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DUM KI BIRYANI

Lamb/mutton cooked with traditional spices in a sealed pot, with rice
Print Recipe
Servings 5 People

Equipment

  • Knife
  • Chopping board
  • mixing bowl
  • At least two pots with a lid
  • sieve
  • Ladle
  • Pressure cooker ( optional)
  • muslin cloth

Ingredients
  

For masala

  • 500 g mutton
  • 3-4 medium size potatoes (cut into halves) 
  • ¼ cup cooking oil

Whole garam masala

  • 6-8 cloves
  • 8-10 peppercorns
  • 4 black cardamom
  • 6 green cardamom
  • 2 small cinnamon sticks
  • 2 2 zeera (cimin seeds)
  • 2 medium size onion (sliced)
  • 4 medium size tomatoes (chopped)
  • 2 tsp ginger paste
  • 2 tsp garlic paste
  • 3 tbsp yoghurt

Dry spices

  • 2 tsp red chilli powder
  • 2 tsp coriander powder
  • 2 tsp cumin seeds powder
  • 2 tsp fennel seeds powder
  • ½ tsp garam masala powder (optional)
  • Salt to taste

For rice

  • 600 g Sella rice (wash and soak for at least half an hour)
  • Its recommended to use this type of rice, if not available you can use basmati rice
  • 3 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp Shah zeera (if available)
  • 1 bay leaf
  • Make a potli* with - 1 tsp coriander seeds, 1 tsp fennel seeds,3 cloves garlic. Place all these ingredients in a muslin cloth and tie a knot tightly.
  • a small pouch made of muslin cloth

For garnishing

  • 2 Boiled Eggs
  • 1 tbsp butter ghee
  • 2 tsp kewra water
  • A pinch of deep orange food colour
  • Few strands of saffron
  • Mix the water, food colour and saffron together and keep aside

Instructions
 

For Masala

  • In a pot, heat oil and splatter all the whole garam masalas. Fry the sliced onions until golden brown.
  • Add meat, ginger garlic paste and yoghurt and fry on high flame
  • Keep stirring constantly and when all the water released from the meat and yoghurt is dried, add tomatoes and all the dry spices except garam masala powder.
  • Adding garam masala at this point will spoil the colour of the dish. Continue frying for about 6-8 minutes. When the oils start to separate, add approximately 1cup of water. Let it boil and then cover and simmer cook on low medium heat for about 30 minutes. The steam inside the pot will help to cook the meat and maintain the juicy texture of the meat. When the meat is almost 80%tender, add potatoes and continue to simmer cook. When the meat and potatoes both are tender, dry out any excess water. Check the salt. It should be like in a curry. You need to finish off with a semi dry consistency, a silky finish and not too dry. Mix in the garam masala powder.
  • Masala is ready!

For Rice

  • In a pot, which you would be using to layer the biryani, put the soaked rice, potli, salt, shah zeera(if using), bay leaf, water and let it boil.
  • The water added should be enough to let the rice boil nicely.
  • Don’t worry even if there’s excess water because it will be drained but it shouldn’t be less. When the rice is about 80% cooked, drain the water and start layering the biryani whilst the rice is steaming hot. You can get rid of the potli now
  • Follow the video below to layer the biryani.
  • Sprinkle 2tbsp of water and butter ghee on top of the rice layered. Place aluminium foil or a moist muslin cloth and then place the lid to seal the pot. This will help cook the biryani in steam.
  • Keep it on high flame for the first 4-5 minutes. Just peep in to check there should be steam building inside. Leave the pot on low flame for another 20 minutes. If there’s not enough steam you might have to leave it little longer because its not advisable to increase the flame. It’s a slow cooking process of cooking biryani once layered. Just open the lid once and very gently mix by just turning over by spoon maximum 2-3 times. You don’t need to completely mix it. Sprinkle the garnishing and place boiled eggs.
  • Cover it with the lid again. Leave it for another 15 mins on very low flame to continue the steam cooking process and lock the flavours in. 
  • The important thing is you need to have good amount of steam inside the pot for the final cooking, so adjust the flame accordingly during the process as needed.
  • Serve with the raita!

Notes

  • Its best to serve the biryani from the pot after letting it rest for at least 10-15 mins when it’s taken off the flame. This prevents the rice from breaking.
  • You can add ½ cup of chopped mint and coriander leaves when boiling the rice, if you want additional flavours.
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