Mutton Yakhni Pulao - Pilaf |Spicy Mutton Rice| Eid Special hyderabadi pulav

Ever since I had prepared veg yakhni pulao,next recipe request from husband was to prepare mutton yakhni pulao.So finally I prepared this on last sunday evening.Though i don't eat meat i had prepared it for hubby after getting this recipe from my hyderabadi friend .
A flavorful rice dish cooked in mutton stock .First, a stock is prepared with mutton, onion, garlic & spices. Then, the rice is cooked in mutton stock  with fried onion, yogurt, whole spices & green chillies. This dish can be made with lamb, beef, or chicken.

There are many versions of Yakhni available as one move across the geography. it will take  a couple of hours for it to cook but it is the slow cooking that brings out the flavors and makes it what it is.

Ingredients:

 2 cups Basmati rice, soaked for 1 hour, minimum
 3-4 tbsp  oil
4 Green Chili sliced
3/4 cup Yogurt
2 tsp garam masala
salt to taste
 1 medium-sized onion sliced thin(garnishing)
10 – 15 mint leaves 



Stock /yakhni
500gm/half kg goat meat or mutton. (cut into 2 inch pieces)
2 tsp ginger garlic paste
 3 black cardamom pods( badi/kali elaichi)
 4 green cardamom pods ( elaichi/hirwivelchi)
 1 tsp cloves(laung /lavang)
 1 tsp black cumin (shah jeera /kala jeera)
 1 tsp whole coriander seeds ( dhania/dhane)
 1 large stick cinnamon(dalchini)
 1 bay leaf, fresh (tej patta)
 2 tsp black pepper(kali miri)
 2 tsp salt
 1 medium-sized onion, peeled, cut into quarters
 1 inch fresh ginger
 6-8 cloves garlic
7 cups water

 

METHOD:  Yakhni (stock)

1.Mix mutton with ginger garlic paste, salt, Leave to marinate for about half an hour.

 2 Take  a large deep pot (degchi), add goat meat, black and green cardamom pods,onion quarters, ginger, garlic cloves, black cumin, coriander seeds, cinnamon stick, bay leaf, black pepper , salt,  and 7 cups water.

3 Place pot on low-medium heat and let it simmer till the meat is tender.It will take approximately 1-1 1/2 hour for meat to become tender & stock is reduced to half.keep on checking after every 25 minutes to chk if meat is done.Alternatively, you can cook in pressure cooker for 3-5 whistles (or till meat is done) on medium high heat.

4.Remove onion & garlic & transfer to a bowl. Mash the cooked onion. Squeeze the paste out of cooked garlic skin & ginger. discard skin.
5.Separate the meat from the stock with a slotted spoon and keep aside. Next in a fine sieve, drain the stock which would be about 4-5 cups. Do not remove the spices from the meat & don’t wash it off  otherwise you will lose the flavour of the meat.Keep  the meat aside.

 Pulao/pilaf /pulav
1.Heat oil in a pan. Fry sliced onion until golden brown(caramelized). Remove half of the onion from the pan and place on a paper towel.
2.In same oil /ghee with remaining onion. Add the mashed onion + garlic paste, , green chillies.Saute for a few minutes.next add yogurt,  & mutton along with spices clinging to it.fry till mutton turns pink.

3.Add drained rice ,few pudina leaves and enough stock, required to cook the rice. Adjust salt.


4.Bring to a boil.Sprinkle garam masala powder cover with well fitting  lid & Cook over medium heat,until the rice is 3/4th cooked and most of the water has been absorbed by the rice (about 20 minutes)
5.Please do not open the lid while the rice is cooking. Turn of the heat and let it sit for 10 minutes.

6 Garnish with fried onions and serve hot with Raita and salad.

 

VARIATION

•You may wrap the spices in a muslin cloth( bouquet garni/potli)  before placing in the stockpot.In this  case add 2 pieces of each whole spices in step 2 along with fried onions & follow the rest process.
•You can make it as spicy or mild as you like, by increasing or reducing the amount of green chillies.
•Add stock according to your rice, as it depends on the quality of rice & also on soaking time.
•You can even add pinch of Food color mixed with water to small portion of rice once water is absorbed & you are going to cook rice covered with lid but this is optional, but this makes the pulao look more appealing.