Lehzat Wallo Pulao Recipe

1. Wash the basmati rice twice. Take a large vessel half full of water and set it to heat. When the water starts bubbling add salt to taste, two tablespoons ghee and the four bay leaves. Allow the rice to par boil, it should not be completely cooked but hard. Strain the water through a colander and spread it on a large thali. Grate the nutmeg on top of the rice.
2. Grind the spices coarsely. Deep fry the finely sliced onions. Cut potatoes into cubes, apply salt and deep fry them and set aside. Wash and fry the almonds after boiling. Wash and fry the kismis.
3. Wash the mutton well. Salt it and marinate in the ginger-garlic paste.4. Take two cups of ghee and place in a large, heavy bottomed dekchi. Allow to heat and add the whole Kashmiri chillies, mutton and cook till red. Lower the flame, add three to four cups of water and allow to cook till soft. Keep adding water as needed till the mutton is soft. Cover the mutton with a heavy lid and place some water on the lid also.
5. Mix the ground masala and the fried onions in the rice. Whip the curd with a pinch of sugar. When the meat is tender and soft, mix in the whipped curd. Heat the saffron on a tava and mix it in a cup of hot water. Allow to steep for one hour, before cooking the rice or meat. Sprinkle the saffron water over the half cooked rice.
6. Take a nice dekchi with a heavy bottom. Smear one cup of ghee on the bottom and sides of the dekchi and place a layer of saffron rice on it. Spread some fried onions and potatoes on the rice and a few almond slices and kismis. Then keep making rice and mutton layers till both the items are used up. Take a heavy lid and cover the dekchi and use foil to double close the lid tightly.
7. Place over a low coal sigri and place some hot coals on the lid also. Cook in this manner for two to three hours before serving the pulao. No water should be poured over the rice before it is covered. The rice should cook in the mutton soup itself. So never allow the mutton to dry out completely for a pulao which is cooked on dum.
8. Serve with kachumber.