Mutton Biryani 2
By: Anonymous
Published: Thursday, December 10, 2009 - 1:21am

Ingredients




2 pounds mutton cut in large chunks
1/2 cup of sour yoghurt(leave out at room temperature in a sieve for 6 to 8 hours to drain water)
1 juice of key lime
salt to taste
12 green chillies (thai) slit lengthwise
1/2 cup mint leaves chopped
1/2 cup cilantro chopped
2 mediums onions sliced and browned
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste
a pinch of saffron
1 teaspoon rock salt
2 cups basmati rice
1 cup of milk
1 teaspoon black cumin (shahjeera)
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup clarified butter

Preparation

1 Add juice of 1 key lime to meat, mix well and let sit for 10 minutes. 2 Add all ingredients for the marinade, viz: yoghurt, salt, green chillies, mint, cilantro, browned onions, garam masala, and ginger-garlic paste. 3 Cover and marinate overnight in the refrigerator. 4 A couple of hours before you start cooking, take the meat out of the refrigerator to bring it to room temperature. 5 Wash and soak 2 cups of rice in cold water for 30 minutes. 6 Grind dry saffron to a powder. Add 3 tbsp warm milk and mix well in a small bowl. 7 Bring a pot of water to the boil with rock salt and black cumin (shahjeera).

 8 While the water boils, knead the all purpose flour to a pliable dough. You'll need this to seal the pot later.
 9 Coat the cast iron pot with clarified butter or butter.  10 Add 4 tbsp of oil to the meat.
 11 Place the meat in the pot. Spread the meat out so that it covers the bottom of the pot. 12 When the water starts boiling, drain the rice and add to boiling water. 13 Wait for the water to come to the boil again and boil for another 4 minutes and then drain the rice. 14 Add the rice on top of the meat and spread it evenly. Sprinkle browned onions on top of the rice. 15 Pour the saffron milk on top of the rice in a swirl, add dabs of clarified butter, and the rest of the milk to the rice. 16 Cover with a tight-fitting lid and seal the lid with the dough. 17 Turn the stove on after you've sealed the lid and cook on high till steam escapes through the dough. Let steam escape with a hiss for 30 seconds. 18 Lower the heat to medium for 5 minutes. 19 Lower heat to low for 30 minutes. After 20 minutes, heat the oven to 350 degrees. 20 After 30 minutes, move the pot to the oven and cook for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, turn off the oven and let the pot stay in the oven till serving time.  21 To open the lid, you will need to chip off the dough with a knife.