Recipe: lamb biriyani (Christmas leftovers)

 Easy-to-follow lamb biriyani recipe

This Christmas we had a rolled shoulder of lamb for our dinner.  Tasty as it was, there was far too much for just the two of us, so mucho leftovers to play with.  I decided to make some lamb biriyani as not only did Mr Foodie have a cold, but my curry of choice for takeaway is a lamb biriyani - so that sorted that one!  This was relatively quick to make as I was using leftovers.  If you were cooking this straight, with say lamb chops, it would take around an hour and a bit all in I think.

Ingredients

460g basmati rice
8 whole cloves
4 black cardamom pods (or green if you can't get them)
4 cinnamon sticks
4 large onions, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon garlic puree
1 tablespoon ginger puree
4 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander leaves
3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves
450g lamb chops
3 tomatoes, chopped
4 green chillies, halved lengthways
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons natural yoghurt
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 onion, sliced
½ teaspoon saffron threads
2 tablespoons warm milk

Method

Place the basmati rice in a large container and cover with several centimetres of cold water;.
Let stand 30 minutes.
Drain.
Heat some oil in a large frying pan over medium heat.
Fry the cloves, cardamom pods and cinnamon sticks in the hot oil until fragrant.
Add the onions and cook until the onions are lightly browned.
Stir the garlic puree and ginger puree into the onion mixture.
Sprinkle the coriander and mint over the mixture and cook for a couple of minutes.
Add the lamb chops to the frying pan (or similar amount of leftover lamb)
Cook for about 20 minutes.
Stir the tomatoes, green chillies and cayenne pepper into the mixture.
When the oil separates from the meats,  add the yoghurt and lemon juice.
Cover and cook until the lamb is tender.
Add water if the mixture is getting dry when cooking.
Add rice to a pot of water and bring to the boil.
Cook for around 10 mins, the rice should still have some chew to it.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a small frying pan
Fry the sliced onion in the hot oil until lightly browned.
Layer about half the rice in the bottom of a deep pot with a lid.
Spoon the lamb mixture over the rice.
Spread the fried onion over the lamb mixture.
Add the remaining rice.
Stir the saffron and warm milk together in a small bow.
Pour over the top layer of rice.
Cover the pot with the lid and place the pot over low heat and cook for around 15 mins.