Antony Worrall Thompson gives a masterclass in cooking curry with this delicious classic - Lamb Biryani.
Ingredients
- 450 g15¾ oz lamb shoulder, cut into 5cm pieces
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil for frying
- Lamb or chicken stock to cover
For the marinade:
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 /2 tsp each of ground star anise, ground fennel seeds, ground cardamon, ground mace
- 2 tbsp chopped mint
- 4 tbsp chopped coriander
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 30 g1 oz ghee or softened butter
For the rice:
- 350 g12¼ oz washed basmati rice
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 /2 tsp fennel seeds
- 3 whole star anise
- 6 crushed cardamon pods
- 1 blade mace
- 1 onion, finely sliced
- 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp coriander leaves
- 2 tbsp chopped mint leaves
- 2 L lamb or chicken stock
- 2 tomatoes
Method: How to make Lamb Biryani
Mix all the marinade ingredients together and marinate the lamb overnight or for a minimum of 4 hours in them.
Heat the oil in a saucepan, add the lamb and the marinade and cook for 5-8 minutes or until brown.
Add enough lamb or chicken stock to cover, simmer for 1½ hours, until tender, adding more stock if necessary.
For the rice:
Heat the oven to 200C/Gas 6.
Put the rice and the spices in a large saucepan with the stock and cook for 8 minutes until the rice is almost cooked. Drain, cover and keep warm.
Heat 1 tablespoon of sunflower oil in a pan and fry the onions until crispy and brown. Mix with the herbs and fold into the rice.
Fill a casserole dish with alternate layers of the rice and meat starting and finishing with the rice. i.e 3 layers of rice and 2 layers of meat.
Dot the surface with a little ghee or butter and cover with a lid. Place in the oven and cook for 20 minutes.
Finally fold in 2 seeded and finely diced tomatoes and garnish with fresh coriander and mint.
