MUTTON BIRYANI (PRESSURE COOKED)

Pressure Cooker Mutton Biryani Recipe

Serves 4-5 persons

.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Basmati rice
• 1/2 kg mutton, washed and drained
• 1 cup thick buttermilk
• 3 cups water
• 2 cloves
• 1 cardamon 
• 1/2″ cinnamon stick
• 1-2 bay leaves
• 2 onions, finely sliced
• 3/4 tsp ginger garlic paste
• 1 large tomato finely chopped
• 1 tsp red chilli pwd (adjust)
• 1/4 tsp turmeric pwd
• 1 tsp coriander pwd
• very small pinch of nutmeg pwd
• little less than 1/4 cup chopped coriander leaves
• 1/4 cup mint leaves
• salt to taste
• 3 tbsps ghee + 1 tbsp oil
• Biryani masala, make pwd:
• 3 cloves
• 1″ cinnamon stick
• 1 elaichi
• pinch of shah jeera
• pinch of jeera/cumin seeds
• small piece of mace
• 1/2 star anise
• For marinade:
• juice of half lemon
• 1 1/2 tbsps curd
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste
• 3-4 whole green chillis without stalks
• 1/4 tsp red chilli pwd
• 1/2 tsp coriander pwd
• few mint leaves

METHOD

• Marinate the mutton with the ingredients called for ‘marinade’. Keep aside for 20 mins. While the mutton is marinating, work on the rest of the preparation.
• Wash Basmati rice. No need to soak in water.Slice onions
• Chop tomato
• Pick mint leaves and chop the coriander leaves
• Prepare biryani masala pwd
• Beat curd to form thick buttermilk
• Heat 1 tbsp oil + 2 tbsp ghee in a pressure cooker vessel, add the bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon, elaichi and saute for a few secs. Add sliced onions, saute for 7-8 mins. 
• Add the ginger garlic paste and coriander-mint leaves and saute further for another 5 mins.
• Add turmeric powdered and red chilli pwd, saute for another 2 mts. Add the chopped tomatoes and saute for 3-4 mins. 
• Add the marinated mutton along with 1 cup of water and bring to a boil. Pressure cook mutton till it is almost cooked, upto 3 whistles. 
• Turn off heat and cool. Remove lid and you will find that it will appear like a thick gravy. If the gravy appears very watery, cook further without lid till it form thick gravy.
• Turn on the heat again, add 3 cups of water and 1 cup of thick buttermilk. Add the biryani masala and nutmeg pwd. 
• Add salt (remember we have added 1/2 tsp of salt to the mutton marinade, so add salt accordingly).
• Add the drained basmati rice and combine. 
• Pressure cook upto 2 whistles and turn off heat. 
• Once pressure is off, remove lid, pour a tbsp of ghee and combine carefully. Serve hot with raita.

Note: 

You can alternately cook the biryani in a rice cooker. After the mutton is cooked in a pressure cooker, remove the contents to a rice cooker and follow the rest of the above procedure. You can follow the same recipe using chicken instead of mutton. If using chicken, add 1/2 cup water instead of 1 cup and cook up to 2 whistles while preparing the gravy otherwise the chicken will become mushy.