As a Tamilian, I am so partial to biriyani made with the aromatic short grained seeraga samba rice. The rice soaks up the meat stock and spices so well that the end result is very flavorful. I tried this mutton biriyani during one of our travels. Chef Peter is a home cook at Tipperary estate and we loved his mutton biriyani. He uses green chillies alone for spicing up the biriyani. It was very different. He was happy to share the recipe and here it is.
Prep Work
Soak the seeraga samba rice in water. Set aside. Soak the rice when starting to cook. Let the rice soak for half an hour.
Cook the mutton in a pressure cooker with two cups of water and a teaspoon of salt for 20 minutes. Ignore the whistles. I like the mutton to be “fall of the bone” tender. So cook for a long time. Remove from heat and let the pressure from the cooker release naturally.
Note: I always salt the mutton while cooking. The mutton will be well seasoned and flavorful that way. Also always buy mutton with bone. Bone is so flavorful.
The important thing in this biriyani is the masala paste. Here is what you will need.
Grind all the ingredients for the masala paste with little water. Grind to a fine paste. Make sure that the paste is fine and not coarse. Set aside.
Making the biriyani
Take a heavy pan and add in the ghee and peanut oil. Chef Peter says that wood pressed peanut oil (மர செக்கு கடலெண்ணெய்) is the secret for his biriyani. Add in the sliced onions and the remaining salt. The salt helps in browning the onions quicker.
Saute till the onions are nicely brown and caramelized. It will take about 10 minutes.
Add in the masala paste and saute for 3-4 minutes.
Add in the tomatoes and the herbs (roughly chopped mint and coriander leaves). Saute for a couple of minutes.
Remove the mutton pieces and add in the mutton cooked water (mutton stock). Measure the stock and add it to the pan.
Add in half a cup of curd. Whisk the curd well so it does not form into lumps when added to the pan. Add in the water.
Note – For every cup of rice used, we need two cups of liquid. I have used two cups of rice today. So I need four cups of liquid. I had one cup of mutton stock. So I added that one cup of mutton stock and three cups of water (1 stock + 3 water = 4 liquid). Please also note that I have not included the curd for measurement.
Add in juice of half a lime and the cooked mutton with bone.
When it come to a boil, drain the water from the rice and add it to the pan.
Cover the pan with a lid and let it cook for the first four minutes on medium flame.
Open the lid. Gently mix once from the bottom, cover the lid again and simmer for 10 minutes on very low flame.
The rice will be about 80% done. Switch off the flame and close the pan with a lid. Do not disturb for the next 20 minutes. The rice will get swollen and absorb all the left out moisture. This time is very important. Do not rush.
After the rest, Enjoy Peter’s home style seeraga samba Biriyani!
- 1 inch piece ginger
- 7 cloves garlic (you may need more if you use small Indian garlic)
- 10 green chillies
- 1 teaspoon kalpasi
- ½ inch piece cinnamon
- 2 cardamom
- ½ of a star anise
- 2 clove
- 2 small piece mace (jadhi pathiri)
- 500 grams mutton with bone
- 500 ml seeraga samba rice
- 3 tablespoon ghee
- 3 tablespoon peanut oil
- 2 medium onions, sliced
- 1 teaspoon plus ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 tomatoes, chopped
- 5 sprig mint leaves, chopped
- 5 sprig coriander leaves, chopped
- ½ cup curd
- juice of half a lemon/lime
- Soak the seeraga samba rice in water. Set aside. Soak the rice when starting to cook.
- Cook the mutton in a pressure cooker with two cups of water and a teaspoon of salt for 20 minutes.
- Grind all the ingredients for the masala paste with little water. Grind to a fine paste.
- Take a heavy pan and add in the ghee and peanut oil.
- Add in the sliced onions and remaining salt.
- Saute till the onions are nicely brown and caramelized.
- Add in the masala paste and saute for 3-4 minutes.
- Add in the tomatoes and the herbs (roughly chopped mint and coriander leaves). Saute for a couple of minutes.
- Remove the mutton pieces and add in the mutton cooked water (mutton stock). Measure the stock and add it to the pan.
- Add in half a cup of curd. Whisk the curd well so it does not form into lumps when added to the pan. Add in the water. *see notes
- Add in juice of half a lime and the cooked mutton with bone.
- When it come to a boil, drain the water from the rice and add it to the pan.
- Cover the pan with a lid and let it cook for the first four minutes on medium flame.
- Open the lid. Gently mix once from the bottom, cover the lid again and simmer for 10 minutes on very low flame.
- The rice will be about 80% done. Switch off the flame and close the pan with a lid. Do not disturb for the next 20 minutes. The rice will get swollen and absorb all the left out moisture.
- After the rest, Enjoy Peter’s home style seeraga samba Biriyani!
Geethu says
May 14, 2019 at 6:31 amHi dear,
500ml or 500gms of seeraga samba rice. Can u tell the quantity of rice in cups for 1 kg mutton.
Thank you,
Suguna Vinodh says
May 14, 2019 at 12:10 pm500 ml rice. Its about two standard measuring cups.
1 cup is approx 240 ml
Viji Rajmohan says
February 1, 2019 at 7:15 pmHi Suguna,
Tried this mutton biriyani today.came out very well. Thanks so much for sharing this excellent recipe.
