Biriyani- History and process of making

Posted by Paul on 08. August 2014

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The word Biriyani is derived from the word ‘Birian’, it originated in Persia and it came to India via Afghanistan. Biriyani means ‘Fried before Cooking’. In the early days rice was fried in ghee before it was cooked with spices, potato, egg and meat. It was invented by the Mughal Emperors.

It is cooked in an earthen pot called Handi where the meat and rice are layered along with the other spices.

But today we are going to check out the recipe of Mutton Biriyani made in Pressure Cooker, which takes approximately 45mins-1hour.Although it is not an authentic style of biriyani cooking, but it tastes good and saves a lot of time. Let’s see the recipe:

Mutton Biriyani (pressure cooked)

Preparation time: 45mins-1hour

Serves: 4 people

Ingredients:

Basmati rice: 2 cups (no need to soak in water)

Mutton: ½ kg (washed)

Buttermilk: 1 cup

Water: 3 cups

Cloves: 2 pc

Cardamom: 2-3 pc

Cinnamon stick: 1-2 pc

Bay leaves: 1-2 pc

Onions: 2 pc (medium, finely chopped)

Ginger-garlic paste: 2 tsp

Tomatoes: 1 pc (large, finely chopped)

Turmeric powder: 1-2 tsp

Red Chili powder: 1-2 tsp

Coriander powder: 1 tsp

Nutmeg powder: a pinch

Coriander leaves: ½ cup (finely chopped)

Mint leaves: ½ cup

Ghee: 3 tbsp

White oil: 1 tbsp

Salt: to taste

Sugar: to taste

Rose water: 2 tsp

Kewra water: 2 tsp

Sweet aater: ½-1 tsp

To make the Biriyani masala:

Cloves: 3 pc

Cardamom: 1-2 pc

Cinnamon stick: 1-2 pc

Shah jeera: a pinch

Japathri: small pc

Star anise: ½ pc

To marinate:

Lemon juice: 2 tbsp

Curd: 1-2 tbsp

Salt: ½ tsp

Ginger-garlic paste: ½ tsp

Green chilies: 3-4 pc

Red chili powder: 1-2 tsp

Coriander powder: ½ tsp

Mint leaves: few

Cooking Process:

1. Marinate the meat with all the marinating ingredients and keep it aside for 20-30 minutes.

2. Heat 1 tbsp of oil and 2 tbsp of ghee in a pressure cooker and add bay leaves, cloves, cardamom, and cinnamon and let it cook for a few seconds.

3. Add the onions, let it fry for some time, then add ginger-garlic paste and coriander and mint leaves and cook for another 5-7 minutes.

4. Add turmeric powder, red chili powder and cook for some 2-3 minutes.

5. Add in the chopped tomatoes and sauté for 3-4 minutes.

6. Put in the marinated mutton with a cup of water and boil it. Pressure cooks the mutton until it is done, up to 3 whistles. Let it cool by turning off the heat.

7. Remove the lid and check whether thick gravy has formed or not, if the gravy is too watery then further cook it until thick gravy is formed.

8. Turn on the heat again, add 3 cups of water and ½ cup of the buttermilk.

9. Add the biriyani masala along with the nutmeg powder, put in salt to the mutton marination.

10. Add the drained basmati rice and mix.

11. Cook in pressure for 2 whistles and turn off the heat.

12. Sometime later, open the lid add a tbsp of ghee, rose water, kewra water and sweet aatar for the smell.

13. Close the lid and let it settle.

14. Serve hot after 5 minutes with raita.