Wash, rinse, and soak the rice in plenty of water. Make sure every grain is submerged in the water. Set it aside.

On a cooking pan, fry the chopped onion until golden brown.

Add minced garlic and minced ginger to the onion. Give it a stir and cook further for about a minute before adding the meat.

Then add ground coriander, ground cumin, turmeric powder, Kashmiri red chili powder, ground black pepper, and salt.

Next, add the whole spices such as cloves, green cardamom, and cinnamon quill.

Put the chopped tomatoes into the meat and pour in the water. Give it a stir and leave it to cook for about half an hour with the lid on. Ensure you check it every now and then to make sure it doesn’t get burned at the bottom.

Add the potato chunks and give it a stir. Let it cook for about 15 minutes with the lid on.

Then add the beaten yogurt and stir well. Put the lid back on and continue cooking.

In the meantime, drain the rice and cook it in 5 cups of hot boiling water until it is al dente.

Once the meat masala is ready and the rice is half-cooked, drain the rice and discard the water.

Stir the masala and place the rice over the meat masala. Spread it evenly. Then line the inside lid with a kitchen towel or kitchen paper. Put the lid on and cook the masala and rice at moderately low heat for about 12-15 minutes or until the steam comes out.

Gently stir the rice to make sure the spice masala spreads around the rice.