Hyderabadi Biryani

Hyderabadi Biryani......mmmmmmmmm doesnt it sound yum..
Well...thats my favourite....and my husband's too....

When I got married I did not know much of cooking .. only the basic stuff...
since I was from Hyderabad.. there were lots of expectations with my first biryani...
but Oh my God...it turned out to be a disaster.....but...You know that was the thing that my husband loved.... and the saying goes that " practice makes man perfect".it came true to me... only me being a woman not a man;-)

You know what! I also got to learn the different versions of biryani...tamil nadu style being the spicier version.. with tomatoes an dlots and lots of ginger garlic..
then there is the keralite version of it that has alittle sweet taste with all these dry fruits like cashew.. and kishmish .

Some time back my husband gifted me a very interesting cookery book....that had the recipe of "Luknawi dumpuqt Biryani".
I tried that out... Man was that awesome?

actually I made that only once.. that was on my daughter's first birthday...I made that with all my love.. and I think thats why it turned out good..you know LOVE is an essential ingredient in every recipe :)

ok lets not b philosophical.. and move on...but seriously my husband says that..that biryani was my best biryani ever....Inshallah will post it recipe...whenever I make it.. and I know that will be soon.

So ok...lets now get down to business

ingredients:
1 Kg basmati rice
1 Kg mutton
200gms yogurt
3-4 Tbsp ginger garlic paste
1.5 Tsp chilly powder
1/2 Tsp turmeric
salt accd to ur taste
4-5 onion finely sliced
1.5 cup oil
2-3 Tbsp pure ghee
1 tsp garam masala powder
1 bunch cilantro
7-9 mint leaves
3-4 green chillies
5 cardamom
small stick cinamon
5 peppercorns
2-3 cloves
1 tsp black cumin(shahzeera)

Heat the oil..in a wok..when it is hot lower the flame and fry the sliced onions till..it turns golden brown in color.. be careful..you be around and be constantly be stirring otherwise the onions near the corners will get dark and onions inside wont be golden at all...so stir occasionally..after frying spread it on a paper towel..or a paper so that the oil is drained and spread it well.. so that it gets crisp..then crush the fried onions with hand.. and keep aside.

now...after cleaning the mutton...in a huge bowl..put the meat ,ginger garlic paste,chilly powder, turmeric, salt, yogurt, garam masala, .Allow it to marianate for at least an hour..2-3hours would b good..but 1 hr will be just fine...you know yogurt is a natural tenderizer... and also the meat will have the flavor infused of all the spices.

In a thick bottom pot..heat oil..the one in which u fried the onions..when its hot...slowly put the marinated meat first and fry for about 10 mins..then but the remaining marinade..the crushed fried onion...and half a bunch of cilantro...u can as well put a couple of slitted green chillies....lower the flame and cover the pot.. stir occasionally..now after some time..taste the gravy..you know it should taste little.. hot(MORE CHILLI) coz when it mixes with the rice..it will get neutralized.by little I mean little...:)

cook till the gravy thickens and till the oil separates and the meat is tender ....meanwhile you wash the rice and soak it for about half an hour...
Fill another big pot with water...in the water but cardamom, cinnamon, peppercorn, cloves, black cumin rest of the cilantro, mint leaves.. and the slitted green chilies..cover the pot and put it on stove...when the water in it starts boiling.. drain the soaked rice.. and put it in the boiling water in the pot..be careful with this too..the taste of biryani depends on how good the rice is cooked..it should not be hard, uncooked or cooked till its squishy.. just see that when the rice is boiling take one grain and press it between finger and thunb.. to see that its 75% cooked.. not 100%..then strain the rice....

You know when the gravy is made a layer of oil stands on the gravy that has rich flavor of the meat...what u do...u take out the rice in another plate.. put that flavored oil on the bottom so that i covers the bottom of the pot..u have 2 benefits from it,,...one being that the rice will not easily stick to the bottom of pot.. then another is.. the essence will go in the below layer as well
so after u spread the oil put a layer of rice then..the mutton gravy.. then again a layer of rice..then on top.. spread ghee...if u like colorful biryani...u can add either food color.. or saffron with half a cup warm milk and sprinkle all over the top layer.. i like the not colorful version.... cover the pot with aluminum foil.. so that it is sealed properly so that no vapor escape cover the pot... put on stove on hih for 1 min then lower flame and let it cook for 10 mins.. so that when U move the foil a little bit a lot of vapor appears....turn off the stove and let it stand for at leats 15 mins..unopened...then mix the layers well.. and serve hot with raitha.

I hope u like it!!!!
Do let me know