The badami mutton biryani is a special and entirely different biryani from my other recipes. You might have seen my other biryani recipes whether it is chicken or mutton. The ingredients and method will more or less be the same with little changes. I have always cooked biryani according to my liking and taste. I like my biryani to be spicy and with masala and not plain or bland. A few of my biryani recipes are there which are plain but still tastes good. Soon I will share those recipes too.
In the badami mutton biryani, I have added almonds paste, which gives a different taste. The cooking method is the same – cooking gravy with mutton and then adding the rice. Serve it with any raitha (curd and onion mixture). You can use any meat like chicken, prawns, fish or mutton. For vegetarians, paneer can be used.
Ingredients
- Oil/Ghee – 1/2 cup For Gravy
- Onions – 4
- Ginger and garlic paste – 2 tbsp
- Mutton – 600 gms
- Water – 1 cup
- Green chilli (slit) – 6
- Curd – 1 cup
- Lime juice – 5 tbsp
- Mint – handful
- Coriander leaves – handful
- Kesar (saffron) – 2 pinches Whole spices:
- Cumin seeds – 2 tsp
- Brown Cardamom – 2
- Cloves – 5
- Cinnamon stick – 2 (1 inch size) For Paste
- Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
- Chilli powder – 2 1/2 tsp
- Badam (almonds) – 15 For Layering
- Coriander leaves – few
- Mint leaves – few
- Milk – 1/2 cup
- Ghee – few tbsp For cooking rice
- Rice – 400 to 500 gms or 2 1/2 cups
- Water as required
- Salt as required
Method
- First slice the onions and keep it aside.
- Soak almonds in hot water for sometime. This will make the peeling easy and the skin will come off very easily. Keep the skinless almonds aside.
- Grind almonds, turmeric powder and chilli powder to a fine paste. I have added more than 2 tbsp of water. Keep the paste aside.
- If you want, you can soak saffron in 2 tbsp of luke warm milk. There are 3 stages for cooking biryani.
- Take a big utensil and add oil. When it gets hot, add onions and fry until it is soft and brown. It will take about 10 – 12 mins. You can close the lid and cook.
- When the onions are cooked well, take all the onions and keep it aside.
- Now add mutton pieces in a same vessel and stir for 2 minutes. Add ginger and garlic paste, mix well with mutton. Keep stirring for about 3 minutes.
- Now add all spices for the gravy like whole spices.
- Now add the almond paste and water and mix well
- Cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes. Then lower the flame for a further 20 minutes, close the lid and cook. Stir occasionally.
- After a few minutes when the meat is cooked, add curd, green chillies, 3/4 of the fried onions, saffron and salt as required. Mix well and let it cook for about 5 minutes on a medium flame.
- Add coriander leaves, mint and lemon juice. Mix well and let it cook until it gets to a good gravy consistency.
- When the mutton is cooked and got to a gravy consistency, simmer for another 10 mins and you can see that the oil starts to float on the gravy, which indiacates that the gravy is done.
- In the meantime, you can cook the rice. The rice can also be cooked in advance.
- Soak the rice in water for about 1/2 hr.
- Add sufficient water to the rice and boil.
- While boiling the rice, you can add a few whole spices and boil. I have not added anything in this rice. This is optional. When it is 3/4 cooked, strain the rice and keep it aside. You can rinse in cold water, if you want and then keep it aside. This is to avoid sticking of rice. While boiling, do not stir very often as the grains can break. The grain after cooking will be longer, but still raw.
- As soon as the rice is cooked, you can add this directly to the gravy. Spread the rice evenly, then sprinkle a pinch of saffron and fried onions, which were kept for layering.
- Drizzle milk evenly on top and a few spoons of ghee, if you fancy.
- Close the lid tightly and simmer for about 20 – 25 mins or until the rice is cooked.
- If the bottom of your utensil is thick, the rice will not burn. But if its not, don’t worry. You can just keep a thick pan or tawa below the utensil and then cook the rice on simmer. After the rice is cooked, switch the heat off and let it rest for sometime – say about 10 to 15 mins. You can serve immediately.
- When the biryani is on dum, after a few minutes, you can smell the flavour and thats the sign that the biryani is cooked.
- When the biryani is cooked, you need to be careful while mixing. Mix it from the down to up. Take the biryani out with a wider spoon, mix slowly from one side only. Mix it from downwards and on sides so that the gravy and rice are mixed well. As soon as you open the lid, you can see that the full flavour and aroma comes from the biryani.
- The badami mutton biryani tastes good and is different. The badami mutton biryani goes well with any raitha, brinjal curry or any other curry of your liking.
a. Cooking gravy with mutton
b. Cooking rice
c. Mixing gravy and rice (Layering)
Cooking gravy with mutton
Cooking rice
Mixing gravy and rice (Layering)
Notes
- Rice should be only 3/4 cooked. The rice grain might have become longer than its usual size, but when pressed using thumb you should feel that the rice is not cooked fully. While cooking the rice you can add a few drops of oil or vinegar. While draining wash it under cold water. These will help keep the rice grains separate.
- The quantity of gravy should be such that it is enough for the rice when you mix it. Adjust the amount of rice or gravy to get the mix of your liking.
- If you want to reduce the oil, then go ahead and reduce it. It is your wish. But the onions have to be roasted in oil or ghee well.
- Add salt carefully to the gravy and rice. Divide the salt quantity and use. This will be easy for you.
- Mix saffron with 2 tbsp of water or milk and add to the rice. Food colour can be used instead of saffron. Saffron can also be sprinkled directly on the biryani. You can sprinkle a few tablespoons of ghee at last. It is your wish.
- For biryani always maintain 2:1 ratio for mutton and rice. For example, use 1 kg mutton for 500 gms rice.
- In badami mutton biryani you can do layering or just add rice and other ingredients to the gravy as we do in dum biryani.
- If you want layers in biryani, then take out some mutton with gravy and keep it aside. First put some gravy with mutton pieces, then rice, then few fried onions. Then again gravy with mutton pieces, then all remaining rice and other ingredients for layering. Simmer.
- I always add good quantity of mint and coriander leaves. This is a must for good biryani. 1 cup means a good handful of mint. You can see this in the pictures. I never chop mint. I roughly chop coriander leaves along with the thin stems.
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