Chicken biryani recipe

 This recipe is for party size, 7-8 adult servings, proportionate everything according to your batch size. 

Ingredients 

Chicken - 10-12 drumsticks / thighs,

Shan biryani masala: 1 pct

Red chili powder- 2-3 tsp (go easy if you can't handle heat or your chilliP is too hot)

Coriander Powder - 2 tbsp

Salt- 4 tsp

MDH / Aachi Chicken masala  - 2-3 tsp

Ginger-garlic paste - 3 tsp

Dry Fried onions- 300-400 gms 

Cilantro- 1 bunch

Mint - 1 bunch

Curd- 1/2 cup (120 ml) 

Basmati Rice - 8 cups (180 ml rice cup)

Green lemon-1 large

Whole spices - 1 tsp each of whole pepper, green & black cardamom, cloves, pattar ka pool, javitri, marati moggu and star Ananias

Bay leaves - 4-5

Butter or ghee - 6 tsp

Onions -1 medium

Green chilies -6-8

Rose water - few drops

Food color - optional

If you're making fried onions on your own, fry 4 medium sized onions thinly sliced in 100 ml vegetable oil on medium low heat till they turn crispy golden brown.

Prepare cooking pan & marinate: 

Take a large aluminum baking tray (prefer Maintrays lasagna tray oval-shaped) and apply butter to the surface, not more than 2-3 tbsp. Peel off any skin or big fat chunks from chicken, can leave small fat tissues if you'd like.. dry chicken with kitchen towels, and make deep cuts on the meat so that it can cook better.

warm the whole spices in a small dry pan till fragrance come out. Take half of the whole spices into a blender jar blend it to fine powder, the  add onion, 4 chillies, half bunch of both cilantro and mint, 2 tsp salt, chilli powder, coriander powder, 1 full lime squeezed, blend it to a smooth paste.

  Put the chicken into butter coated tray, pour in blended masala, 150 gms of fried onions, 1 pckt biriyani masala, add curd and mix again. Leave it aside to marinate  while you prepare rice (15-20 mins)

Prepare flavored rice

Give the rice a very quick rinse with cold water and strain the water out. Take a vessel big enough to cook 8 cups of rice with 4 litres of water. Put on high flame, add 3 tbsp of butter or ghee let it heat up a little bit add  5-6 dry bay leaves, sliced chillies, and the whole spices and fill ¾ of vessel with water and get it to boil, add rice once you see bubbles. Stir occasionally and cook rice till comes to boil (rice should be half cooked,) turn off and strain out excess water.

Dhum

Now gently spread the rice over the meat marinate in the pan without breaking the rice grains approx 2 inches thick. Sprinkle some fried onions, finely chopped cilantro and mint. Add more rice on top of it. Repeat this till all the rice is filled into the pan. Sprinkle the onions, cilantro, and mint on the top and cover it with a layer of heavy-duty aluminum foil wrap without leaving a gap and fold it in the edges to fix it like a proper air-sealed lid on the tray. Preheat the oven for 450°F and place it in the middle rack for 1 hr 20 mins. Turn the oven down to 400 and cook it for 10 mins. Turn off the oven and let the package rest there in the warmth for 10 mins and take it out to room temperature and rest it for another 10 mins. The better it tastes more it rests with the dhum on and the meat gets more flavor into it during this time.

Mix and serve

You can notice that all the meat and masala will be in the bottom and the rice on the top, so we need to make sure every serving has the right meat masala and rice.  If you are digging out one spoon, scoop it till the bottom so you'll have all the layers into your plate, for beginners, the best way to do it is, take a serving pan and dug out little by little without breaking rice or meat with masala and mix it there and serve...