Lucknowi Mutton Biryani

Lucknow food is food of the Nawabs and I love the Kebabs, curries and of course, the Biryani. Lucknowi Biryani uses a lot whole masalas and requires the chicken to be marinated in whole spices, powdered spices and Yogurt.

I have been to Lucknow once, with my parents in 2002. Though we didn’t stay for too long, but few days were enough for me to love the flavors and food from Lucknow. I wasn’t a complete cook back then and as much as I loved the food, I wasn’t so keen about doing a research to find out or look for recipes and try them out. Its much later, few years ago when I decided to get on the band wagon of cooking varieties of Biryani and started my journey of getting minute details about everything, is when I discovered the details about the Lucknowi Nawabi Cuisine.

This particular recipe happens to be one of the most old and original recipes from the Khansamas of the Nawabs. There were a few books in Urdu that described the times of Nawabi culture and traditions and how posh the era of Nawabs were and how beautifully and exclusively served food and how delectable the food used to be. The article gave an idea of how the Khansamas marinated the meat/ chicken and the ingredients they used and following the notes, I came up with the recipe as close to the original.

I have also tried making Lucknowi seekh and Galouti kebab and if you check the Kebab section, you will find the recipes for them. This Biryani doesn’t use tomatoes, but uses a lot of coriander leaves, mint leaves and green chilies.

This Biryani is one of my family’s favorite.  This was my first dish from Lucknow and from there on, its been pretty regular in our house. This is a wonderful recipe. Like I say for most recipes, Please read the complete recipe properly before you try this out. Its a sure hit.

Print Recipe

Lucknowi Murgh Biryani

Chicken marinated with yogurt and whole spice, layered and cooked with long grain Basmati rice...A recipe from the Nawabs of Lucknow.

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Cuisine

Indian, Mughlai

Prep Time

15 minutes

Cook Time

30 minutes

Passive Time

1.5 hours

Servings

people MetricUS Imperial

Ingredients

• 1 No. Cinnamon stick Medium size
• 6 No. cloves
• 2 tsp Caraway seeds
• 1 tsp Fennel seeds Roasted and crushed to powder
• 1/2 tsp whole black pepper
• 2 No. Star Anise
• 3 No. Macis crushed to powder
• 3 No. Bay leaves
• 2 No. Black Cardamom
• 5 No. Green cardamom
• 2 Lbs Mutton [ with bones] cut to medium and small pieces
• 3 TBSP Ginger garlic paste
• 1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
• 1 tsp Red chili powder
• 3 TBSP Cashews soaked for 30 minutes and grind to a paste
• 1/2 cup Yogurt whisked
• 5 No. Green chilies slit
• 1/2 cup Green coriander leaves
• 1/4 cup Mint leaves
• 4 No. Onions sliced
• 2 tsp Salt More or less according to your taste
• 2 TBSP Ghee
• 1/4 cup olive oil or any oil of your choice
• 3 Tbsp milk To soak saffron
• 1/4 tsp saffron strands
• 4.5 cups Long grain Basmati Rice washed and soaked for 20 minutes

Cuisine Indian, Mughlai Prep Time 15 minutes Cook Time 30 minutes Passive Time 1.5 hours Servings people MetricUS Imperial Ingredients 1 No. Cinnamon stick Medium size 6 No. cloves 2 tsp Caraway seeds 1 tsp Fennel seeds Roasted and crushed to powder 1/2 tsp whole black pepper 2 No. Star Anise 3 No. Macis crushed to powder 3 No. Bay leaves 2 No. Black Cardamom 5 No. Green cardamom 2 Lbs Mutton [ with bones] cut to medium and small pieces 3 TBSP Ginger garlic paste 1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder 1 tsp Red chili powder 3 TBSP Cashews soaked for 30 minutes and grind to a paste 1/2 cup Yogurt whisked 5 No. Green chilies slit 1/2 cup Green coriander leaves 1/4 cup Mint leaves 4 No. Onions sliced 2 tsp Salt More or less according to your taste 2 TBSP Ghee 1/4 cup olive oil or any oil of your choice 3 Tbsp milk To soak saffron 1/4 tsp saffron strands 4.5 cups Long grain Basmati Rice washed and soaked for 20 minutes

Votes: 1 Rating: 5 You: Rate this recipe!

Instructions

1. Prepare mutton for marination: Add ginger-garlic paste, turmeric, and chili powder to 2 Lbs of mutton. Then add cashew nut paste, garam masala, and curd and whisk it. Cover it with the lid and put it in the refrigerator for an hour. Let the mutton come to room temperature. Season the meat with salt.

   
2. Grease the handi with some ghee and oil. Add Cinnamon sticks, Cloves, Caraway seeds, Black pepper whole, and Green cardamom.

   
3. Now, Add onions and fry till they are golden brown. You can take 3-4 Tblsp out for garnishing.

   
4. Transfer the marinated meat from the bowl to the handi. Now stir and cook the meat for a few minutes. Add the fennel seed powder and Macis powder. Add green chilies and coriander leaves. Cover with the lid and simmer it for another half an hour.

   
5. To cook rice: Take another pan, add 2 tbsp of oil. Add Black cardamom, star anise and bay leaf. Add 2 liters of water and salt. Let the water come to a boil. Add mint leaves. Drain the water rice is soaked in and add the rice to boiling water. Cook till its 70% cooked. Drain it.

   
6. Now layer the mutton with cooked rice and pour a little saffron induced milk over it.

   
7. Add remaining fried onions and ghee over it. Cover the handi with the lid and weight it down with something heavy. Keep the flame low. Dumm for about 45 minutes.

   
8. Serve with Badi Mirch ka Salan.