Kolkata biryani

Step 1: Mix 2 ¼ lb bone-in goat meat (mutton) with 7 oz plain yoghurt, 3 tbsp ginger-garlic paste, 1 ½ tsp Kashmiri chilli powder, half the 1 tsp salt and half the 1 ⅜ oz crisp fried onions (birista), crushed. Cover and marinate in the fridge for 4 hours or overnight.

Step 2: Rub 6 medium potatoes with ½ tsp ground turmeric and the rest of the 1 tsp salt. Heat 4 tbsp vegetable oil in a heavy pot and fry them for 6–8 minutes until golden all over; lift out. Fry 6 eggs for 1 minute until blistered; lift out.

Step 3: Add 1 tsp sugar to the same oil, then the mutton and marinade. Cook over a high heat for 5 minutes, then over a medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring often, until the yoghurt has dried and the oil separates.

Step 4: Add 1 ¼ cups hot water, cover and simmer gently for 50–60 minutes until the mutton is tender and pulls from the bone, and the thickest piece reads 160°F. You should have about 200 ml of thick gravy; reduce or add water as needed.

Step 5: Meanwhile warm 1 pinch saffron strands in ½ cup warm milk and stir in 1 tsp kewra water and 1 tsp rose water.

Step 6: Bring 16 ¾ cups water to a rolling boil with 2 tbsp salt, 2 bay leaves, 6 green cardamom pods, 6 cloves and 1 cinnamon stick. Add the drained 1 ⅛ lb aged basmati rice and boil for 5–6 minutes until about 70 per cent cooked: a grain pressed between your fingers breaks with a small hard white core. Drain at once.

Step 7: Take half the mutton and gravy out of the pot. Spread the rest in the base, tuck in the potatoes and eggs, sprinkle half the 1 tsp biryani masala (mace, nutmeg, cardamom, cinnamon, shahi jeera) and a third of the rice. Add the remaining mutton and gravy, then the rest of the rice.

Step 8: Sprinkle over the rest of the 1 tsp biryani masala (mace, nutmeg, cardamom, cinnamon, shahi jeera) and the remaining 1 ⅜ oz crisp fried onions (birista), pour the saffron milk and 4 tbsp ghee over the top, and add 2 drops mitha attar (edible sweet attar) if using.

Step 9: Seal the pot with a tight lid (or foil under the lid). Cook over a high heat for 3 minutes until you hear it steam, then set it on a tava over the lowest heat for 25 minutes. Rest off the heat for 10 minutes.

Step 10: Open at the table and serve with a spoon going right to the bottom, so everyone gets rice, meat, a potato and an egg.