Biryani Ingredients - help!

Help! I am going to make the following tonight:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/food-wine/recipes/11254792/Different-rices-and-how-to-use-them
But at the local shops I haven't found any ghee - so can I cook in something else?
And I couldn't find cardamom pods- only cardamon seeds - can I use these the same?
And lastly no rose water ?
Not much success I know and I am unable to travel anywhere to locate these ingredients - so any advice as to whether I can substitute or leave out would be great! Thanks.

just use butter

rose water available at chemists-or leave out
cardamon also comes ground

You could make the ghee yourself, it's not in the least bit hard. Have a look at this recipe http://wellnessmama.com/24267/make-ghee/ .

Thanks for the replies.

How was the Biryani Clareo. thought I might make it this week. Looks good.

It was really just ok - I thought it looked good but just lacked somethng - so there may well be better recipes out there!

Clareo this is a Biryani recipe I have made many times, it is one of Madhur Jaffery's recipes and I totally recommend it. It is a lot of work but so worth the effort.

Mughlai Lamb Biryani
*Making the Biryani is an involved process but the results are absolutely delicious.
Serves 6:
425 ml basmati rice
3 tb salt
3 medium-sized onions, peeled
4 cloves garlic
3/4” piece of rootginger, coarsely chopped
4 tb blanched, slivered almonds
3 tb plus 3.6L water
13 tb olive oil
3 tb sultanas
700g boned lamb shoulder meat, cut in 1” cubes
225ml plain yogurt
6 whole cloves
1/2 tsp whole black peppercorns
1/2 tsp cardamom pods
1 tsp whole cumin seed
1 tsp whole coriander seed
1” stick cinnamon
about 1/6 of a nutmeg
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1oz unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
3 hard boiled eggs

Wash the rice in several changes of water. Drain and place in a large bowl. Add 2L water and 1tb salt. Mix and soak for 3 hours.
Cut 2 of the onions in half and cut halves into fine half-rings. Put this aside.

Chop remaining onion very coarsely and put into a blender along with the garlic, ginger, 2 tb of the almonds and the 3 tb of water. Blend to a paste.
Heat 6 tb of the oil in a heavy frypan and when hot, fry the onion half-rings until they are brown and crisp. Remove them from the pan and drain on a paper towel. Put sultanas into the same oil. Remove them as soon as they plump up – which happens immediately. Drain on a separate paper towel. Put the remaining 2 tb almonds into the oil. Stir and fry until golden. Drain with the sultanas. Set aside.

Put the lamb, a few at a time, into the same hot oil and brown them on all sides. As each batch get done, put them in a bowl.
Add another 7 tb oil to the frypan and turn heat to medium. When hot, pour in the ginger-garlic paste. Fry, stirring all the time, until it turns a medium brown colour. If it sticks slightly, sprinkle in a little water and continue stirring. Return the meat to the pan, along with any accumulated juices. Add the yogurt, a tablespoon at a time, stirring well between each addition. Now put in 150ml water and 11/2 tsp salt. Mix and bring to a simmer. Cover, turn heat to low and simmer 30 minutes.
**While the meat is cooking, put the cloves, peppercorns, cardamom pods, cumin seed, coriander seed, cinnamon and nutmeg into an electric grinder and grind finely.
When the meat has cooked for 30 minutes, add all the spices from the grinder as well as the cayenne pepper and mix well. Cover again and continue to simmer for another 30 minutes. Remove cover, raise heat to medium and cook, stirring all the time, until there is about 200ml of thick sauce left in the pan. If meat is tender, turn off heat.
Spread the meat in the base of a heavy casserole (cast-iron is ideal/a camp oven is great). Cover and keep warm.
Preheat oven to 150C. Bring 3.5L water to a rolling boil in a large pot. Add 11/2 tb salt. Drain the rice, rinse under clean water and scatter the rice into the boiling water. Bring to a boil again and boil rapidly for exactly 6 minutes. Drain the rice.
Work fast now. Put the rice on top of the meat, piling it up in the shape of a hill. Lay the butter pieces on the sides of the hill and scatter 2 tb of the browned onions over it as well. First cover the casserole with foil, sealing the edges well and then put the lid on. Bake for 1 hour. Before serving, quarter the eggs, lengthwise. Mix the biryani gently. Serve the rice on a warmed platter, garnished with the eggs, remaining browned onions, sultanas and almonds.

Hi,
If you have a Indian shop or even a Bin Inn nearby get some biriyani masala from there and instead of rosewater get a bottle of Kewra essence. It's the essence of screwpine leaves and traditionally we use for Biriyani in India.For opulance you can add few saffron threads soaked in warm milk but it's optional. I find this three ingredients turns a normal dish so aromatic.

rebecca18 wrote:
Clareo this is a Biryani recipe I have made many times, it is one of Madhur Jaffery's recipes and I totally recommend it. It is a lot of work but so worth the effort.

Oops only just saw this - will definitely try this one at some stage - thanks heaps for sharing.