Bhatkali Mutton Biryani
Today, as my parents celebrate 40 years of togetherness, my mind jogs back to our many family vacations through the years, with the most popular destination being Goa. Needless to say, I fell in love with Goan cuisine and I would always look forward to the next trip to Goa. During, one such trip in my early years we stopped for lunch at a little town and I ordered a Biryani and fell in love with it. The town was Bhatkal and the biryani was Bhatkali Mutton Biryani!
The coastal town of Bhatkal is located about 120 kilometres north of Mangalore and the Bhatkali Biryani originates from the Nawayath Muslim community. Nawayath (also spelt Naiti or Navayath) are a sub-group of Konkani Muslims. The word Nawayath is derived from the Persian word “Nawayad” meaning newcomer. Their origins trace back to the traders from Persia who settled in the region.
The Bhatkali Biryani which is an integral part of Navayath cuisine, consists of meat cooked in a green chilli paste and uses tomatoes. It uses less spices and relies more on the aromatics to generate the flavour. Any protein can be used in making the Bhatkali Biryani but today let’s see how to make the Bhatkali Mutton Biryani.
How to Make Bhatkali Mutton Biryani
The Bhatkali Mutton Biryani too like most of its counterparts, involves the “Dum” style of cooking. Traditionally known as “dum pukht”, where ‘dum’ means to ‘breathe-in’ and ‘pukht’ meaning ‘to-cook’, this style of cooking basically is about letting the dish to breathe in the aroma of its own juices and ingredients. This results in the retention and permeation of all flavours from the different ingredients used in the dish.
Like any Dum style Biryani, the process of making the Bhatkali Mutton Biryani involves four primary processes viz. Making the Mutton gravy, Making the partially cooked Biryani rice, Layering the Biryani and finally Dum-cooking the Biryani. To start off, wash the long-grain basmati rice well until the water runs clear and soak it for atleast 15 minutes. Cut the mutton into medium size pieces, trim-off the excess fat, wash and drain off the excess water or pat-dry. Prepare the ‘Beresta’ by frying the thinly sliced onion in ghee until golden brown. Transfer to a plate and let it crisp up as it cools.
Make a paste of ginger, garlic and green chillies (I used cayenne peppers) and keep it aside. heat some ghee in a pressure cooker and fry some chopped onions until they turn translucent. Add slit green chillies to this and fry. Follow this with the ginger+garlic+green chilli paste and some chopped mint leaves. Add some chopped tomatoes followed by garam masala and turmeric and fry until the tomatoes turn mushy and all ingredients are well incorporated. Add salt as per your taste, along with the mutton and some water. Cook on an open flame for a couple of minutes.
Pressure cook the Mutton for about 4 to 5 whistles or until it is well cooked. Take it off the flame and once the steam has settled, carefully open the pressure cooker and sprinkle the gravy with some chopped coriander leaves. Retain the stalks from the coriander to flavour the rice. Once, the gravy is done and ready, we proceed to preparing the Biryani rice.
In a large enough vessel that you will later use for dum-cooking the Bhatkali Mutton Biryani, take the freshly boiled water as mentioned in the recipe and flavour it with bay leaves, green cardamom, finely chopped coriander stalks, lime juice, ghee and adequate salt. Drain the soaked Basmati rice and add it to the vessel and bring the water to a rolling boil. Cover the vessel with a tight-fitting lid and cook the rice until it is about 80% cooked. Transfer it to a colander and run it through some cold water to stop the rice from cooking further. Keep it aside while we prepare for layering the Bhatkali Mutton Biryani.
Transfer the Mutton gravy to the vessel you cooked the rice in. Spread half the cooked rice on top of the gravy. Sprinkle some saffron milk on top of the rice. This is an optional step and can be skipped as Bhatkali Biryani is predominantly white but, I personally prefer a bit of saffron in my Biryani and hence added it. Sprinkle some rose water followed by chopped coriander leaves and some of the beresta. Top this with the remaining rice and sprinkle the remaining ingredients on top as done before. With the back end of a spoon, make holes in the rice to allow the steam to circulate freely. Sprinkle some ghee of top of the rice.
