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Ingredients
3 lbs of beef with bone, cut into small stew pieces
Shaan Biryani Masala Mix (1 box)
2 tablespoons of Garlic/Ginger Paste (can buy this at your local international grocery store)
2 tablespoons of Ghee (Clarified Butter)
3 tablespoons of Canola Oil
2 medium size onion, finely sliced
2 medium size tomatoes, diced
2 tablespoons of plain yogurt
1/2 teaspoon of salt
5 cups of washed rice
1/2 cup fried onions (can buy this in a container at your local international grocery store or you can fry your own onion)
yellow/orange food coloring (optional, just to give your dish some color)
1/4 milk
2 cups water
1/4 cup of plain yogurt
1/4 cup of milk
1/2 teaspoon of Cumin (zeera)
1 cucumber
1/4 cup of chopped onion
1/2 lemon
1 tomato
1 tablespoon of fresh cilantro
Salt to taste
Preparation:
Rice
Add 8 cups of water to 5 cups of washed rice and cook. I used a rice cooker which makes life a lot easier, if you do not have one you can cook the rice on your stove top. Bring to a boil and cover with lid, and reduce heat and let it cook for 20 mins. Using a rice cooker - the rice comes out perfect every time. Put cooked rice aside. Mix a couple of drops of yellow or orange food coloring to 1/4 cup of milk and drizzle over rice so that you have a mix of white and colored rice.
Beef:
Add ghee and oil to pot over medium-high heat. Add onions and saute until translucent. Add garlic/ginger paste, stir in completely and add diced tomatoes. Once tomatoes breakdown, add 1 packet of the Shaan Biryani mix (add a little less if you don't want it to be too spicy), beef, yogurt, salt, and stir until all meat is fully coated with the sauce. Add the 2 cups of water and cover for 20 mins, stirring occasionally. Check on the beef after 20 mins, if the meat is almost falling apart, its done. Take off heat.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In another large pot (or a foil sheet pan, which I find is the easiest way to do the next step). Add 1/3 of the cooked rice to the pot/foil sheet pan. Then spoon over the beef mixture with the sauce and all, final layer sprinkle over the fried onions. Repeat until all the rice, beef is in (kind of like building a lasagna). Cover with foil and put into the oven for 20 mins.
Serve with Raita (recipe below) - a yummy side dish/sauce that is a nice pairing to help cool the palette to this yummy but spicy meat/rice dish.
Raita
Finely cut cucumbers, onions and tomato so that they are all about the same size to a medium bowl. Add cumin, yogurt and milk, chopped cilantro, and salt to taste. Stir everything together - if it looks too thick, add a little milk, if it looks too thin add a little yogurt until its at the consistency you want.
