Wash the rice and let it soak in water until it is ready to go in the pot.

Heat the ghee in a deep pot. Start by sauteeing the bayleaves and peppercorns. Next add the onions and saute for a minute. Then add the raisins, almons and cashews and let everything saute. If you have dried apricots and figs, you can add that too, I didn’t want this to turn out SWEET, so I just kept it to the raisins.

Drain the water from the rice, and add the rice and saute for 3mins. Add 3 cups of water and bring it to a boil. Next add the garam masala powder – I have mentioned a measurement, but go by your taste. Add the salt and the mint leaves. Cover and cook until the rice is 50% done. I cooked this in a pressure cooker, so I just put the lid on and let it cook without a whistle.

Once the rice is half cooked, add the grated beets into the rice and mix gently so you don’t mush the rice. Here is where the rice turns pink and I had fear creep up a bit, but the smell was actually good, so I ignored it. Cover and cook until the rice is completely done.