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!
500ml seeraga samba rice means how many tumbler mam
Hi
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!
Awesome 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
This is one of the best biryani I ever had. Must try. Thanks for the receipe.
Can we use pressure cooker for the whole recipe? And does it need any adjustments?
hi 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!
Thank you!
hi, 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
Hi 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.
tried this recipe taste was good but color of biryani was white i did not use kalpasi for masala paste is that the reason
Frying onions for long is the secret.
I 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
Tried the biriyani and it was a hit at home…thank you….
Thank you!
When reading your receipe..trooling for me and it is really mouth watering.. thanks for the best one
Yummy 😋
Thank you… it looks yummy and definitely try this recipe… badly waiting for Sunday…
மிக்க நன்றி!
This is super easy. Going to try this Sunday 👍