Pressure Cooker Mutton Biryani
If I’ve been MIA, its because I am delighting myself with my 22 month old nephew (visiting India) and reliving Nehal’s toddlerhood days. Busy fun days. 
A quick special one pot meal for one of those busy days is this particular biryani. Simple preparation, not at all complicated and can be made in less than an hour. I would frown upon any biryani recipe that didn’t call for ‘dum’. Even more so on ‘pressure cooker’ biryani. I would refuse to try any other method thinking it was blasphemous. How wrong I was? This particular biryani which is cooked in a pressure cooker is not an authentic style Hyderabadi biryani. It tastes good the day you prepare it and even better the next day.
Pressure Cooker Mutton Biryani Recipe
Prep & Cooking: 50 mts to 1 hr
Serves 4-5 persons
.
2 cups Basmati rice
1/2 kg mutton, washed and drained
1 cup thick buttermilk
3 cups water
2 cloves, 1 elachi, 1/2″ cinnamon stick, 1 marathi moggu
1-2 bay leaves
2 onions, finely sliced
3/4 tsp ginger garlic paste
1 large tomato finely chopped
1 tsp red chilli pwd (adjust)
1/4 tsp turmeric pwd
1 tsp coriander pwd
very small pinch of nutmeg pwd
little less than 1/4 cup chopped coriander leaves
1/4 cup pudina leaves
salt to taste
3 tbsps ghee + 1 tbsp oil
Biryani masala, make pwd:
3 cloves
1″ cinnamon stick
1 elaichi
pinch of shah jeera
pinch of jeera/cumin seeds
small piece of japathri/mace
For marinade:
juice of half lemon
1 1/2 tbsps curd
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste
3-4 whole green chillis without stalks
1/4 tsp red chilli pwd
1/2 tsp coriander pwd
few mint leaves
1 Marinate the mutton with the ingredients called for ‘marinade’. Keep aside for 20 mts. While the mutton is marinating, work on the rest of the preparation.
1. Wash Basmati rice. No need to soak in water
2. Slice onions
3. Chop tomato
4. Pick pudina leaves and chop the coriander leaves
5. Prepare biryani masala pwd
6. Beat curd to form thick buttermilk
2 Heat 1 tbsp oil + 2 tbsps ghee in a pressure cooker vessel, add the bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon, marathi mogga, elaichi and saute for a few secs. Add sliced onions, saute for 7-8 mts. Add the ginger garlic paste and coriander-pudina leaves and saute further for another 5 mts.
2 Add turmeric pwd and red chilli pwd, saute for another 2 mts. Add the chopped tomatoes and saute for 3-4 mts. Add the marinated mutton along with 1 cup of water and bring to a boil. Pressure cook mutton till it is almost cooked, upto 3 whistles. Turn off heat and cool. Remove lid and you will find that it will appear like a thick gravy. If the gravy appears very watery, cook further without lid till it forms a thick gravy.
3 Turn on the heat again, add 3 cups of water and 1 cup of thick buttermilk. Add the biryani masala and nutmeg pwd. Add salt (remember we have added 1/2 tsp of salt to the mutton marinade, so add salt accordingly). Add the drained basmati rice and combine. Pressure cook upto 2 whistles and turn off heat. Once pressure is off, remove lid, pour a tbsp of ghee and combine carefully. Serve hot with raita.
Note:
You can alternately cook the biryani in a rice cooker. After the mutton is cooked in a pressure cooker, remove the contents to a rice cooker and follow the rest of the above procedure. You can follow the same recipe using chicken instead of mutton. If using chicken, add 1/2 cup water instead of 1 cup and cook up to 2 whistles while preparing the gravy otherwise the chicken will become mushy.
Update on Taste of India: TOI is going through a testing phase and is not up officially. We are testing few feeds at a time. Once we are through with the testing, I will announce the re-launch date of TOI.
