Top 3 tips to make your biryani tastier (recipe inside)

*Soaked rice should be put directly from the bowl to the work, do not use a spatula or your hands.

*Traditionally, roti dough is used to seal the edges of the biryani pot. So, how can you know if your biryani is done? Check for the steam; also, the cover of the pot should be extremely hot with the edges of the dough slightly cooked.

*Once you switch off the flame, allow the biryani to cool down a little before opening the cover. “This allows the steam to settle down and the water content to reduce on its own. If you open the cover immediately and stir the rice, it will break,” Chopra warned.

According to Chopra, it is extremely important to make the best of the flavours Indian cuisine has to offer, which is also the most “complex” thing about it. In an exclusive interview with indianexpress.com, he said, “Indian food, generally, derives its flavours from not more than 15-20 ingredients, but each dish changes its flavour because of the way the spices have been used, the way the meat has been treated — which, I think, is the most complicated part to achieve. Apart from that, to maintain the sense of balance of spices and cooking right so that you change the texture and flavour completely can also get a little complicated.”

Check out the video of the recipe below.

Ingredients

500gm mutton – Cut into pieces
1 big bowl Basmati rice – soaked in water for 2 hours
1 tbsp Ghee/clarified butter
1 tbsp refined oil
2 Bay leaves
4-5 pcs Cinnamon sticks
2-3 pcs Black cardamom
5-6 pcs Green cardamom
Few cloves
Few Black pepper corns
1 cup thinly sliced onions
2 pcs Mace
2 tbsp Ginger garlic paste
1 tsp Turmeric powder
1 tsp Cumin powder
1 tsp Coriander powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 cup Yoghurt
1 tsp Shahi cumin seeds
Few stalks of coriander leaves
Few stalks of mint leaves
Salt to taste
200ml Fresh cream
2 tbsp Biryani masala powder
Some kesar/saffron
Few juliennes of green chilli
Few juliennes of ginger
Some kewra water
1 tsp Lemon juice
1 cup fried onions/Beresta

Method

*Take 5 cups of water and add bay leaf, cloves, cinnamon stick, and peeled black cardamom in it.
*When the water starts boiling, add rice and cook till it’s 70 per cent done.
*Now strain the rice with help of a sieve. Let it cool down a bit.
*Heat ghee in a thick-bottomed pan, and add sliced onions and green chillies.
*Cook, stirring continuously, till onions are light golden brown.
*Add ginger paste and garlic paste and mix well.
*Add marinated mutton and cook on high heat for seven to eight minutes.
*Add coriander powder, cumin powder and red chilli powder. Mix thoroughly.
*Stir in three cups of water, bring it to a boil, reduce heat and cook covered till mutton is almost cooked.
*Add tomatoes, salt, garam masala powder and fresh coriander leaves.
*Cook for 15 minutes on medium heat, stirring occasionally. The ghee would be separated from the spices and there should not be any watery gravy to the meat.
*Heat oil in a pan and fry potatoes on high flame. Slice them length wise. Fry until they get light brown.
*Take ¼th cup warm milk in a cup and dissolve saffron strands in the milk.
*Cover and wait for 20 minutes. Add rose water and kewra essence in the milk. Mix well and cover. Keep aside.

Assembling and cooking

*Take a large heavy bottom pan with tight fitting lid, and add 2 tbsp ghee to it. melt it on low heat.
*Turn and rotate the pan carefully so the ghee coats the bottom and sides of the pan. Switch off the heat.
*Add a layer of cooked rice, then cooked meat pieces, sprinkle saffron water, add fried onion slices and ghee
*Again add a layer of rice, then meat…repeat till you are done. The top and bottom layer must be rice.
*Cover with chopped pudina and coriander, fried onion and slit green chillies and juice of half a lemon. Put the lid on.
*Seal the pan with flour dough. Keep the heat to lowest and cook the biryani in this dum process for 40 minutes.
*Make sure your pan is heavy-bottomed or the rice will burn.
*After 40 minutes, switch off the heat and let the biryani stand for another 10 minutes.
*Transfer to a serving bowl. Serve with raita and salad.

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