Malabar mutton biriyani


Share Button

image (29)

Preparation Time : 40 minutes

Cooking Time : 40 to 45 minutes

Serving : 8 to 10 members

Description

Malabar biriyani . This recipe is from one of my moms cook book which was given to her by her friends daughter henna from Calicut . That cook book is a treasure trove with home recipes from all the districts and communities of Kerala . Been wanting to flick it but mom is so very organised that she sure will get to know if its missing . So finally took note of all the recipes from that book . I really don’t know which district in Kerala follows this recipe but its aromatic , lightly flavoured , visually appealing , magical with a very balanced straight forward recipe that elevates dum cooking . I remember my friend sulu mentioning ( while we were in school ) about a wedding that she had attended in Palghat and the biriyani was horrible . I didn’t get her point then as I had never ever tasted malabar biriyani before . In Palghat we grind cinnamon , cardamom and cloves to a paste and add it to the biriyani which gives a dark brown colour and a pungent over dose taste of the spices . Only after my co – sister who hails from nagarkovil came into our family , I got to taste a lot of malabar biriyani . As in her place they follow the malabar biriyani style of cooking but another version with slight changes from this biriyani recipe . I guess there are at least a million recipes of biriyani’s in India very own to every region and community and these classics can never ever go out of style . This has served as a reminder to me that the biriyani means different things in different parts of India .

Ingredients for mutton gravy

Ingredients
Quantity
Mutton or chicken 1 kg
Onion250 grams sliced
Green chillies100 grams or more to taste ground
Garlic50 grams ground
Ginger50 grams ground
Poppy seeds2 tablespoons ground
Mint1/4 bunch
Coriander leaves1 bunch chopped
Curd1 cup
Lime juice 1 lime
Ghee150 grams
Garam masala powder1/4 tablespoons
Salt to taste

Ingredients for Rice

Ingredients
Quantity
Basmati rice1 kg
Onion1 big sliced
Ghee100 grams
Cinnamon1 stick
Cloves 3
Cardamom3
Ginger paste1/4 teaspoon
Garlic paste1/4 teaspoon
Wateras needed
Saltto taste

Ingredients to Garnish

Ingredients
Quantity
Deep fried crisp golden coloured sliced onions250 grams
Fried raisins 20 grams
Fried cashew nuts20 grams
Oilto deep fry
Saffrona huge pinch
Rose water1 tablespoon
Garam masala powder1 1/2 tablespoon

Method to Garnish

  1. Heat oil and deep fry sliced onions to crisp and golden in colour , drain and set aside .
  2. Fry the raisins and cashew nuts in the same oil to golden in colour and set aside along with the fried onions to garnish . Soak the saffron in rosé water and set aside .

Method for mutton gravy

  1. Heat ghee and brown the onions adding ginger and garlic paste . Fry to crisp .
  2. Add green chilli paste and poppy seed paste and sauté for 3 minutes . top with mutton and salt , sauté till the colour of the mutton changes for about 5-8 minutes .
  3. Add 1 cup water and cook the till tender .Top with lime juice , chopped coriander leaves , garam masala powder and mint leaves and boil till it gets to a thick gravy . Taste and adjust seasoning . Set aside .

Method for rice

  1. Wash and soak the rice in water . Heat ghee in a pressure cooker , add cinnamon , cloves , cardamom , sliced onion .Fry to translucent .
  2. Top with ginger garlic paste and fry to crisp . Pour the water along with salt and bring to boil .
  3. Add washed rice and toss well and pressure cook for 1 whistle and simmer for 10 minutes . Switch of the flame and once the whistle settles down , set aside .

To proceed

Take a huge heavy bottomed vessel that is apt for dum cooking . Start layering with the

  1. First layer – cooked mutton gravy
  2. Second layer – cooked rice
  3. Third layer – sprinkle of garam masala powder , sprinkle of fried onions , sprinkle of fried cashew nuts and fried raisins and finally a sprinkle of saffron soaked in rose water .
  4. Pile up the huge vessel repeating the layers as mentioned above until all the mutton gravy , rice and garnish ingredients are over .
  5. Make sure that the final layer must be the garnishing layer . Close the lid of the huge vessel . Place it on top of a hot tawa in low flame for 15 minutes to cook and infuse the flavours by dum cooking .
  6. (Place a vessel with water filled in it on top of the lid of the malabar biriyani huge vessel , so that the flavours don’t escape out .This is what I do ) serve hot with onion Raitha , fried Kerala pappadam , malabar biriyani chutney , chicken roast and pineapple slices as side dishes .

Ingredients for Malabar biriyani chutney

Ingredients
Quantity
Coriander leaves, with part of stemA small handful
Mint leavesA small handful
Garlic4 cloves
Ginger1/4 inchsmall piece
JaggeryA small piece
Chilli powder1 teaspoon (dry roasted)
Tamarind paste1 tablespoon
Fried onions2 tablespoons
Dates6 deseeded
Saltto taste
  1. Grind all the ingredients to make a smooth paste. Chutney’s ready.