Take your lamb and add all your marinade spices and aromatics - salt, turmeric, chilli powder, ginger-garlic paste. Combine and let sit for at least 30 minutes.

In the meantime, prep your onions by slicing them into half-moon slices.

Add your oil and butter to a hot pan and sautee your onions until nice and caramelized. (The onions should turn brown.)

Once the onions are caramelized, add in your spices and your lamb. Sautee until the lamb develops color.

Now add in your water and raisins. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat to a simmer. Loosely cover the pan/pot with the lid, to allow some steam to escape.

If you are pressed for time, skip the above step and put the masala and meat in a pressure cooker with a cup of water. Secure the lid and allow the lamb to cook for 20 minutes or so, or until tenderized.

While your lamb is cooking, go ahead and prep your rice. Take your rice and rinse thoroughly multiple times until the water comes out clear. Let the rice soak in cold water for about 30 minutes.Once done soaking the rice should be translucent.

While the rice is soaking, bring a large pot of water to boil. Add in your aromatic whole spices and salt. (tip - keep lid on pot while getting water to boil. The process will be faster!)

Once the water is ferociously boiling, add in the rice to the water. Stir around with a slotted spoon. (Leave pot uncovered.)

Drain the rice when it is about 75% of the way cooked. For me, the best way to tell, is to just eat a grain of rice or two. If it's soft with a slight crunch; edible but not really done - then it's perfect at this stage in the process. If the rice is completely cooked, it will end up being mushy at the end because the rice continues to cook in the oven in the juices of the masala. If it's still raw, then it won't finish cooking.

Your masala and rice should both be ready to go. For the masala, make sure that the lamb is tender and that most of the water has evaporated . If should be the consistency of a thick curry.

Set your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. In a large baking dish add half the rice into one bottom layer. Then add all your masala and spread it out into an even layer. Finally add in the rest of your rice as the top layer. If you want the pulao to be a little extra buttery, add another tablespoon of butter (chopped into cubes) and spread around the top.

Cover the dish with foil and let it bake for about 30 minutes.

While the pulao is baking, go ahead and prep your carrots. Shred them into ribbon-like strips with a vegetable peeler.

Sautee the carrots along with the raisins in the oil and butter. Add  in your salt.

Toast your nuts. Feel free to toast in oil/butter if you don't mind the calories.

After the pulao is done baking, remove from the oven. Carefully lift the foil off the baking tray, and slowly mix the dish together with a serving spoon. Add your garnish (carrots, raisins, and nuts) to the top of the dish. And there you have it!