Aghani Kabuli Pulao (Easy Recipe)
Fatima Cooks recipe - Pakistani
- Prep time
- 45 min
- Cook time
- 2 hr 30 min
- Yield
- 5 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 1.7 lb mutton (bone in)
- 8 cloves garlic
- 1 black cardamom pod
- 8 green cardamom pods
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds
- 1 tbsp whole black pepper corns
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds
- 5 cloves
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 large cinnamon stick
- 2 tbsp salt (or to taste)
- 4-5 tbsp oil
- 2 medium onions (sliced)
- 3 cups basmati rice (ideally sela)
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds
- 4 cups/1l water ((IMPORTANT: please read notes if you are changing the serving size))
- 2 medium sized carrots (julienne cut)
- 1 large handful raisins or sultanas
- 1 large handful nuts (lightly crushed (I used pistachios but any will do))
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 4 tbsp oil (for frying)
Instructions
- 1
Add all the ingredients for the yakhni to a pot and cover with enough water to submerge all the meat. Bring to a boil and then cover, simmering for 1.5-2hrs, till the meat is tender but not falling off the bone. Keep checking after the 1.5hr mark to get till the right doneness.
- 2
Meanwhile, in a pan heat 3-4tbsp of oil and add your julienne-cut carrots. Saute these on medium heat for 5 minutes, till they are tender, and then add the raisins. Cook for an additional 5 minutes, till the raisins begin to swell up. Finally, add 2 tbsp of sugar and the lightly crushed nuts and cook for just a minute. Turn off the heat.
- 3
Take a clean sheet of aluminium foil and place the carrot mixture with all the oil onto it. Fold it around the edges tightly into a parcel shape. Set aside.
- 4
When the mutton is tender, strain out the liquid stock using a colander and discard the whole spices. Reserve the stock.
- 5
In a heavy based pot, heat 4-5 tbsp of oil and add the thinly sliced small onions. Sauté this on medium-high till the onions become lightly brown. The darker the onions become, the darker the rice will be. I prefer my Kabuli Pilau to be a light shade of brown, therefore I sauted my onions this much. You can saute them more if you prefer a darker shade. Add in the cumin seeds when your onions are just approaching your desired colour, so they get 1-2 minutes of frying.
- 6
Once the onions are to your desired colour, add the mutton from the stock. Sauté for 5-8 minutes
- 7
Add the reserved yakhni/stock. If you're short of stock, you can top it up with water. Bring to a boil.
- 8
Add the basmati rice.
- 9
Cook on high heat till the water begins to boil, and then reduces, until there is very little water left in the pot. Stir once or twice using a flat spoon (see picture below), being careful not to break any rice pieces.
- 10
At this point, reduce the heat to the lowest possible, add the foil parcel full of the carrot mix and cover with a lid wrapped with a tea towel. Allow it to steam like this for 10-15 minutes.
- 11
To serve, plate the rice on a rice platter and scatter with raisins, nuts and carrots from the foil parcel on top.