Hyderabadi mutton pilav

Mutton pilav recipe

Ingredients:
Rice – 1 kg; wash and soak it in water 30-60 minutes and put in a colander for the clinging water to drip off entirely
Mutton – 1 kg, wash and cut it into 1-1/2 inch cubes
Ghee – 1 cup
Oil – ½ cup
Coconuts – 2, fresh; Scrape the coconuts. grind one-eighth of the coconut scrapings to a smooth paste. Extract coconut milk from the rest of the coconut scrapings.
Ginger – 2 inches in size, remove skin; grind the ginger, garlic, and green chillies all together to a smooth paste)
Garlic – 4 large bulbs (with small pods), remove skin
Green chillies – 20, medium-size (approx. 4-inch long), medium hot
Cloves – 9
Cinnamon – 12 two b long sticks
Cardamom – 6 pods, whole
Coriander leaves – 2 bunches, fresh; wash and cut into tiny shreds
Pudina leaves – 1 bunch, fresh; wash and c ut into tiny shreds
Shah-jira – 1 teaspoon
Saffron – 1 teaspoon, soaked in a tablespoon of hot milk
Turmeric powder – ½ teaspoon
Curds – 2 cups, fresh and thick
Onions – 8, big ones, finely sliced length-wise
Limes – 2, extract the juice
Coriander seeds powder – 1 tablespoon
Salt – 3 tablespoons

Method: Add to the mutton the turmeric powder, 2 tablespoons salt, one-third of the onions, oil, two-thirds of the ginger-garlic-green chilly paste, one cup curds, coriander powder, one-third of the coriander-pudina leaves, one-third of the cloves, cinnamon sticks, ½ teaspoon shah-jira, and cardamom pods, all the coconut paste. Mix well with the hand. Cover with a lid and cook over a moderate heat for 45 minutes or until tender. You may also pressure-cook this bringing the pressure up over high heat and then sub-simmer for 20 minutes. If needed, reduce the heat to simmer further till the mutton is tender and the gravy thick. Stir the mutton occasionally while it is cooked to prevent burning. If the muton curry becomes dryish and the meat is still tough, add a cup or more of hot water, according to the state of the mutton, and cook further till soft enough. If the mutton is cooked and the gravy is still watery, separate the gravy from the mutton.

To the extracted coconut milk, add the remaining curds, mutton gravy (if any), one tablespoon salt, and enough water to make it up to 2 measures liquid to a measure of rice. Heat a big pilav making vessel over high heat. Pour in the ghee. When the ghee becomes smoking hot, add the remaining two-thirds cloves, cinnamon sticks, cardamom pods all together, followed by the remaining onions, green chilly paste, and shah-jira. Saute till the onions turn limp and brown here and there. Then pour the coconut milk liquid over the fried onions. Let it boil well, then drop the drained rice from the colander into it. After the rice is three-fouths boiled and the water is more or less absorbed, add the cooked mutton pieces, the juice of limes, the saffron-soaked milk, and the remaining coriander and pudina leaves. Mix the mutton evenly into all parts of the rice. Close with a tight fitting lid and put on “dhum” for one hour before serving. Enjoy!

Note: If the mutton is of the tough and stringy kind, add one cup of hot water also to the initial mutton mixture.

Traditional Indian home cooking recipe: Hyderabadi mutton pilav