Ingredients

• Long grain rice - 750 gm
• Mutton - 1 kg
• Yogurt - 1 cup
• Onions -5
• Garlic - 15 cloves
• Bay leafs - 6
• Salt - to taste
• Ground pepper powder - 1 tsp
• Whole spices garam masala:
• 2 inch - cinnamon
• Cloves- 8
• Green Cardamom - 8
• Whole black peppercorns - 7
• Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

How to Make Mutton Biryani

• Wash the mutton, drain.
• Add the yogurt, half of the garam masala and four bay leaves to the mutton in a bowl.
• Mix it well, add salt and pepper powder.
• Keep aside in fridge for at least 5 hours.
• Soak rice in enough water for at least 1/2 an hour.
• Slice the onions and peel the garlic cloves.
• Heat oil in a pan and add half the onions and saute until they turn golden brown.
• Remove and keep on a paper towel so that the extra oil is drained.
• In the same oil, add the remaining whole spices, 2 bay leaves and cook for a few seconds on low heat.
• When the spices start to change their colour, add the crushed garlic cloves.
• Cook for a couple of seconds and add the remaining onions.
• When the onion becomes translucent, add salt.
• Remove the marinated chicken after lightly squeezing out the extra marinade and add the pieces to the pan.
• Keep the yogurt marinade in reserve.
• Cook the mutton pieces for at least 15-20 mins and then add the marinade to the mutton and cook for further 15 mins.
• Transfer the mutton mixture to a pressure cooker and cook at full steam for about 10 - 12 mins. Then simmer for 15 mins.
• Remove the pressure cooker from fire. Once all the steam subsides, transfer only the chicken pieces and sieve the residue with a wire strainer. Mash the contents through it and then discard the residue.
• Add this liquid to the water needed for cooking rice (it should be 1 rice: 2 water).
• Take a heavy bottom pan, grease its bottom and the sides.
• Make a layer of bay leaves so that the surface of the pan is totally covered with the leaves.
• Take the soaked rice, add a layer of rice to the pan and alternately put a layer of mutton and water. Repeat till the topmost layer is rice.
• Add a little onions between the layers and the remaining on the top.
• Make a dough with wheat.
• Cover the lid of the vessel, seal the edges ot the lid with the dough and keep on high flame for 5-6 mins. Then cook on low fire for further 12-15 min.
• Once the dough seal becomes hard and crusty, remove from fire and serve.
• Also add a little saffron soaked in warm milk in the marinade.