Mughlai cuisine is one of the most popular cuisines. Mughlai cuisine
consists of dishes that were prepared in the kitchens of the royal
Mughal Emperors.
Indian cuisine is predominantly influenced by the cooking style
practised during the Mughal era. Mughlai food is quite spicy and has a
very unique aroma. Eating Mughlai food, one can taste ground spices.
 Ingredients:
Mutton - 1/2 kg
Basmati rice (soaked in water for 1/2 hour) - 1/2 kg
Onions cut into think slices - 150 grms
Bay leaves - 4 to 5 leaves
Cloves- 5 to 6
Cinnamon sticks - 3
Black pepper whole- 4 to 5
Black cardamom - 2
Mint Leaves chopped - 1 bunch
Cashew nuts - 100 (optional)
Milk - 2 table spoons (To dissolve saffron)
Saffron - 1/4 spoons
Ghee - 1 1/2 cups
Marinate for 1 to 2 hours
Wash mutton pieces and put in heavy bottomed vessel.
To
marinate Mutton...
Ingredients:
Ginger garlic paste - 2 tbs
Shajeera powder (black cumin seeds) - 1 spoon (if possible)
Cinnamon powder - 1 spoon
Salt according to taste
Red chilly powder - 1/2 small spoons
Turmeric powder - 1 spoon
 Coriander
powder - 2 tbs spoon
Green chilly paste - 2 tbs spoon
Cumin seeds powder - 2 spoons
Curd thick - 1 1/2 cups
Fresh coriander chopped finely - 1 bunch
Fresh mint leaves - 1 bunch
Mix well so that all mutton pieces are well coated and marinate for 1 to
2 hours.
Preparation:
Step 1
Heat a little ghee and fry the sliced onions till they are dark brown
and crisp. Keep aside. Fry the cashew nuts in ghee for a few seconds
till they become light brown, do not burn them.
Step 2
Heat ghee in a heavy bottomed vessel and add bay leaves, clove, big
green cardamoms, black pepper, whole cinnamon sticks and saute for few
seconds add the marinated mutton pieces and cook on low flame stirring
every few minutes.
Meanwhile, cook the soaked rice with salt (1/2 spoons) till half
boiled, drain the water and spread it on a plate and sprinkle ghee over
the rice. When the mutton is almost (see that it is not over cooked but
cooked just enough) done, take out the cooked mutton on to a plate.
Rice and Mutton Layers:
Put some mutton mixture in the same bowl in which the mutton was
cooked, add on top of the mutton some half boiled rice evenly and
sprinkle one spoon ghee, chopped mint leaves, fried cashew nuts and
sprinkle saffron (mixed in milk) on top.
Continue the process for all the layers till you run out of Rice and
Mutton. Then add the fried crisp brown onions from top.
Step 3
Immediately
after the above procedure, cook the biriyani on a slow flame with
tightly closed lid for 10 to 15 minutes or till you think the rice is
cooked. Serve hot with raita, mint sambol, mango chutney
Tips
to follow while making Biriyani
1. Don’t over cook the rice but just half boil it see that it is pure
basmati rice. When you spread it on the plate it should not be sticky.
2. Add to mutton some raw papaya for 2 to 4 minutes before
marinating, so that it becomes tender. Do not keep for a longer period,
or the mutton will become too tender.
3. Cook the marinated mutton in its own juices, if you think the
juice is not enough to cook the mutton, add a little water.
4. After the layers, cook the biriyani on a very low flame for at
least 10 to 15 minutes.
5. After the biriyani is cooked take off from the fire and slowly mix
it with a spoon so that the mutton and rice are well mixed before
serving.
Santosh Chaniyal, Indian chef - Hotel Holiday Inn Colombo
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