Kolkata biryani

Ingredients

• 750 g mutton, large pieces
• 3 cups long-grain basmati rice, soaked 30 minutes
• 4 medium potatoes, peeled and halved
• 4 eggs, boiled and peeled
• 1 cup curd
• 2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
• 2 onions, thinly sliced and fried until brown (birista)
• 1 tsp biryani masala (mace, nutmeg, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, shahi jeera)
• A pinch of saffron soaked in ¼ cup warm milk
• 1 tbsp kewra water and 1 tsp rose water
• 4 tbsp ghee and 3 tbsp oil
• Whole spices for the rice: bay leaf, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon
• Salt to taste

Method

1. Marinate the mutton with curd, ginger-garlic paste, half the fried onions, salt and half the biryani masala for at least 2 hours. Cook it covered on low heat until tender.
2. Boil the potatoes with salt and a pinch of turmeric until half done, then fry them lightly in ghee.
3. Boil the rice in plenty of salted water with the whole spices until 70 per cent cooked, and drain.
4. In a heavy pot, layer rice, mutton with its gravy, potatoes and eggs. Repeat.
5. Top with the saffron milk, kewra and rose water, remaining biryani masala, fried onions and ghee.
6. Seal the pot with a lid and dough and cook on very low heat (dum) for 30–40 minutes. Serve gently from the sides.