Cover the pot with aluminium foil and close it with a tight-fitting lid. You can also seal the lid with dough to make it air-tight. Cook the biryani on medium-low heat for about 20 minutes. Turn off the flame and let the Biryani sit for another 15-20 minutes to let all the flavours to settle and infuse well. Serve the Bhatkali Mutton Biryani with a raita of your choice. Do let me know if you enjoyed my take on the Bhatkali Mutton Biryani
Bhatkali Mutton Biryani
Equipment
- Pressure cooker
- Large thick Bottomed Pot
- Colander
Ingredients
For the Mutton Gravy:
- 2 inch Ginger, peeled and chopped
- 6 cloves Garlic
- 4 pc Cayenne peppers, divided (see notes for green chilli substitution)
- 2 tbsp Water (for grinding)
- 6 tbsp Ghee
- 3 pc Onions, Large, chopped fine
- 3 pc Tomatoes, Large, chopped fine
- ⅔ cup Mint leaves, chopped fine
- 1 tsp Garam Masala Powder
- 1 tsp Turmeric powder
- Salt, as acquired
- 1 kg Mutton, on the bone, (medium cut, washed and drained)
- 1 cup Water
- 1 cup Coriander leaves chopped fine (use the stalks for the rice)
For the Biryani Rice:
- 7½ cups Water, freshly boiled
- 4 pc Bay leaves
- 4 pc Green Cardamom, bruised
- Coriander stalks, chopped fine
- 1 pc Lime, juiced
- 3 tbsp Ghee
- Salt, as acquired
- 1 kg Basmati Rice, Long grain, (about 4 cups) (washed and soaked for atleast 15-20 minutes)
For Layering and Dum-cooking the Biryani:
- ¼ Cup Saffron Milk (soak 1 tsp saffron strands in ½ cup warm milk for about 15 mins)
- 3 tsp Rose water
- 1 cup Coriander leaves chopped fine (use the stalks for the rice)
- 1 pc Onion, Large, – for the Beresta (thinly sliced and fried in ghee until golden brown)
- 4 tbsp Ghee
Instructions
Making the Mutton Gravy:
- Grind the ginger, garlic and half the cayenne peppers (or green chillies) with minimal water to a smooth fine paste and set aside
- Heat the ghee in a pressure cooker and fry the chopped onions until they turn translucent
- Slit the remaining cayenne peppers (or green chillies) and add to the pressure cooker
- Follow this with the ginger-garlic-cayenne pepper paste and the mint leaves
- Add the chopped tomatoes along with the garam masala and turmeric powders. Mix well and fry until the tomatoes turn mushy and all ingredients are well incorporated
- Add the salt, followed by the mutton and water
- Give a good mix and cook for a couple of minutes before closing the lid and pressure cooking for about 4-5 whistles until the meat is cooked
- Once the pressure has settled, carefully open the pressure cooker, give the gravy a good stir and add the chopped coriander and set aside and proceed to cooking the rice
Making the Biryani rice:
- In the vessel you will use for layering and dum-cooking, take the freshly boiled water along with bay leaves, green cardamom, coriander stalks, lime juice and salt
- Add the soaked and drained basmati rice and bring the water to a rolling boil
- Cover the vessel with a tight-fitting lid, lower the flame and cook for about 6 minutes
- Turn off the flame and let the rice cook in its steam for about 4 minutes
- Open the lid and fluff up with a fork. transfer the rice to a colander and run it through some cold water to stop the cooking
Layering and Dum-cooking the Biryani:
- Transfer the mutton gravy to the vessel used for cooking rice
- On top of the gravy, spread about half of the cooked rice
- Sprinkle some of the saffron milk and rose water and layer with half the coriander leaves and Beresta (fried onions)
- Repeat this layering process with the remainder of the rice
- With the back end of a spoon, make holes in the layering to enable the steam to circulate freely
- Sprinkle the ghee on top of the rice
- Cover the vessel with Aluminium foil and a tight-fitting lid
- Cook the Biryani on medium-low heat for 15-20 minutes
- Turn off the flame and let the Biryani sit for another 15-20 minutes to let all the flavours to settle and infuse well
Serving:
- Spoon through all the layers, to grab a bit of each layer in every serving
- Enjoy the Biryani with Raita of your choice.
Notes
- Substitute each Cayenne Pepper with 2-3 green chillies
- The rice needs to be about atleast 80% cooked. The method I mentioned, works for me. Do check to see that the rice is not overly undercooked nor should it be overcooked, resulting in a mushy biryani
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