The Authentic Ambur Mutton Biryani

The Authentic Ambur Mutton Biryani

Ingredients 

A. Ingredients for the mutton gravy

1. Mutton 500 grams

2. Onions 2 large

3. Tomatoes 2 Medium

4. Red chilli paste of 30 dried red chillies

5. Cinnamon 2(1" sticks)

6. Cloves 3

7. Cardamoms 3

8. Oil 1/2 cup

9. Yogurt 1/4 cup

10. Ginger paste 21/2 tbsp 

11. Garlic paste 21/2 tbsp

12. Mint leaves 1/4 cup plus 1/4 cup

13. Coriander leaves 1/4 cup plus 1/4 cup

14. Hot water 1 cup

15. Rock salt 

B. Ingredients for cooking the rice

1. Jeeraga sambha rice 2 cups

2. Water

3. Rock salt

4. Oil 2 tsp 

Method Of Preparation

1. Wash the rice well & keep it aside.

2. Boil some water in a saucepan & soak the dried red chillies in the hot water for 15 minutes & then grind these chillies with a tsp or two of water.

3. Keeping aside, 1 cup of water(the water that was used to soak dried red chillies)discard the rest of the water.

4. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan.

5. When the oil gets hot, add a tsp of yogurt(remove a tsp from the 1/4 cup of yogurt & add it) to the oil.

6. Then add the whole garam masala(cloves, cinnamon & cardamom)

7. Add the garlic paste. Sauté for two minutes or till the raw smell is gone. 

8. Then add the ginger paste & sauté on medium flame till it starts to become brown.

9. Add the red chilli paste & mix everything together. You don't need to sauté it.

10. Add the 1/4 cup mint & coriander leaves & sauté well.

11. Add few slices of onion & sauté till they become translucent. 

12. Now add the mutton pieces & mix & sauté well & let it cook for two to three minutes.

13. Now add the remaining 1/4 cup mint & coriander leaves. Sauté till the leaves shrink in size.

14. Then add the onions & tomatoes together & mix everything together & let them cook till they become soft.

15. Add the rest of the yogurt & mix well. 

16. Boil the 1 cup of water(kept aside after boiling the red chillies) & when it is hot, add it to the mutton along with salt & cook covered on low flame for 45 minutes to an hour or till you see oil floating on top. The mutton should be cooked well but it shouldn't be cooked too much & become too soft. You will be putting it on dum for sometime so if you cook it too soft now, the mutton will get mushy while on dum.

17. In the mean time, prepare the rice. Take a pot full of water. Add salt to it.

18. When the water starts boiling, add the washed rice to this & then add two tsps of oil.

19. Do not stir the rice as u may tend to break it.

20. Once the rice is half cooked, drain the rice to a colander & rinse it just once in cold running water to stop the cooking process & set it aside. You can also drain the rice onto a muslin cloth.

21. After 45 minutes, check to see if the curry is done.

22. Now you need to put the biryani on dum.

23. Spread the half cooked rice on the mutton curry & mix the rice & the curry together just once gently.

24. Heat a dosa tawa or an iron skillet on high flame. When it becomes hot, turn the flame to low & place the heavy bottomed pan with the rice & the mutton on the tawa & cover it with a tight fitting lid.

24. Cook the rice on low flame for 20 minutes. When you open the lid, you will see steam coming out of the biryani, that is when you know your rice is cooked well.

25. Turn off the flame & keep it covered for another 20 minutes.

26. Serve hot with raita, lemon pickle & pappad.

                                        Wash the mutton well & keep it aside

                             When the oil is hot, add yogurt & then the whole spices

                                                        Add garlic paste

                                                           Add ginger paste

                                                            Add red chilli paste

                                          Add 1/4 cup of mint & coriander leaves

                                                   Add a few slices of onions

                                                           Add the mutton

                            Add the remaining mint & coriander leaves & then onions

& tomatoes

                                               Then add the remaining yogurt

                                                     Add 1 cup of hot water

                      After 45 minutes, mutton is done & you can see oil floating on top.

                                            Fill a pot with water & add salt to it.

                                        When the water boils, add the washed rice.

                                     Rice is half cooked & strained onto a colander

                                           Now layer the rice on the mutton curry

                                        The rice is layered on the mutton gravy

Placed a hot iron skillet on the gas & Covered the pot with a tight fitting lid & put it on dum for 20 minutes on low flame

                                                           The rice is cooked 

                                                             The biryani is ready

Notes

1. Prepare this biryani a few hours before serving so that the flavor & the masala gets infused into the biryani & tastes the best.

2. Do not add any other masalas or powders to the biryani. 

3. The authentic Ambur biryani uses only red chilli paste so do not add red chilli powder as it may alter the taste of the biryani.

4. Do not add bay leaves to the biryani(I have added it but please skip it)

5. Ambur biryani tastes best with Jeeraga sambha rice so try to use that & remember not to over cook the rice. If you overcook it, the entire biryani will go waste. You know it is 50% cooked when you take a grain of rice & try to break it, it needs to be brittle & break but it shouldn't mash. The center of the grain needs to be dry. & not mushy. When you try to mash the grain, u shouldn't be able to mash it. If it gets mashed easily, then you have overcooked it.

6. The mutton takes anywhere between 45 minutes to an hour to get cooked. The mutton still needs to get cooked on the dum so do not cook it till it becomes too soft. When it's on the dum for 20 minutes, it becomes soft & tender.

7. If you do not have a tight fitting lid, then place the lid that you have, on the pot & then keep a heavy pot filled with water on it.

8. It took 20 minutes for my rice to get cooked on the dum. Yours could take 20 or it could get cooked in 15 minutes or might take a couple of more minutes. So, if your doing it for the first time, keep an eye on it.

9. My dried red chillies were not a bit spicy so I used 30 & still my biryani was only medium spicy. You can use around 12-15 chillies if your red chillies are spicy.

10. Do not add the ginger & garlic paste together. Add the garlic paste first followed by ginger paste.

A few mistakes that I did which I don't want you to do.

1. I have added a bay leaf to the oil. You should not add it.

2. While putting the biryani on dum, I have not mixed the rice & the gravy. I just layered the rice on the gravy & closed the pot with the lid, but you have to mix the rice & the gravy together before putting it on the dum. Do not stir & mix too much & break the rice. Just give it a gentle mix. If you feel you will break the rice upon stirring, then don't do it. Just layer the rice on the gravy & put it on dum.