Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour
Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:
500 gm rice
1 kg mutton (inclusive of chops, marrow bones and medium sized meat pieces on the bone)
3 onions, sliced
A
1/2 tbsp ginger, grated
1/2 tbsp coarsely ground garlic
50 gm green chillies
B
A few sprigs of fresh green coriander coarsely chopped
A few mint leaves
C
1 tbsp caraway seeds
1 one-inch piece of cinnamon
4 green cardamoms
4 cloves
3 glasses milk
1 glass water
2-3 tbsps ghee
Salt to taste

Procedure:
Parboil rice with a little salt. Set aside. Tie the ingredients at 'A', 'B' and 'C' separately in three bundles of muslin cloth. Pressure cook the meat with milk, water and the three bundles of spices and herbs and salt, till tender. Squeeze out the liquids from the bundles. Take care to leave a little liquid, just adequate to allow the parboiled rice to get fully cooked.

Take a heavy-bottomed pan. Brush the bottom with a little ghee. Put meat and rice and mix them in the pan. Dot the surface with ghee. Cover with a tight fitting lid and cook over medium slow heat till the rice is cooked and steaming hot.

Kacche Gosht Biryani

Preparation time: 40 minutes
Marination time: 3-4 hours
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Serves: 8

Ingredients:
1 kg mutton (a mix of chops, marrow bones with meat and medium-sized pieces from lamb's shoulder)
1/2 kg Basmati rice
4 onions, finely sliced
1 tbsp ginger paste
1 tbsp garlic paste
1 tbsp red chilli powder
1 bunch of fresh green coriander, chopped
1 small bunch of fresh green mint, chopped
4 green chillies
4 cardamoms
6 cloves
1 half-inch cinnamon stick
1 tbsp caraway seeds
1 tbsp peppercorn
1 small piece of nutmeg
A few flakes mace (ground)
4 cups yoghurt
Juice of 3 lemons
1/2 cup milk
A liberal pinch of saffron
2/3 cup oil
2 tbsp ghee, Salt to taste

Procedure:
Heat oil. Fry the onions till golden brown. Crush, when the onions get cool. Rub the ginger and garlic well into the meat. Add 3 cups of yoghurt, salt, red chilli powder, coriander, mint, green chillies, the ground spices, lemon juice, crushed onions and the oil in which the onions were fried. Mix well and marinate for about 3-4 hours. Wash the rice and mix with one cup well beaten yoghurt. Add saffron in half a cup of milk. Set aside.

Take a heavy-bottomed pan with a tight covering lid. Transfer the marinated meat with the marinade to the pan. Place the rice over the meat. Sprinkle the saffron milk over the rice. Dot it with ghee. Cover and cook, first at high, then at medium low heat till the meat is tender, the liquids are absorbed and rice cooked. Take out gently and serve steaming hot.

Dum Pukht Biryani

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Marination time: 2 hours
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Serves: 8

Ingredients:
1 kg mutton (cut into small pieces)
1/2 kg long grain Basmati rice
250 gm onions, ground
2 tbsps ground ginger
1 tbsp peppercorn
1/2 tbsp cumin seeds
6 cloves
Seeds of 2 black cardamoms (ground)
4 cups yoghurt, whisked
1/3 cup ghee mixed with 1/3 cup oil
A large pinch of saffron
2 tbsps ghee
1/2 cup milk
Salt to taste

Procedure:
Mix salt, a little saffron, onion paste and the ground ginger. Rub the mixture well into the meat. Set aside for at least a couple of hours. Mix the ground spices and a little saffron with half the quantity of yoghurt. Rub the mixture into the meat.

Take a heavy-bottomed pan and place the meat in it. Separately, heat three-fourths of the ghee/oil mixture and pour it over the meat. Wash rice. Mix with the balance of yoghurt, one glass water and a little salt. Spread the rice over the meat.

Cover the pan with a tight fitting lid and seal it with dough (alternatively pressure cook); cook first at high heat and then slow. When the dish is almost done, uncover and pour the balance of ghee/oil and sprinkle the milk. Cover again and cook for a few minutes till the meat is tender and rice done. If done well, the meat should be tender and each grain of rice, though fully cooked, should stand out separately. Serve steaming hot.