Lamb with Spiced Cardamom Rice

Don't let the list of ingredients scare you. This is an easy dish to prepare and what wonderful aromas it generates during cooking. Once done, the presentation and the flavors are great. The original recipe called for clay pot cooking. The preparation was time consuming. I experimented using a crock pot and my trusty rice cooker and found an easy and convenient cooking method that did not require me to stay in the kitchen the whole time. I think you will find this dish easy and impressive.
Ingredients:
1 large onion (quartered)
2 garlic cloves
1 small green chilli (halved) optional
2 inch fresh ginger root
1 tbsp ghee (clarified butter) or regular butter
1 tbsp vegetable oil or light olive oil
11/2 lb leg or shoulder of lamb cut in chunks
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 cinnamon stick broken into at least 3 pieces
2/3 cup plain yogurt
2/3 cup rice
1/3 cup dried apricots (chopped)
salt and pepper to taste
For the rice:
1 1/4 cup basmati rice
6 cardamom pods (split)
2 tbsp butter (cut into pieces)
3 tbsp cashnew nuts or sliced almonds
Garnish:
1 onion (sliced thinly and fried golden brown)
Sprigs of fresh cilantro
In a food processor, add the quartered onion, garlic, chilli and ginger and blend to a smooth paste. Heat ghee and vegetable oil in a pan. Fry the lamb in high heat in batches until brown. Remove from pan and set aside. In the hot pan, add the paste, ground coriander, cumin and broken cinnamon sticks. Cook for 1-2 minutes stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Return the lamb to the pan and gradually add the yogurt stirring constantly to ensure lamb is well coated. Season with plenty of salt and pepper. Transfer the content of the pan to your crock pot and set the temperature to low and allow to cook for 3-4 hours.
Prepare rice during the last 30 minutes of the lamb's cooking time. Rinse the basmatic rice several times until water runs clear. Soak the basmati rice for 20 minutes in cold water. Drain and in a pot add the water, salt and rice. Bring to a boil until liquid has evaporated (approx. 10 min); remove from heat.
If using a rice cooker, rinse the basmati rice until water runs clear. Add 2 cups of water and the rice to the rice cooker. Turn rice cooker on and let rice cooker complete the cooking process. When all water has evaporated and before the rice cooker "clicks" over to "warm", follow the transfer process to the crock pot.
Add split cardamom to rice and stir. Add chopped apricots to lamb. Pile the rice ontop of the lamb in the crock pot, dot with butter pieces and sprinkle with cashnew nuts. Cover and cook for another 30 minutes.
Uncover and combine the lamb and rice together. Spoon to a bowl and garnish with the fried onions and sprigs of cilantro. Enjoy!
Note: I've prepared this without the green chilli. The other spices provide so much flavor you don't miss it.