Marinating the Chicken

1. Wash the chicken pieces
2. In a blender or mixer jar, add all the ingredients needed for marination + salt
3. Grind coarsely and add to the chicken pieces
4. Mix well and leave to marinate in the refrigerator for about 8 hours or overnight
5. Wash and soak 1 cup basmati rice in enough water to completely cover it for 30 minutes
6. In the meantime, chop your onions and powder the spice masala
7. Soak a pinch of saffron in 3 tbsp warm milk and set aside
8. Heat 1/4 cup ghee in a heavy-bottomed pan with a tight-fitting lid. This is the same pan we will use to cook the dum biryani
9. Add the sliced onions and keep flame at medium-low. Stir frequently to ensure even frying.
10. While the onions are frying, keep water in a large pot for cooking the rice
11. Bring the water to a rolling boil and add 1 tsp caraway seeds (shahjeera), 2 bay leaves, 1 tsp oil, and some salt
12. Add the soaked rice to this and cook on medium-high heat until the rice is 3/4 cooked. When you take out one grain and bite into it, it shouldn’t be mushy or cooked fully
13. While the rice is cooking, keep an eye on the onions and drain when they are fully dark brown
14. In the same ghee, fry the cashew nuts, drain and then fry the raisins and drain
15. The rice should now be done. Drain the rice in a colander and fluff it with a fork
16. Now, in the same pan used for frying the onions, top up the remaining 1/4 cup ghee (see notes)
17. Add the marinated chicken pieces and mix well
18. Now add the freshly ground whole spices spices or biryani masala. I added about 2 tbsp of it
19. Fry for 30 seconds
20. Add 1 tbsp each of chopped coriander leaves and mint leaves on top

Layering the biryani

1. Layer the cooked rice over the chicken and top up with fried onion, cashew nuts, raisins, coriander leaves, and mint leaves
2. Pour the saffron milk mixture on top

Preparing for dum cooking

1. There are different methods to ensure we provide a dum cooking environment for the biryani
2. I used aluminium foil and closely covered the cooking pan, taking care of the handle area first
3. Then, I closed the pan tightly with its lid
4. Keep the heat to lowest possible and cook for about 15-20 minutes
5. Alternate methods – you can use a clean, damp kitchen towel to cover the cooking pan
6. You can also layer the ingredients in a baking dish, cover with aluminium foil, and bake at 320F / 160C for 15 minutes
7. Once done, uncover and gently combine the layers so that the spices get mixed with the rice
8. Serve chicken dum biryani with raita and mirchi ka salan