Biryani is not a curry with rice. It is a fundamentally different cooking process — meat and rice cooked separately to precise doneness, then layered together and finished in a sealed pot (dum) so the steam from the meat perfumes the rice and the rice absorbs the spiced cooking juices from below. The fat is ghee, which is what biryani has always been cooked in.
The fried onions (birista) are not optional. They take 20 minutes to make and their sweet, crispy caramelised flavour is a defining characteristic of every biryani. Substituting store-bought fried onions in seed oil is the main place seed oils sneak into homemade biryani. Make them yourself in ghee.
Lamb Biryani Recipe
Ingredients
- 800g (1.75 lb) lamb shoulder, cut into 4cm pieces
- 3 tbsp ghee (plus extra for rice)
- 2 cups (400g) aged basmati rice, soaked 30 min and drained
- 3 medium onions, thinly sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tsp fresh ginger, grated
- 2 tsp biryani masala
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli
- 200ml whole-milk yoghurt
- Large pinch saffron in 3 tbsp warm whole milk
- Fresh mint and coriander
- Sea salt
Method
- Make the birista (fried onions): cook 2 of the sliced onions in 2 tbsp ghee over medium-low heat for 20-25 minutes until deep golden and crispy. Remove and drain. Reserve the ghee.
- In the same ghee, cook the remaining onion for 5 minutes. Add garlic and ginger, cook 2 minutes. Add all spices, cook 1 minute.
- Add the lamb. Stir to coat. Add the yoghurt and ½ tsp salt. Mix well. Cover and cook over medium-low heat for 45 minutes until the lamb is tender and the sauce is thick. Adjust salt.
- Par-cook the drained rice in heavily salted boiling water for exactly 6 minutes — it should be 70% cooked (still has a firm centre). Drain immediately.
- In a large heavy pot with a tight-fitting lid, layer: half the rice, all the lamb curry, then the remaining rice. Pour the saffron milk over the top layer. Scatter half the birista and all the mint.
- Seal the pot with foil, then the lid. Cook in the oven at 160°C for 25 minutes (dum cooking).
- Remove from oven. Rest 10 minutes before removing the lid. Fluff gently from the bottom using a long spoon. Serve topped with remaining birista and fresh coriander.
Is biryani seed oil free?
Yes when cooked in ghee. Commercial biryani mixes and restaurant biryani almost universally use vegetable oil. Making it at home in ghee is the only reliable seed oil free option.
Can I use chicken?
Yes — chicken biryani uses the same technique but reduces the lamb cooking time from 45 to 25 minutes. Check internal temperature reaches 165°F.
What is dum cooking?
The sealed steam-cooking technique used in the final stage of biryani. The steam from the hot curry below slowly cooks the top layer of rice and the flavours merge. Without dum, biryani is just rice and curry served together.
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