Lamb Biryani With Saffron, Yogurt, and Caramelized Onions

Recipe
Biryani is a celebration of aroma, color, and flavor, with perfectly cooked,
fluffy grains of scented basmati rice and tender chunks of spiced lamb.
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Lamb Biryani With Saffron, Yogurt, and Caramelized Onions

Recipe
Biryani is a celebration of aroma, color, and flavor, with perfectly cooked,
fluffy grains of scented basmati rice and tender chunks of spiced lamb.
by 
Nik Sharma
Updated Jan. 19, 2021

13
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Video: Nik Sharma/Serious Eats; Photographs: Nik Sharma

 RICE & GRAIN MAINS

 SOUTH ASIAN
 BRAISED & STEWED LAMB
 LEG OF LAMB
 LAMB
IN THIS RECIPE
 What Is Biryani?
 Building Flavors in Biryani
 Adding Aroma and Color
  Finishing Biryani With Steam
 Biryani Garnishes
 How to Serve Biryani
JUMP TO RECIPE

WHY IT WORKS

 Marinating the lamb in yogurt and salt adds flavor, increases tenderness, and reduces
cooking time.
 Caramelized onions provide a deep flavor base and a flavorful garnish.
 Blooming spices in hot oil heightens their aroma and flavor.
 Par-cooking the rice in acidulated water with oil improves its texture and prevents rice
grains from clumping together.
 Blooming saffron in warm milk draws out oil-soluble pigments and flavors.
Biryanis comprise a category of highly aromatic rice and meat dishes, typically served
during special occasions; when I was growing up my family would eat biryani during the
festival of Eid or at other celebrations. From a cook’s and a science standpoint, I find
biryanis to be interesting because their emphasis lies in carefully building up layers of
aromas and flavors and celebrating combinations of textures and colors—in a good
biryani, every aspect of the dish is splendidly executed. Let’s take a closer look at what
makes a biryani so special.
What Is Biryani?
Biryani is a South Asian one-pot dish in which lamb, mutton, beef, chicken, seafood, or
a mixture of vegetables is layered with rice. The layering technique is what differentiates
biryani from other rice dishes, like a pilaf or pulao.
There are a couple of different ways to prepare biryani. Sometimes the raw meat is
cooked with the rice; this is called the "kacchi" method (kacchi is Hindi for "raw"). In
others, the meat is cooked separately, as I do in this recipe; this is called the "pakki"
method (pakki is Hindi for "cooked"). Regardless of the method, aromas are infused into
the meat and the rice using a combination of spices, herbs, and extracts, while saffron
threads and turmeric add bright hues of orange and yellow to the otherwise white
backdrop of long-grain rice. The result is a highly aromatic and colorful dish of meat and
rice. There are a lot of variations of biryani—like Bombay biryani, Hyderbadi biryani, etc.
—as recipes and taste preferences can be quite different from region to region and
even household to household.
Building Flavors in Biryani
The Yogurt Marinade
The first step in preparing my lamb biryani involves marinating the meat in a mixture of
yogurt, salt, ginger, and garlic in the refrigerator overnight. Yogurt is a mixture of lactic
acid, fat, enzymes, and proteins, all of which work in concert to tenderize the meat and
imbue it with flavor. Some recipes will utilize raw papaya as a meat tenderizer for
tougher cuts of beef, mutton, or lamb, as it contains the tenderizing enzyme papain, but
I have found it unnecessary.
When testing the recipe, I was curious to see if marinating the meat in yogurt affected
the time needed for the lamb to become tender, and, on average, marinating the meat
in yogurt and salt overnight in the refrigerator cut back my cooking time by at least an
hour. You can use either Greek yogurt or regular plain yogurt for marinating the meat; I
haven’t noticed any differences between the two, but you will need to add about an
extra half cup of water or stock if you use Greek yogurt to ensure you have enough
cooking liquid.
Onions
The next important stage of flavor development is the browning of the onions. As the
onions heat, caramelization (a flavor-producing reaction that involves sugars like
fructose and glucose) and the Maillard reaction kick in, which help produce bittersweet
notes and brown colored pigments in the sugars. (Onions are rich in long chains or
polymers called fructans, made up of the sugar fructose, and also contain glucose and
fructose.) The darker the browning, the stronger the flavor of the onions, but be careful:
if they turn dark black, they will taste unpleasantly bitter.
Basmati Riceu
 Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik
