Moghlai Biryani

This recipe may look complex and but trust me, it isn’t. It’s easy, simple and very very tasty. Try it once and you’ll love it.

You will need:
Rice – 400 gms
Mutton – 500 gms
Lime – 1
Cashew/almonds – 50 gms
Mint – a few sprigs
Ghee – 115 gms
Coriander leaves – ¼ bunch
Onion – 115 gms
Ginger – 5 gms
Green chillies – 5 gms (chopped finely)
Garlic – 3 flakes
Curd – 225 gms
Milk – 100 ml
De-seeded red chillies – 5
Turmeric – a pinch
A mix of cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and bay leaf – 2 gms
Saunf (aniseed) – a pinch
Saffron – a few strands
Wheat flour paste – enough to seal a pan

Preparation method:

The rice:
1. Boil rice with salt and cook till ¾th done.

2. Keep aside

The mutton:
3. Wash and cut mutton into small pieces

4. ginger, garlic and nuts into a fine paste

5. Heat ghee

6. Fry onions till golden crip, remove and set aside

7. Add bay leaves and the ground masala and fry for a few minutes

8. Add the meat and fry for 5-6 minutes on low flame, stirring continuously

9. Add a little tepid water and cook till the meat is tender and the gravy thick

10. Make a powder of the cloves, cinnamon, cardamom and aniseed

11. Combine curds, with the powder, turmeric, chillies and the leaves

12. Add the juice of one lime and mix thoroughly

13. Add this to the mutton and stir well

The fusion:
14. Dissolve saffron in a little milk and sprinkle over half the rice

15. Make alternating layers of rice, mutton and fried onions

16. Pour remaining milk and oil over the rice

17. Cover pan and seal edges with the wheat dough paste

18. Bake for an hour at 143 degree centigrade (300 F)