Malabar Mutton Biryani is a special biryani from the former Malabar district, the current northern district of Kerala in South India. This dish is heavenly, with its fragrant, aromatic rice and tender, flavorful layers of meat, all perfectly cooked with a blend of exotic spices that elevate every bite to a whole new level.
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For those who are new to the term "biryani", it is a special rice dish made with exotic spices and meat or vegetables. This recipe is very similar to the "Kozhikodan Chicken Biryani" that I posted earlier. It was well-received and loved by many of my readers.
Why you will love this dish?
- What makes this dish unique is the type of rice used in this dish which is the Kaima rice or Jeerakasala rice. It is a tiny variety of rice that has a fragrance so extraordinary that makes it very appetizing. If you are unable to find this variety of rice, you can use Basmati which is easily available.
- This dish predominantly uses green chilies and exotic garam masala spices for heat and spices. The unique combination of ginger garlic paste, yogurt, and poppy seed marinated with mint and fennel seeds gives this biryani a very unique flavor.
- This is quite different from biryanis in other parts of India and you will love the rich and subtle flavors.
- A great dish to be served at get-togethers and is guaranteed to get excellent reviews.
Ingredients for the Malabar Mutton Biryani
- Jeerakasala rice also known as Jeeragasamba rice or Kaima . Basmati rice can be used as well.
- Mutton - cleaned and cut into small pieces.
- Yogurt and ginger garlic paste.
- Green chilies Use as tolerated. This is the main source of the spice for this dish.
- Spices like turmeric, garam masala for mutton, coriander seeds, cumin, fennel.
- Whole spices like cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, bay leaves, and star anise.
- Tomatoes chopped finely.
- Herbs like mint, coriander, curry leaves chopped finely.
- Ghee - gives a great flavor to this dish or you can also use a combination of ghee and oil.
- Cashews, and raisins fried in ghee.
- Onions are cut into thin long slices fried in ghee until brown and crispy.
Malabar Mutton Biryani cooking process
The cooking process has three main steps, frying the garnishes, cooking the meat, and the rice. I prefer using an instant pot to fry the onions, cashews, and raisins and cook the rice.
To cook the mutton, I normally use the regular pressure cooker, but you can use an instant pot if that's easier. If using a regular pressure cooker, just saute the onions add the marinated mutton, and pressure cook for about 5 to 6 whistles.
Make sure to add very little water while cooking the meat, as the cooking process itself releases water. You will need to cook longer on an open flame to make the gravy semi-thick for layering. Layer the rice first, next add the mutton gravy and garnish with chopped mint and coriander leaves, fried onions, cashew nuts, and raisins.
The traditional process requires the layered biryani to be sealed airtight and cooked on dum or steamed over an iron pan on a low gas flame. I normally skip the "dum" process and it still tastes great. I just ensure it's mixed well when it is still warm.
Step by Step process
- Steps 1 -3: Clean the meat and add powdered dry spices, ground marinade, yogurt, spices, tomatoes, and chopped herbs as mentioned in the ingredients, and marinate well.
- Step 4: Cook the marinated meat in a pressure cooker with some ghee and oil for about 4 to 5 whistles or until done.
- Steps 5-6: Once pressure is released, keep cooking until a thick gravy is formed.
- Step 7: Fry the garnishes like nuts, raisins, and onions until well-fried and crispy.
- Steps 9-11: Fry the rice with whole spices and ghee, add water, and salt, and cook until done. Layer the rice, mutton gravy, and garnishes.
- Step 12: Garnish with mint leaves and serve.
What to serve along with the Malabar Mutton Biryani?
The Biryani is quite flavorful and rich and can be had by itself. If you like, you can serve yogurt salad, pappad or fritters, and fried fish or shrimp. I was able to find banana leaves and served the biryani in it.
This dish brings back fond memories of festive occasions at home. While the process may be tedious, the first bite makes it all worth it. It's a perfect dish to make and share with family and guests.
If you love this recipe, do check out another version of Mutton Biryani posted earlier. Malabar Prawn Biryani recipe that is made with Prawn or Shrimp is also another great dish. Happy cooking, Enjoy!
If you tried this Malabar Mutton Biryani Recipe or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and a 📝 comment below. I love hearing from you!
