INGREDIENTS:
450g lamb shoulder, cut into 2 inch pieces
2 tbsp vegetable oil for frying lamb or chicken stock to cover

For the marinade:

1 tsp ground coriander
½ tsp each of ground star anise, ground fennel seeds, ground cardamom, ground mace

2 tbsp chopped mint
4 tbsp chopped coriander
1 tbsp tomato puree
30g ghee or softened butter

For the rice:

350g pre washed basmati rice
1 tsp turmeric powder
½ tsp fennel seeds
3 whole star anise
6 crushed cardamom pods
1 blade mace
1 onion finely sliced
4 cloves garlic finely chopped
2 tbsp coriander leaves
2 tbsp chopped mint leaves
2 litres lamb or chicken stock

METHOD:

For the lamb: marinate the lamb overnight or for a minimum of 4 hours with all the marinade ingredients. Heat the oil in a saucepan, add the lamb and the marinade and cook for 5-8 minutes or until brown. Add enough stock to cover, simmer for 1½ hours, until tender, adding more stock if necessary.

For the rice: heat the oven to 200ºC. Put the rice and the spices into a large saucepan with the stock. Cook for 8 minutes till the rice is ¾ cooked. Drain, cover and keep warm. Heat 1 tbsp sunflower oil in a pan, fry off the onions until crispy and brown. Mix with the herbs and fold into the rice.

Fill a casserole dish with alternate layers of the rice and meat, starting and finishing with the rice (3 layers rice and 2 layers meat). Dot the surface with a little ghee or butter and cover with a lid.
Cook in the oven for 20 minutes.

Sprinkle 2 seeded and finely diced tomatoes over the top, garnish with
fresh coriander and mint, then serve.

Find all the recipes from ITV1's Daily Cooks Challenge at
www.cooksforcooks.com