Mum's Biryani - Lamb or Chicken

Mum's Biryani - Lamb or Chicken - My Mum's Biryani is. to. die. for. It is loved by all 6 of us siblings and our friends too. It is vibrant, aromatic and full of rich aromatic flavour. You can use either Lamb, Chicken or Veg in this recipe. This is Biryani for a crowd. It will feed at least 20 people.

Mum's Biryani - Lamb or Chicken

There is a reason that people will travel for a good Biryani. It is so much more then the delicious flavour. It is also what it represents. To me, that is Celebration/Gathering/Home/Mum/Dad/Family/Love. 

If you have been keeping a close eye on the legend that is Asma Khan and Twitter lately, you will have noticed that it is also popular with a certain Mr Paul Rudd. 

Asma has taken the essence of what Biryani means to so many of us and turned it into something that the World understands.

She has somehow managed to capture:

The anticipation of unveiling the pot of Biryani to reveal the beautiful colours and aroma underneath.

The joy of digging deep into the pot, making sure that you are getting every layer of bubbling deliciously flavourful hot curry and fragrant fluffy rice. 

WHAT IS BIRYANI?

A Biryani is a layered dish of Curry (Chicken, Lamb, Beef, Veg) layered in between layers of steamed fluffy rice.

The rice takes in all the flavour of the curry and so you end up with the most delicious plate of food.

Whilst it can be time consuming to make, the results always make it worthwhile.

BIRYANI VARIETIES

There are many many variations of Biryani. Some of which are listed below (There are many more):

Lucknow Biryani - Lakhnawi Biryani is made Yakhni style with whole spices.

Masoor Biryani - In this, Masoor dal is half cooked in a with spices, onions and tomatoes. Then Biryani is layered with par-boiled aromatic long grain rice, fried onions, saffron flavored milk and coriander leaves. Like in this recipe.

Kolkata Biryani - Made with less oil and spices, and is more delicate in flavour then others. It is a dum style Biryani that is layered.

Memony Biryani - Memoni biryani is very similar to Sindhi biryani. However, Memoni biryani is usually made with lamb and less food colouring.

Hyderabadi Biryani - The authentic Hyderabadi biryani in which raw rice and raw meat are cooked together in a pot with spices and a little bit of water.Here is my recipe for it.

Malabar Biryani - The famed Malabar Chicken Biryani is made by layering an aromatic and herby chicken masala with fluffy rice, crunchy fried onions (birista), nuts, dried fruits and ghee in a large pot. 

Calicut Chicken Biryani - A dum Biryani that is flavoured with the spices of  Kerala made with a short grain rice.

Parda Biryani - In this recipe, Biryani is cooked in a layer of dough. Here is my recipe for it.

There are 3 main types of Biryani – one where the meat or vegetables are cooked mixed with the rice (Pilau style or Yakhni).

Another version known as Dum style biryani where meat and rice are layered and cook in a sealed pot over fire.

The final version is where both the main elements are served separately.

This is seen very rarely but my friends mum used to make it for us when we were at University and it would often grace the table at our Hall's of Residence.

HOW TO MAKE MUM'S BIRYANI

Boil meat with whole Spices, Onion, Salt, Ginger and Garlic until tender.

In this case it was lamb that took 50 minutes to become tender. (Test with fingers). I did not add water but keep checking to see if water is needed.

Deep Fry Potatoes and set aside.

Heat Oil and add Onions.

Brown Onions with whole spices until a deep golden brown. 

Add Garlic, Ginger, Green Chilli and cook until fragrant.

Next add pureed Tomatoes and ground Spices.

Add the meat.

Cook on low until the oil separates out at the sides. Add the Potatoes.

You can use either any meat (Below is from the time we made a Chicken version).

Meanwhile par cook rice with whole Spices, then drain and set aside.

Add foil to bottom layer of pot.

Layer the Rice and meat in alternate layers adding blobs of butter, fried onions, saffron and coriander in between until everything is used up.

Add some colour to the final layer if you wish by diluting powdered colour in water and sprinkling over the top of the rice.

The pot is then covered with a layer or 2 of foil and a lid and cooked over a low heat for about 1 hour during which time the rice absorbs all the flavour and aroma of the spices and lamb curry underneath.

HOW TO MAKE A SMALLER QUANTITY - FOR 6

Ingredient quantities for 6:

Saffron Milk

4 strands Saffron

30 ml Milk

Potatoes

Oil for deep frying

2 Potatoes peeled and chopped into 3 cm cubes

Lamb

1 kg Lamb Shoulder

1 Cinnamon Stick

1 Bay Leaf

2 Cloves

2 Cardamom Pods

Salt

1 teaspoon crushed Ginger

1 teaspoon crushed Garlic

Curry

2 tablespoon Oil

1 large Onion

2 Cardamom Pods

2 Cinnamon Sticks

2 Bay Leaves

1 Star Anise

Tbsp Fenugreek

1 teaspoon crushed Ginger

1 teaspoon crushed Garlic

1 teaspoon crushed Green Chilli

240g Pureed Plum Tomatoes

1 teaspoon Ground Coriander

1 teaspoon Ground Cumin

1 teaspoon Ground Red Chilli

Salt

½ teaspoon Ground Turmeric

¼ teaspoon Ground Cardamom

¼ teaspoon Ground Fennel

¼ teaspoon Ground Garam Masala

⅛ teaspoon Ground Mace

Rice

3 cups Rice

6 cups Water

¼ Onion, diced

1 Peppercorn

1 Clove

1 Bay Leaf

1 Cinnamon Stick

1 Cardamom Pod

¾ teaspoon crushed Garlic

¾ teaspoon crushed Ginger

Salt

Instructions

The instructions for the smaller quantity remains the same but you will need to cook it for less time once covered with foil.  (20 - 30 minutes).

top tips and notes

Whole Garam Masala – Cooking this in the oil with the onions makes the most of it’s  flavour and aroma.

Slow Cooking – Take your time with each layer because this is what makes it so special!

Caramelising onions – means you get the most deliciously sweet flavour out of them but keep an eye on them to make sure they don’t burn.

Whole Garam Masala – Cooking this in the oil with the onions maximises it’s  flavour and aroma.

Rice – I use long grain, aged Basmati rice in this recipe. I like Tilda or Mustafa rice because it is less likely to clump together.

Salt – I only add salt to the chicken layer here and that may seem odd but it works fine. 

Taste as you go – Once the chicken layer is done, taste it and adjust before layering.

Kewra Water – A lot of people, add rose water or kewra water to the top layer of Biryani recipes but I don’t really like it so I avoid it.

Eggs – You can add serve this Biryani with boiled eggs.

Serve – This recipe is perfect served with Papadum, Pickles (Achaar), Kacumbur (Salad) and Raita. I love this Onion one.

reheating and storing biryani

This Biryani lasts covered in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3  days. It can also be frozen for up to 2 months. Rice must be piping hot when reheated. 

Keema Rice

Chicken Akni, One Pot Chicken and Rice

Prawn Biryani

Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani

Parda Biryani