Sindhi Biryani

Before you start

• Marinate the mutton in the yogurt, ginger, garlic, chilli powder and turmeric for at least 1 hour, or overnight refrigerated.
• Wash the rice until the water runs clear, then soak it 30 minutes and drain. Skipping this gives you broken, sticky grains.
• Fry the birista (browned onion) first and set it aside — it goes into both the masala and the layers.
• Bring the marinated meat to room temperature 20 minutes before cooking so the yogurt does not split on contact with the hot pan.

Method

1. Fry the sliced onion in the oil over medium heat, 15-18 minutes, stirring, until deep brown and shrunken. Drain on paper and reserve.Pull them out a shade lighter than you want — they darken as they cool, and burnt birista turns the whole biryani bitter.
2. In the same oil, crackle the cumin, bay leaf, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and black cardamom for 30 seconds.
3. Add the marinated mutton and fry on high for 6-8 minutes, until the yogurt has dried onto the meat and the fat runs clear at the edges.Keep the heat high and do not cover it yet, or the meat stews grey instead of catching colour.
4. Stir in the tomato, coriander powder, half the green chilli, half the mint and coriander, and two-thirds of the birista. Cook 5 minutes until the tomato collapses.
5. Add 1 cup water and salt, close the cooker and cook 4 whistles, then 12 minutes on low. Release the pressure and boil off any thin liquid — the masala should be thick and clinging.
6. Fry the halved potatoes in a little oil until golden on the cut faces, then fold them into the meat with the dried apricot and cook 5 minutes.
7. Meanwhile bring 3 litres of well-salted water to a rolling boil, add the drained rice and cook 5-6 minutes only — a grain should snap in two when pressed, still white at the core. Drain immediately.This is the moment biryani is won or lost. Seventy percent cooked, no more; it finishes on the dum.
8. Spread half the rice over the meat in a heavy pot, scatter the remaining birista, mint, coriander and green chilli, then the rest of the rice.
9. Drizzle over the saffron milk, kewra water and ghee.
10. Seal the pot with a tight lid, cook 2 minutes on high, then set it on the lowest possible heat (or a tawa under the pot) for 25 minutes.No peeking. Every lift of the lid loses the steam that is cooking the top layer.
11. Rest 10 minutes off the heat, then open and lift the rice from the sides with a flat spoon rather than stirring.

Storage

Keeps 3 days refrigerated. Reheat portions covered with 1 tbsp water over low heat or in a steamer for 10 minutes — a microwave dries the grains and toughens the mutton.