For the layer of rice, it’s important that you use basmati, a long-grain, aromatic rice
variety commonly used in the subcontinent. Basmati rice brands will often describe their
product as "aged," which gives a sense of the quality. One of the aroma molecules
responsible for the aroma of basmati rice is 2-AP (2-acetyl-1-pyrroline), and the aroma
of basmati tends to get stronger as the uncooked grains of rice are stored; typically
basmati rice is aged for up to a year or more. (Interestingly, 2-AP is also present in the
pandan water used to add aromatic complexity to biryanis). Aged basmati rice also
absorbs water much better: the grains don’t stick as much when cooking, and the
cooked grains are firmer.
Basmati rice will expand in length as it absorbs water and cooks, but it won’t get as
puffy as short-grain rice or turn sticky (this is because at least 73% of the starch content
in basmati rice is made up of amylose, which is present at very low levels in short-grain
rice varieties). When I cook the rice, I add a little bit of citric acid, in the form of lemon or
lime juice, and fat to the water to further help the rice from overcooking and splitting—
the citric acid works primarily on the starch while the fat helps coat the grains and
prevents them from sticking.
Adding Aroma and Color
Aromas and colors are a very important component of biryani preparation. Spices, like
cardamom, cinnamon, and mace, and fresh herbs, like cilantro and mint, imbue the
meat with their aromas as it cooks. There are two more aromatic ingredients of
significance added to the biryani: rosewater and pandan (also called screwpine or
kewra) water. These are sprinkled over the rice just before it steams, and the
combination results in a highly fragrant biryani.
For color, the curcumin pigment in the turmeric that’s added to the meat will stain some
of the rice grains yellow. A second source of color comes from the delicate threads of
saffron, which contain crocetin, a fat-soluble pigment that is extracted by the fat present
in hot milk; the milk is also sprinkled over the layer of rice along with the rosewater and
pandan water. To get a richer color from the saffron, I grind a few threads separately
and then add them to the milk to get a stronger extract.
Finishing Biryani With Steam
Once the meat and rice are layered together, the entire pot is sealed tight with a double
layer of aluminum foil. This technique is called "dum pukht," which means "breathe and
cook" in Hindi; the idea is that the steam produced by the various aromatic liquids and
from the marinade and the meat rises, further tenderizing the meat and rice, and then
condenses, keeping everything in the pot from drying out. The classic method involves
creating a seal by caking a simple dough around the cooking vessel’s lid, but the foil
method (which is what I’ve shared here) suffices (and, admittedly, this is the method I
use often). A thick layer of cloth wrapped around the mouth of the pot can also be used
to create the seal. A heavy Dutch oven or saucepan with a heavy bottom with a heavy
lid works great; however, a clay pot with a lid can also be used.
Biryani Garnishes
 Nik Sharma 
In this version, which might seem a bit restrained, I reserve some of the browned onions
and add those as a garnish over the rice before I steam it, but you can do a lot more.
Biryanis can be studded with various toppings, including quartered or halved hard boiled
eggs, thick quarters of fried potatoes, or fried nuts such as cashews or almonds.
One final note on biryanis: take time to appreciate the reveal as the pot of rice is
unwrapped. I find that first breath of the perfume emanating from the pot as it’s opened
to reveal the colorful dish within to be the most exciting and magical part of the biryani
experience.
How to Serve Biryani
I like to serve biryanis straight out of the pot because I enjoy using a spoon to reveal the
cooked meat under the layer of rice. However, a biryani can be served on a large
platter; just make sure not to overmix the rice before serving, since doing so obscures
the variety of color the rice acquires during the cooking process. While the biryani can
be served with plain unsweetened yogurt, my carrot raita would also be a wonderful
accompaniment to this dish. I prefer to leave the whole spices in the cooked biryani, but
if you like you can fish them out before serving.
Editors' Note: Nik Sharma's new book is out now: The Flavor Equation: The Science of
Great Cooking Explained in More Than 100 Essential Recipes
Watch Now: How to Make Lamb Biryani
0 seconds of 0 seconds
 
