Soak rice for about 15 minutes until the water boils. Add the whole spices in it along with some coriander and mint leaves. Also add salt according to taste. Cook it al dente until about just 80% cooked. Drain and set aside.
Marinate mutton bone-in with all the spices except ghee and onions plus half of the mint and coriander leaves both. Leave it in the refrigerator overnight for that perfect Biryani. Next day, deep fry onions until brown and crisp. After frying them, keep them in the freezer for about 5 minutes for the real crispy onions.
Let the oil cool down and then add about 1 cup of it into the marination along with the crushed and fried onions. Cook this marinated mutton on a low heat until done. Squeeze some lemon juice too. The raw papaya paste used helps in tenderizing the mutton pieces.
Simultaneously cook rice in a large vessel with all the whole spices mentioned along with the Coriander, Mint and Green Chillies. Add Salt according to taste. Let the water boil vigorously first. Then add soaked Rice to it. Do not stir much. Cook until 90% done. Drain and set aside. After about 30-35 minutes of slow cooking of Mutton, add this Cooked Rice on top. Spread it evenly.
Add ghee on top and sprinkle some fried onions too along with Saffron milk. Mix in some food colour too in little water and add that for a lovely look. Now it's ready for the Dum method. Seal it with some chapati dough for locking the steam inside. Or
Cover well with an aluminium foil just as I did and cook (Dum method) until done. It takes about 25 minutes on a low heat. Keep rotating the vessel from all the sides to facilitate even cooking every 5 minutes. Serve hot with raita and Baghare baingan or Mirchi ka saalan.
