1. The very first step is to marinate your beef. Preferably, you do this 24 hours in advance, or at the latest, you will make your biryani in the early morning or the evening. Mix your marinade ingredients with the lamb and cover overnight.

2. Next, watch our video on how to make challow. This will be the first step in preparing your rice. Follow that recipe to the par-boil stage. It is at the 6:04 minute mark in the video. Please review this video and recipe before starting this recipe.

3. Once your rice is par-boiled, proceed to this step. Take a large pot and place oil in a pot. Fry your onions to a golden brown. Don’t caramelize them; fry them.

4. Next, prepare your saffron mixture. Take a healthy pinch of saffron, add some salt, then pour some hot water over the mixture. This allows your saffron to bloom and will get you a beautiful golden-colored liquid.

5. Once onions are fried, take them out and set them aside. Next, add cumin seeds to the pan to toast along with crushed black cardamom and star anise. Toast until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Don’t let it burn.

6. Add the beef to a hot pan with spices. Let the meat par-cook. Allow sauce to reduce. Took me about 6 minutes.

7. After this, I added a little more oil. About two tablespoons.

8. Now, we start our layers. Before I started making the layers, and after I made the challow rice, I rinsed the rice in cold water.

9. Now layering, add one layer of rice over the meat. Add a layer of fried onions. Next, a layer of herb mixture. This herb mixture is the other 1/2 of the mint and cilantro. Then I added about 1/4 Cup of water to help it steam. Then, another layer of onions, another layer of herbs, and finally, the saffron water on top.

10. So, I made holes in the rice for the steam. (just like I showed you how in the challow recipe)

11. Cover pot with lid, and then wrap in aluminum foil. Cook for two hours on medium-low heat.

12. Take rice out of oven and plate your biryani on a beautiful platter.