Lamb Biryani Recipe

Biryani is a classic dish of rice, meat and  a variety of spices layered together. Biryani is very popular in India and Pakistan. It is believed that the Mughals were the ones who brought this dish to India.
Pulao is also a very popular rice dish. Difference between biryani and pulao is simple, the latter is not layered and less spices are used.

My opinion about biryani is that it's a symphony of flavours and fragrances. You have to taste biryani if you want to give your taste buds a treat, after all you have to take a plunge in a pool if you want to know whether it is hot or cold.

How I got a chance to demonstrate my cooking skills to people other than friends and family is another story, but I can tell you how I intoduced this dish to someone who had never heard about it.
I once had a chance to cook for a party where the guests were Italians.. The host wanted me to plan the  menu and I suggested biryani as the main course.

Before you have any doubts about how did it go, I will tell you that it was a hit.
For biryani you will have to gather your ingredients and do some prep work which is as follows:

Preperation time: 2hrs
Calories per serving: 750kcal

For The Rice:

• 700g banaspati rice 
• 3 1/2 lit water
• Boil the rice according to the instructions on the packet and set aside.

For The Layers:

• 3 medium fried onions
• chopped mint 
• chopped green chilli 
• chopped or whole prunes 20-25

For The Lamb Qorma:

• 2 small onions 
• 2 tsp each of ginger /garlic 3 medium tomatoes
• 3 Tbsp yogurt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1tsp clove spice
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 4-5 bay leaves
• 12 green cardamoms
• 2 black cardamoms
• 1tsp nutmeg
• 1tsp mace
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp corriander
• 1/2 tsp tumeric 
• 2 tsp red chilli powder

Grind all the spices i.e.from ingredient no 4 onwards.

Mixture To Be Poured Before Dum:

• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• yellow colour or tumeric 1/2 tsp

Method:

Fry onions till golden brown.

Step 2

Add ginger, garlic, cumin and meat. When meat is light brown add chopped tomatoes

,

Step 3

Add red pepper, bay leaves, black pepper, cloves, cinnnamon, black cardamom, green cardamom, nutmeg, mace, corriander, tumeric, cumin

Step 4

Now add 1/4 cup water let cook. When meat is tender add yogurt.

Step 5

Let cook for 5 minutes and now for the layering:
Put a layer of rice on cooked meat, add fried onions, green pepper, chopped prunes and chopped mint.

Step 6

Keep repeating until all rice is finished. Add milk, tumeric and lemon mixture. Put a lid on the pot and leave on dum for 5-10 minutes.

Step 7

Bring the bottom part of the rice on top with the help of a spoon from time to time.

Lamb biryani is ready to serve. It can be accompanied with raita or salad. Garnish with fried potatoes.