Dheepakh says
January 30, 2019 at 11:55 pmThis recipe is so good! Tried it last week and it came perfect. I only difference which I did is by including mutton stock fully without the use of water. But I used same amount of liquid which was mentioned in the recipe. So glad I tried it.
Sasi Bharath says
January 27, 2019 at 6:11 pmHi Suganya
I tried this recepie today. It turned out great and everybody at home loved it. Thank you s much.
Suganya says
January 16, 2019 at 5:45 pmTried this recipe today,it’s taste fabulous.i loved it.
Hubby ‘first time ne supera briyani panirukanu sonanga’.
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe mam.
Suguna Vinodh says
January 17, 2019 at 2:53 pmThank you!
M Malini Jeganath says
December 10, 2018 at 5:28 pmHello mam… i tried this recipe.. taste was fabulous.. need a clarification.. the rice was little sticky… how can i make the rice non-sticky…
Suguna Vinodh says
December 10, 2018 at 9:00 pmDid you soak the rice? Soaking the rice is vert important.
ASIR SAMRAJ N says
November 25, 2018 at 4:34 pmHi mam.. Tried this today.. Colour konjam kammi but extraordinary. Can I try the same for country chicken byriani!
Suguna Vinodh says
November 26, 2018 at 1:55 amThank you so much! Yes Asir. You can try the same for chicken biryani!
Mary says
November 7, 2018 at 3:20 amI tried this today and it was yum. It made me feel so satisfied. I can always trust your recipes and it has never let me down. Thanks!
Suguna Vinodh says
November 9, 2018 at 11:10 amHappy Deepavali to you and your family! Thank you!
Pradnya K says
October 28, 2018 at 10:40 pmHi Suguna,
I have tried this recipe twice and it has been tasty both times. Thank you for sharing this quick recipe with us.
One question : if tried for a country chicken, what should be the cooker cooking time for country chicken. Please let me know.
Divya says
October 27, 2018 at 12:46 pmHi Suguna,
I tried this recipe and for the first time I got the taste of biryani which is served in Shivaji Military biryani at Banashankai Bangalore at home. Love love love this recipe. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
Regards,
Divya
Karthika says
September 8, 2018 at 3:34 pm500ml seeraga samba rice means how many tumbler mam
Sherin says
September 1, 2018 at 2:54 pmHi
Don’t need to add Biriyani Leaves for this recipe?
Also – What happens if we prepare the gravy and cook the meat in it instead of separately and finally adding rice?
Thanks!
Priya says
August 26, 2018 at 2:55 pmAwesome recipe…. I tried in pressure cooker and it came out perfect with same measurements.. Three whistles on high flame and let the pressure release.. thank u Suguna for this recipe
Lalit says
August 20, 2018 at 2:37 amThis is one of the best biryani I ever had. Must try. Thanks for the receipe.
Barath says
August 14, 2018 at 12:56 pmCan we use pressure cooker for the whole recipe? And does it need any adjustments?
Tasha Ganapathy says
August 7, 2018 at 3:44 amhi suguna..tried my hands on this deliciousness..extremely flavoursome..followed exactly the way you detailed the receipe. The major change i did was that i used chicken instead of mutton..was amazingly tasteful. Thank you for this..enjoyed every morsel thoroughly!
Suguna Vinodh says
August 7, 2018 at 12:05 pmThank you!
maria.K says
July 22, 2018 at 9:18 pmhi, I followed this biryani to the last letter and I must say it was truly superb!! enjoyed every morsel – my compliments
to Chef Peter–I’ve saved the rest for dinner!
I want to make a larger quantity and so I have a few clarifications-
1. can the mutton be increased inspite of the rice being 2 cups? or rice and meat = qty?
2.which other rice can be used as an option? I dont often get this rice.
3.can this recipe be doubled exactly without adjustments?
4.can an alluminium vessel be used? my heavy pan will fit 2cupsof rice only
Suguna Vinodh says
July 23, 2018 at 1:58 pmHi Maria,
Glad you liked the recipe.
Increasing the mutton qty will make the biryani greasy. You can use basmati rice if you do not get seeraga samba.
You can just double the recipe and will work. Aluminium will work, make sure its little heavy so it does not burn at the bottom.
jayasree says
July 18, 2018 at 10:06 pmtried this recipe taste was good but color of biryani was white i did not use kalpasi for masala paste is that the reason
Suguna Vinodh says
July 19, 2018 at 12:25 amFrying onions for long is the secret.
jsre says
July 18, 2018 at 9:35 pmI tried it today taste was good but the color did not turn brown it was white can u please poi t out where I went wrong
Manimegalai says
June 8, 2018 at 2:57 amTried the biriyani and it was a hit at home…thank you….
Suguna Vinodh says
June 8, 2018 at 2:18 pmThank you!
Divi says
June 6, 2018 at 2:42 amWhen reading your receipe..trooling for me and it is really mouth watering.. thanks for the best one
Deepa Thirumal says
June 5, 2018 at 3:30 pmYummy 😋
Anu says
June 5, 2018 at 2:34 pmThank you… it looks yummy and definitely try this recipe… badly waiting for Sunday…
அ. மு. நெருடா. says
June 5, 2018 at 1:14 pmமிக்க நன்றி!
Sunandha says
June 4, 2018 at 10:57 pmThis is super easy. Going to try this Sunday 👍