Method

Clean the chicken and marinate it with yoghurt, garam masala powder, 1/3 of the chopped onions, ½ tspn ginger & garlic paste, crushed peppercorns, lime juice and ½ tspn of salt, for 90 Mins. Clean and soak rice separately for 30 mins. Boil 1 liter of water in a pan.

Add one clove, one cardamom and ½ the cinnamon to the boiling water. Add the soaked rice and allow to boil for a few mins. Once the rice is half done add 1 tspn oil and salt. Drain and keep aside. In a thick-bottomed cooking vessel with a narrow neck, heat ½ the ghee. Add shahjeera and the cardamom, cinnamon and cloves, sauté for a minute.

Add rest of the chopped onions, sauté, then add the ginger and garlic paste.

Add the chopped tomatoes and the red chilli powder, sauté till it is slightly cooked. Then add the marinated chicken without the marinade. Stir-fry for a minute.

Add the marinade and cook till the gravy leaves the side of the container. Adjust the seasoning.

Remove half the curry from the vessel; spread half the cooked rice over the curry in the vessel, garnish with chopped mint leaves and deep fried onion slices.

Place the second layer of curry over the rice and spread the remaining rice over it. Garnish with mint leaves and deep-fried onion slices. Pour ghee on the edges of the layered biryani so that it seeps inside. Seal the container with dough so that the steam does not come out. Cook on low flame for 10-15 minutes. An alternative method is that a griddle is put on the flame and the biryani container over it with a weight on top. Or the container can be put in an oven and baked for 10-15 mins on medium heat.

Break the seal just before serving. Biryani serving must have both the layers of rice and curry. Serve with raita.

Recipe by Chef Aniruddh Bandekar