Fry the onions in a frying pan large enough to accommodate the meat (I use a wok for this) in a bit of oil until soft, then add the crushed 3 garlic cloves and generous amounts of the spices to the onions, together with the sugar/honey.
When the sugar has melted, add the meat and braise it, as this seals the meat for the long cooking time.
Prepare the pot (a crock pot also works for this) with the potatoes/sweet potatoes, the head of garlic, the dates, the bones and the chickpeas. Over this put the meat and spices.
Rinse the barley and place in a soup bag. The rice should be rinsed and cooked until "al dente", when you bite into it, there should be a small circle of white in the rice. Once it is at this stage, place it in a second soup bag. Add the two soup bags and the eggs to the pot and cover with water.
On Shabbat, the rice and barley are served separately, as are the eggs, and the meat, chickpeas, potatoes, etc are all brought out on one plate.