Gosht Biryani

Clean mutton or lamb and cut into one and half inch sized pieces. Pick, clean and wash rice. Soak rice in water. Chop green chillies. Peel ginger and cut into julienne (thin strips). Wash coriander and mint leaves and roughly chop them separately. Soak saffron in warm milk and keep aside. Marinade meat pieces with yogurt, salt, turmeric powder and one tablespoon each of ginger and garlic pastes. Marinade for about four hours in a cool place. Cook rice in salted boiling water along with whole garam masala till rice is almost cooked. Strain and keep the rice warm. Heat ghee or oil in a thick-bottomed pan or pressure cooker. Add sliced onion and chopped green chillies. Cook till onion is light golden brown. Make sure to stir continuously. Add remaining ginger and garlic pastes and mix well. Add marinated meat and cook on high flame for seven to eight minutes. Now, add coriander powder, cumin powder and red chilli powder. Mix thoroughly. Stir in three cups of water, bring it to a boil, reduce heat and cook covered till meat pieces are almost cooked. Add chopped tomatoes, salt, one teaspoon garam masala powder and chopped fresh coriander leaves. Cook for fifteen minutes on medium heat, stirring occasionally. *In case you are cooking meat in the pressure cooker, add chopped tomatoes, salt, garam masala powder, two cups of water and chopped fresh coriander leaves after adding dry spices. Pressure cook till meat pieces are almost cooked. It normally takes two or three whistles to cook the meat. Ensure that the cooked meat does not have too runny a gravy. If that is the case, cook on high flame to reduce water content. Arrange half the quantity of cooked meat in an oven proof dish and spread half the quantity of cooked rice on top of the meat. Sprinkle a little garam masala powder, half amount each of ginger julienne, saffron dissolved in warm milk and mint leaves. Dot the rice with half the quantity of butter. Place a layer of remaining meat on top of the rice, followed by cooked rice and repeat the earlier process with the remaining quantities of ginger julienne, saffron milk, garam masala powder, mint leaves and butter. Cover it with aluminum foil and cook in a pre-heated oven for fifteen to twenty minutes. Serve garnished with fried sliced onions and mixed vegetable raita.