By Sailu • Jul 27th, 2009 • Category: All Recipes, Andhra Recipes, Indian Meat Recipes, Non-Vegetarian Recipes, Rice recipes
WOW!!! Thank you, Sailu…Finally a biriyani recipe from you!!!! Awaiting for the typical Hyderabadi version, both veg & non-veg from you:)….
Sounds very good. will try it.. btw, i now make mutton curry using your recipe of poppy seeds and coconut
looks very delicious sailu … & very tempting ..
The recipe really seems quite simple… but biryani koncham dry ga anipistundi… I mean juicy ga anipinchatam ledhu…May be my vision problem…..
Looks so yummy and spicy….
mmm. sounds nice. i hadn’t heard of marathi moggu before, although the internet is quite helpful. i’ll enjoy adding another spice to the collection!
my pressure cooker doesn’t do “whistles” – it comes to pressure and then stays at pressure until i take it off the heat. do you have a guideline for approximately how long one “whistle” is?
thanks.
I really don’t know the time frame for one whistle. Trial and error method is the way I’d do it. Maybe you could cook it for approx 15 mts (for 2 whistles) for the above recipe.
I love the pressure cooker version since it comes out moist and flavorful. In our parts we add coconut milk instead of curd.
Hi shailu, the recipie sounds good. The photo looks very tempting, will definitely try it very soon and will let you know the feedback.
Yum, that made my belly growl!
Hi Sailu
thanks for the 1derful recipe. Cant wait to try it. I have the same
query as Roq enquired yesterday.
my pressure cooker doesn’t do “whistles” – it comes to pressure and then stays at pressure until i take it off the heat. do you have a guideline for approximately how long one “whistle” is?
I really don’t know the time frame for a whistle. Maybe you could cook it for approx 15 mts (for 2 whistles) for the above recipe.
Does look like authentic Biryani! Rice grains are beautifully layered.I never use star anise in the Biryani Masala, (but use jaiphal), will try it next time.. For me anything that is not layered & not in Dum is called a Pulao:-)
Hi,
I am new to the blogging world. You are one of my inspirations to start a food blog. Great recipe yet again. Will surely give it a try.
http://www.tastiexpeditions.blogspot.com/
Abi
biriyani looks mouthwatering and spicy. pressure cooker version looks lovely.
can u pls tell me wht is marathi moggu?
Marathi moggu are dried kapok buds. A spice that goes into the making of recipes like bisi bele bath. Here’s the link to the Marathi Mogga image.
Hi Sailu..
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Hi Sailu,
This recipe is nice when we don’t want go through the process of dum biryani we too make similar version and its our fav.
That looks so delicious : D I must try to make it for my family
Hey Sailu..
Lovely biryani.Each grain is well coated and can’t wait to try at home.
Keep up the good work !!!
Delicious!
Continue having fun with your nephew.
Paz
Hi Shailaja, this is excellent. My family loves eating biryani and I love making it for them too.
However, the traditional Hyderabadi biryani takes a lot of time and I am sure this tastes equally good:-)
Thanks to you once again for posting this and keep up the good work!:-)
Regards
Hi Sailu,
Wonderful Recipe n simply mouthwatering…however wil hav to wait 4 dis month to finish coz we dont eat nonveg in Shravan!! I tried ur Chettinad Style Chicken Curry n it was loved by all in my family….thanks to u!!
Hi Sailu,
Adding thick buttermilk is new to me,
i use curd only for marinade.
I’ll try your method, this coming Sunday Sailu.
How are you and Nehal?
Do try it and leave your feedback, Punita. Nehal and I doing good. He’s had a good time with his little cousin inspite of his busy schedule with extracurricular activities and tennis classes. His quarterly exams are just round the corner and its work for me over the weekend preparing worksheets for him.
great recipe and nice pictures
the dish looks pretty healthy! i love the picture in the pressure cooker..want to dig in 
Hi Sailu,
pretty good recipe. I make a similar version. but, like soma, my friends always say that this is not biryani.. this is pulao. So I want to ask you, whats the difference? when can we call a certain dish Pulao or Biryani? Kindly clear the confusion
Cheers!!!
