked rice, add mint leaves, coriander leaves and top it up with fried onions. In a separate bowl, add some warm milk to soak saffron. Once the colour comes out from the saffron , add it to the handi.
4)Cover the handi or pan with a airtight lid or close the lid with dough on the edges. Cook for 45 minutes. To ensure that the  biriyani does not burn from beneath , place the handi over a tawa - Skillet.
5)Serve hot with raita and mirchi ka salan.


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