Sunday 14 October 2007

Mutton Biryani - East African Style

Eid ul Fitr Lunch. Eid Mubarak to everyone, I hope you had a great day.
In response to Sunita's request, this is too is my entry for Sunita's Think Spice Event.


Ingredients

Mutton Masala
2 lb mutton on the bone cut into 2 inch pieces
1/2 cup yogurt
2 inches ginger; grated
6 cloves garlic; minced
5 chillies minced
1/2 tspn saffron
8 large tomatoes (blanched, peeled and liquidised)
12 small potatoes (extra oil to fry)
2 tablespn oil
2 sticks cinamon,
4 pods cardomom,
5 cloves; 1/2 spn cumin seeds
8 medium onions; minced fine in a food processor
2 tspn coriander/cumin powder
1/2 tspn tumeric
1 tspn garam masala
salt to taste
Rice
3 cups basmati rice; washed well; and soaked in water for 30 mins
1 tbspn oil
1 tspn cumin
1/2 tspn saffron soaked in a little warm water
salt to taste

Method
1. Marinate the mutton in yogurt, garlic, ginger, green chillis, half the tomatoes and saffron overnight if possible; minimum of 2 hours.
2. Deep fry the potatoes, these don't have to be cooked through, as long as the surface is sealed.
3. Pressure cook the mutton, or boil until tender.
3. Heat the oil in a pan, add the cinnamon, cardamom, cloves; cumin seeds, cook for about 3 minutes, the cloves and cardamom should have puffed up
4. Add the onions and fry until they are a rich golden brown, this is the most important for biryani masala. You can buy prefried onions if you want - available in Indian shops.
5. Add the other half of tomatoes, cook for about 5 minutes, add the tumeric, cumin/coriander powders.
6. Add the cooked mutton and the potatoes, mix, making sure that meat and potatoes are coated with the tomato/onion sauce. Cook for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile cook the rice, add 1 and ½ cups of water per cup of rice for 15 minutes,
Heat some oil in a frying pan, add the cumin, pour the oil and cumin mixture on the rice
Pour the saffron and water mixture on the rice

This is an East African style Biryani, the meat curry and rice are kept separate. Serve the rice on a large platter with the meat sauce place on the top.
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39 comments:

Bindiya said...

Will give anything for a spoonful of your biryani !Delish !

Saju said...

Thanks Bindiya, I wish I could send you a spoonful!

sunita said...

The biryani looks absolutely gorgeous...hey, why don't you send it over to me for the 'think saffron' event...I'm getting a little greedy now:)

Rina said...

Can't wait to try it. Mutton Biriyani is all time fav.

musical said...

Eid Mubarak, Saju! Now this and the sevayin sure would have made everybody so happy :). Hope you and your family enjoyed the festival.

Cheers,
musical.

Finla said...

Wow love them. Wish i had a whole plate of them :-))

Graingers said...

I'm licking my lips!

zlamushka said...

Oh, I am not a big meat eater, but mutton. Aahh, I can always have a spoonful... or two.. ok, maybe three... Four? sure why not. Five? I might as well... Oops where did Saju´s fabulous mutton biryani go? ;-) great entry. Bookmarked.

Dori said...

Wow! This dish looks amazing!!! Really, that biryani looks mouthwatering!!!

Padma said...

Biryani looks amazingly delicious, Eid Mubarak to you and your family...

Anonymous said...

Hello ! That picture was awesome! and mouthwatering indeed!! Well, i cook mutton biryani the same way except for the potatoes. I do not always add potatoes to the biryani.
And.. EID MUBARAK !!

www.monaafzal.wordpress.com

Anonymous said...

What do we have here Mutton Biryani wow i too want some. And Eid Mubarak Saju.

Sig said...

Wow, looks sooo yummy! I love biryani, and mutton biryani is my favorite! I too have one mutton biryani recipe in my drafts, but it is so different... I'll be trying yours soon... guess the mutton masala on its own will make a great dish!

KayKat said...

This is a fabulous biryani recipe! I can't wait to try it out with vegetables and paneer - will probably not end up as succulent and juicy as the lamb version!

FH said...