Good question. Your friends are right. Infact, the above recipe should be rightly titled as ‘Pulao’ rather than ‘Biryani’. But we at home, use the term ‘biryani’ for meat based rice dishes and ‘pulao’ for vegetable based rice dishes. It sounds so much more exotic and special than pulao.
To my knowledge, when marinated meat and rice are par cooked separately before being layered and cooked in ‘dum’ over low heat its biryani. When meat is cooked along with the rice using ‘absorption’ method, its pulao. Usually for pulao, the meat is not marinated but cooked directly with spices.
The above recipe is not an authentic recipe but one that has been evolved as a quicker version more for convenience while trying to achieve a biryani flavor.
Wow, its looking yummy. I have a query. Can we use the same recipe for kheema Biryani ????
Yes, you can use the same recipe for Kheema biryani too. Reduce the content of water while cooking kheema curry.
Hi Sailaja,
Thanks for sharing another wonderful recipe.
Just a quick question. We are vegetarians, can the same method be tried with mixed vegetables, please can you confirm.
Many thanks.
Yes, you can use the same method for mixed vegetables. Reduce the amount of biryani masala slightly. You have to go by trial and error, Swathi.
What is meant by MIA? You mentioned in this post as being MIA. I was wondering about its expansion.
MIA ~ ‘Missing In Action.’
Wow! This is a fantastic recipe! I love the fact that you use a pressure cooker – a rare piece of kitchen genius that is really making a comeback…keep up the good work!
hey sailu, i tried this recipe… and it came out very very well. i received lot of compliments from my hubby!!! thanks for posting..
Sailu…I have tried this recipe with “chicken” and it turned out to be superhit at home
!! The greatest compliment of all is that it tastes like “Authentic hyderabadi biriyani”..kudos to u..Ur recipe made my DAY, thanks!
Hi Sailu, you have nice recipes in your blog. Check out Femlina.com. It is India’s first women’s social network. You can join and share your blogs, photos and videos about your recipes.
Hi sailu, i m really happy dat u have almost all recipes in this site n i have a doubt. can u please tell me what nutmeg powder is?
Nutmeg is called ‘Jajikaya’ in Telugu and ‘Jaiphal’ in Hindi.
Hi Sailu, I made the chicken version of the biryani today and everyone just loved it. Thanks for sharing such a wonderful recipe! Keep it going!!
Hi Sailu,
To make Kheema(Chicken) Biryani using the same recipe, do we need to marinate the Kheema or can we use it straight away?
Ur recipe is tempting me to try soon…will try making it using chicken kheem this weekend.
Thanks for sharing this recipe, I tried this yesterday & cooked using the rice cooker, it came out really good. We all enjoyed it. Thanks !!!
[...] October 1, 2009 Mutton Biryani & Mutton Fry Posted by Monica under Non-Veg Dishes Leave a Comment Cooking from Sailusfood. It came out really good. Thanks !!!! Please refer to original recipe from http://www.sailusfood.com/2009/07/27/pressure-cooker-mutton-biryani/ [...]
Thanks a lot for sharing this but i need a recipe for chicken biryani
because chicken is good for health rather than mutton
hope to see chicken biryani recipe soon
thanks in advance.
Hello Sailu, I made Veg Biryani following the method of this recipe and it turned out just amazing…Thanks!!
[...] and requires lots of TLC aka ‘tender loving care’ while preparing unlike the quick pressure cooker biryani. There are two versions, Kachha (raw) and Pakki (cooked) Biryani. Today’s recipe is basically [...]
[...] and the gravy thickens. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Turn off heat. 5 Serve with pulao, biryani, coconut rice or rotis.addthis_url = [...]
My mum used to do mutton marimade in sesame oil,curd,ghee and add coconut milk for briyani it taste heavenly.do u have that recipe
Hi
Im new to cooking but I tried this recipe exactly as mentioned. I just wanted to clarify that the uncooked rice is to be mixed with the mutton and cooked together? I did that and there was no taste in my biryani. I thought maybe you are to cook rice halfway and then mix?