Malabar Mutton Biryani
Ingredients
Dry spices to Powder
- 2 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 tsp fennel seeds
- 3 tbsp coriander seeds
Grind to Paste
- 2 inch ginger
- 12 garlic cloves
- 2 tsp poppy seeds ground to paste
- 15-20 green chillies or as tolerated
For Marination
- 3 cups yogurt
- 2 cups coriander leaves finely chopped
- 1 cup mint finely chopped
- ½ cup curry leaves finely chopped
- 1 small lemon juicce
- 1 tbsp salt or to taste
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp garam masala powder
- 1 tsp biryani masala
- 4 medium tomatoes chopped
- 2 pounds meat mutton cut into small pieces
For garnish
- 4 tbsp ghee or clarified butter
- 1 tsp salt
- 4-5 medium onions cut into thin and long strips
- 10 -12 cashews
- 10 -12 raisins
- ½ cup mint leaves finely chopped
- ½ cup coriander leaves finely chopped
For Biryani rice
- 6 cups rice Kaima or Jeeraka sala
- 10 cups water approximately
- 4 - 5 tbsp ghee clarified butter (add more for rich taste)
- 5-6 cloves
- 10-12 cardamom
- 1 inch cinnamon
- 2 bay leaves
- ¼ tsp nutmeg (jathika) powder
- 1 star anise
- 3 tsp salt or as desired
Instructions
Marinate the Mutton
- Wash and clean the meat with salt and water.
- Dry roast and powder the ingredients under "Dry spices to powder" and keep aside.
- Grind the ingredients under "Grind to paste" with very little water. Soak the poppy seeds in a little water for a few minutes, so they are ground well.
- Marinate the mutton with all the ingredients in the "For Marination" section including the above spice powders .
- Marinate for about 25-30 minutes.
Fry the Garnishes
- In an instant pot switch on the saute mode.
- Add ghee and wait till it turns hot.
- Add onions and saute , you can add the salt to speed the browning of onions.
- When brown and crisp , drain it out into a paper towel lined plate.
- Next add cashews and raisins and brown them and drain it out .
For Rice
- Wash the rice well and soak it in water for about 10 -15 minutes.
- Drain well and keep aside.
- In the same oil and ghee used to fry the garnishes, add the dry spices in the section "For biryani rice".
- Add half an onion and green chilies and sautee well.
- Add the drained rice and saute for about 10 minutes .
- Add water, salt, juice of half a lemon. and switch to Rice mode and cook till done .
- Wait for natural pressure release and switch off the instant pot.
For Mutton Gravy
- In a regular pressure cooker, heat up some oil and ghee.
- Sautee chopped onions and add marinated mutton and fry well.
- Add about quarter cup of water and cook for about 4 to 5 whistles.
- Once the steam is released add the chopped coriander and mint leaves and cook on open flame till the gravy is semi thick.
- Add some of the crispy onions that were fried earlier for the garnishes into the gravy and mix well.
Layering the biryani
- In a large casserole , layer rice .
- Add some mutton gravy .
- Add the garnishes and again layer with rice and gravy . Keep repeating.
- Finally add the garnishes along with chopped coriander and mint leaves.
- Mutton Biryani is ready to be served .
Video
Notes
- Marinate the meat and start frying the garnishes and rice in parallel so once the meat is ready to be cooked and done, the rice and garnishes are also ready to be layered.
- Cook the meat well for 4 to 5 whistles, this is normally enough for tender meat but sometimes you may need extra whistles for it to cook well.
- Add very little water while pressure cooking the meat as the marinade has enough water content and the meat also releases water while cooking. You may need to reduce it to make it a thick gravy.
- Add garnishes while layering and a pinch of garam masala to enhance the flavors.
- Using Ghee liberally will give an authentic taste but you can also use a combination of Ghee and oil.
I have always loved Malabar biryani. It's mild but full of flavor. This mutton biryani looks delicious.
Thank you so much Lathiya! Yes, it is mild but with awesome flavors.
Where I am living, it's hard to find mutton but your recipe is YUM! Thanks for sharing it.
Thank you so much Shikha, appreciate your comments!
It's difficult to find mutton where I live but this biryani looks fantastic. I love the idea of making it with chicken or fish. And your prawn biryani sounds delicious too!
Thank you so much Jacque, they are all great biryanis each with a unique taste. we love the prawn biryani as well !
I've tried other biryani dishes before but not this one. Always fun to try something new. Love the spices!
Hope you get to try this version sometime. Enjoy!
In Hawaii I can often find small lamb chops from Australia that would be perfect for this biryani. It never would have occurred to me to add mint to the gravy!
Lamb would be perfect too Beth, mint really enhances the taste, hope you like it as well! Thanks for the comments!
I don't eat mutton, what other protein could be substituted?
Chicken is a great substitute for this biryani. Enjoy!