10:53
Watch Now: How to Make Lamb Biryani
The Science of Yogurt Marinades

Recipe Facts
5
(16)
Prep:5 mins
Cook:2 hrs 5 mins
Active:90 mins
Marinating Time:8 hrs
Total:10 hrs 10 mins
Serves:4 to 6 servings

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Ingredients
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  2 pounds (910g) boneless leg of lamb, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1-inch
(2cm) cubes
 1 cup plain, unsweetened full-fat yogurt
 6 medium garlic cloves, peeled and finely grated
 One 2–inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
 3 teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt, divided; if using table salt, use half as
much by volume
 1/4 cup (60 ml) plus 2 teaspoons (10ml) ghee or neutral oil, such as grapeseed,
divided
 2 large yellow or white onions (26 ounces; 750g total), sliced thinly
 5 green cardamom pods, lightly cracked, divided
 1 cinnamon stick
 4 cloves
 2 dried bay leaves
 1 teaspoon garam masala, store-bought or homemade
 1 teaspoon ground Kashmiri chili (see note)
 1/2 teaspoon ground mace
 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
 1 cup (240ml) water or low-sodium stock (lamb, beef, or chicken)
 2 cups (400g) basmati rice
 1/4 cup (60ml) fresh lemon or lime juice
 1 bunch fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems, chopped
 1 bunch fresh mint leaves, chopped
 1 fresh green chile, such as a serrano or Thai bird, minced
 1/4 cup (60ml) whole milk
 20 strands of saffron, divided
 2 teaspoons rosewater
 2 teaspoons pandan (kewra/screwpine) water (see note)
Directions
1. Place the lamb in a 1 gallon (3.8L) ziptop bag. In a medium bowl, mix the yogurt,
garlic, ginger, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt until combined, pour the yogurt mixture
over the lamb, seal the bag, and shake the bag to coat the lamb well. Leave the
ziptop bag in the refrigerator to marinate overnight.
2. Heat 1/4 cup (60ml) ghee or oil in a Dutch oven or saucepan with a heavy bottom
over medium heat. Add the onions, season with a pinch of salt, and cook, stirring
occasionally, until the onions caramelize and turn dark brown (but not black),
about 25 to 30 minutes.
3. Reduce the heat to low. Remove half of the caramelized onions and reserve to
use as garnish for the biryani. Add 3 green cardamom pods, cinnamon, cloves,
bay leaves, garam masala, Kashmiri chili, mace, and turmeric, and sauté just
until spices become fragrant, 30 to 45 seconds. Add the lamb along with the
yogurt marinade, the water or stock, and the cilantro, mint, and green chili. Stir to
mix well, increase the heat to medium-high, and bring liquid to a boil. Reduce
heat to low, cover with lid, and cook for 30 to 45 minutes, stirring occasionally,
until the lamb is completely tender.
4. Meanwhile, as the lamb cooks, prepare the rice. Pick over the the rice for any
debris, then place it in a fine mesh strainer and rinse under cold running water,
until the runoff is no longer cloudy; drain well. Place the rice in a bowl and cover
with 4 cups (960ml) water and let stand for 30 minutes. Strain the rice, discarding
soaking water. In a large saucepan, combine rice with 4 cups cold water, lemon
juice, the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, the remaining 2 green
cardamom pods, and the remaining 2 teaspoons of ghee or oil and bring to a boil
over medium heat. Boil for 2 minutes and then strain the rice; discard cooking
water. It will be partially cooked—if you break a grain of rice, you will see an
outer translucent ring and a tiny, opaque inner ring.
5. When the lamb is tender, remove lid and increase the heat to medium, stirring
often to prevent scorching, and cook until the liquid starts to thicken and reduces
to about 1 1/2 cups (360ml), about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Using a clean,
large wooden spoon or spatula, spread the rice out in an even layer over the
meat in the Dutch oven.
6. Set oven rack at the middle position and heat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Place
half the saffron threads in a mortar and pestle and grind to a fine powder. In a
small saucepan placed over low heat, warm the milk just until it starts to bubble,
then turn off the heat. Add the ground saffron and remaining saffron strands to
the hot milk and let steep for 10 minutes.
7. Sprinkle the saffron-infused milk over the rice, followed by the rosewater and the
pandan water. Garnish the top of the rice with the reserved caramelized onions.
Cover the Dutch oven with two sheets of aluminum foil and crimp the overhang to
form a tight seal, place the lid over the foil, and place