Goat Biryani

Mum and Dad got some goat meat from the man on the market. I've been thinking of making a Biryani, and, discovering the meat was really quite fatty, adapted a recipe.

Serves 3

A pinch of saffron threads
100 ml warm milk
300 ml measure of basmati rice
75 ml veg oil
2 onions, peeled and sliced into thin half rings
1 cm piece of ginger, peeled
3 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
3 cardamom pods, whole, but lightly crushed
small piece of cinnamon
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon of cloves and 1/2 teaspoon of peppercorns tied in a muslin bag
500 g of goat meat, cut into eating sized chunks
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon of tomato puree

Soak the saffron in milk and set aside

Cover the rice with water and leave to soak

Heat the oil in the first of two wide overproof pans you'll probably need, this the smaller one if you have to choose. Cook half the onion until they are brown and crispy. Remove the onions from the oil; also remove not quite half the oil, to be set aside separately.

Add the remaining onions, the ginger, the cinnamon, the garlic, the cardamom, the bay leaf and the muslin spice package. Stir and fry until the onions are golden. Add the meat, some salt, the cayenne pepper and cook for 10 minutes or so. Add 100 ml of water and cook for 10 more minutes. Cover and cook on a moderate heat for another 30 minutes.

Taking the lid off stir in the tomatoes and tomato puree. Cook with the lid on until the meat is tender, maybe 15 minutes. If the sauce is too thick, loosen it with water. If it's too watery, reduce it. It should be moderately thick.

Preheat the oven to 150C (Gas Mark 2).

Take the spice packages, the ginger and the cinnamon out if you can find them, and put the covered pan in the oven to keep warm.

Now put 1800 ml of water and some salt in a large ovenproof lidded pan. Drain the rice, then boil for 5 minutes so it's almost cooked, and drain again.

Moving quickly, we layer the biryani in this pan. Some of the reserved oil on the bottom, a third of the rice, half the meat, a third of the browned onions and a third of the saffron milk. Another third of the rice, the rest of the meat, a third of the onions and a third of the milk. The rest of the rice, any left over sauce, onions, saffron milk and, if needed the rest of the oil.

Cover, heat on the stove to warm up the oil, then put in the oven for 25 minutes. Serve with yoghurt dishes, green vegetables, that sort of thing.