← Nouns Cooking · Indian

Ingredients

• 750 g mutton (goat or lamb) on the bone, in 5 cm pieces
• 1.5 l Water
• 1 onion, for the broth, quartered
• 3 cm piece ginger, for the broth, sliced
• 8 cloves garlic, for the broth
• 1 tbsp Fennel seeds
• 1 tbsp Coriander seeds
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• 1 4 cm cinnamon stick
• 4 green cardamom pods
• 1 Black cardamom pods
• 6 Cloves
• 1 Star anise
• 2 Bay leaves
• 2 tsp salt, divided
• 450 g Basmati rice, rinsed and soaked for 30 minutes
• 3 tbsp Ghee
• 1 tsp Cumin seeds
• 2 Onion, thinly sliced
• 3 Green chilli, slit
• 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
• 120 g Plain yogurt, whisked
• 2 tbsp Mint, chopped (optional)

Method

1. Tie the fennel, coriander seeds, peppercorns and half the whole spices (cinnamon, cardamoms, cloves, star anise, 1 bay leaf) in a muslin pouch, or leave them loose to strain out later.
2. Put the mutton, water, quartered onion, sliced ginger, garlic cloves, spice pouch and 1 tsp salt in a large pot. Bring to the boil, skim off the foam, then cover and simmer on low for 60–70 min, until the meat is tender (about 25 min in a pressure cooker).
3. Lift out the meat and strain the broth (yakhni). Measure 800 ml; top up with water if needed.
4. Heat the ghee in a heavy pot over medium heat. Add the cumin seeds and the rest of the whole spices for 30 seconds, then the sliced onions, and fry for 12–15 min until golden brown.
5. Add the green chillies and ginger-garlic paste for 1 minute, then the mutton. Stir in the yogurt off the heat, then cook for 5 min over medium heat until the yogurt is absorbed.
6. Pour in the 800 ml hot yakhni and the remaining salt and bring to the boil. Add the drained rice, stir once and boil uncovered for 6–8 min, until most of the liquid is absorbed and small holes appear on the surface.
7. Cover tightly and cook on the lowest heat for 15 min. Rest off the heat for 10 min, then fluff gently with a fork, scatter with mint and serve with raita.

Tips

• Taste the broth before adding the rice: it should be a little saltier than you’d like soup to be.
• Cool leftover pulao quickly and refrigerate within 1 hour.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

My Food Story Tea for Turmeric Yummy Tummy Aarthi