Ooh! Saju, that looks scrumptious!! Last weekend we went to Indian Buffet.They had a Goat curry which I loved! I don't get Mutton here!

Swaruchy said...

Saju...looks fabulous dear:-)

sunita said...

Thanks for your entry...I'm loving it.

Seena said...

Wow!
East African? Looks soooooooooooo delicious..
M a biryani fan..:) will try this..

Anonymous said...

Your wonderful recipies & blog bring back floods of nostalgic memories of growing up in Kampala (including the sneaky visits to Deejays!), where food seemed to play such a large part of celebrating khusiallies and family occassions. I am so grateful that you are documenting these recipies for posterity, as we have few family members left who can pass on the authentic versions as we remember them. Those of us who were too immature & thus unappreciative of the skill and expertise behind the feasts we were privileged to enjoy, salute you. Keep up the good work!.

Saju said...

Thank you all for your comments

Sunny28, thank you for your comment. So many people read this blog (about 250 a day), but very few comment. Makes it worthwhile

Divya and Chaya said...

Now this is BAD!!!! Uh, we want to go on a diet and looking at your Biryani it doesn't seem like dieting is esy(;-). Jokes apart, your post on biryani reminded us of an authentic biryani place we used to eat when we were kids!

Anh said...

Lovely, lovely recipe!

Unknown said...

Hi. Can I use chicken instead of mutton? If so, are there any necessary adjustments to the recipe?

thanks!

Saju said...

yes you can use chicken. no need to pressure cook, you can use it raw as it cooks very fast.

Anonymous said...

If I use already fried onions from a store, how many cups should I put of that instead of 8 onions?

Saju said...

assuming 1 onion = 1 tablespoon of fried onions, 1/2 a cup (125ml) should be enough. I haven't tried it myself, but will in the future and report back.

Anonymous said...

Tried the recipe with 1/2 cup fried onions from the store and it was delicious. Thanks again for the recipes.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing this link, but argg it seems to be offline... Does anybody have a mirror or another source? Please reply to my post if you do!

I would appreciate if a staff member here at chachiskitchen.blogspot.com could repost it.

Thanks,
Oliver

saby said...

hi sorry this may sound silly bt i hav only started cooking recently..i want to ask wen boiling meat u put it with the yoghurt and the masala ( the one used for marination?) ill appreciate ur response

Saju said...

yes, the marinade goes in as well

MILAN SHAH said...

Hi My name is Milan from London, i tried out your mutton biryani recipe and it turned out great. thank you for sharing the recipe. milan

Saju said...

Thanks Milan. Keep cooking!

Vali Jamal said...

Sorry to dissent mildly: But (i)don't you do layering? And (ii) how about "smoking" it at the end?

Saju said...

Sorry I took so long to reply, I have been very busy at work.
Vali, no dissent taken. East African biryani is usually not layered, the rice is piled on a big platter and the meat is placed on top. Khoja biryani is layered
http://chachiskitchen.blogspot.co.uk/2007/03/lamb-biryani.html
Not sure I like the smoked flavour on biryani, but it is awesome in butter chicken or bhurto

http://chachiskitchen.blogspot.co.uk/2007/01/bhurtho-smokey-aubergine-eggplant-dip.html

vitoria said...

Do you need to add water to the pot that you boil the mutton in?

Saju said...

Vitoria,
the mutton is boiled in water, so there is water there

z said...

THANK you SO much for all your recipes! Before my Dadima passed away, the only recipe I got from her was for her chicken samosas! I have so many fond memories of her beef biryani (amongst many other things!), but I have not found a recipe to create anything like she did. My family are from Kenya and Tanzania, and Ismaili cooking is so different from what you find in most Indian restaurants. I was THRILLED to find your website, as I can now let my children try the incredible tastes of my childhood. Just scrolling through the list of your recipes has brought back so many forgotten treats. I can't thank you enough!!

Saju said...

Z, that is exactly why I am recording these recipes - to share with the next generation(s).

Tasneem said...

Is there anyway to make this less sweet? Should I put less onions or tomatoes? I love it but my husband finds it a bit too sweet. Thanks.

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