Making of Mughlai Biryani

The main ingredients used in Mughlai biryani are aromatics such as cloves, star anise, cinnamon, nutmeg, bay leaf, green and black cardamom, cumin seeds and spices such as turmeric, pepper powder, coriander powder, salt, along with almonds, ginger-garlic paste, curd, mint leaves, coriander leaves, Basmati rice and juicy meat. Mughlai biryani is made by marinating the meat or vegetables by mixing the spices with ginger-garlic paste and curd and kept aside by for a few hours. Soak about a fistful of almonds for an hour or more, until they are soft and smooth and soak some rice for an hour as well. Boil water in a wide pan and put the condiments to flavor the water before pouring the soaked rice to parboil. Take out the rice and strain the water. Peel off the almonds well and add ginger garlic paste to it and grind to form a thick paste.

Heat oil in a pan and add condiments to it followed by onions and green chilies to fry till golden brown. Now add the almond paste and cook for 2 minutes before adding mint and coriander leaves, ginger-garlic paste, and a little garam masala powder. Add the marinated meat and cook for 10-15 minutes and then remove it from the pan. Now layer the biryani with chicken mixture and rice alternatively and topping it with fried onions and mint leaves. At the top layer of rice, add mint leaves, saffron milk, a drizzle of ghee, dry fruits, and dum cook for 20 minutes on low heat. Keep it at rest for 10 minutes before opening the lid and serving it hot with raita.