Chicken Reshmi Biryani Recipe

Ingredients:
1 kg chicken (broiler) - cut into 8 pieces
1 kg onion - sliced
oil - for frying
1 cup hara dhania - finely chopped
1/2 tsp garlic paste
1/2 tsp ginger paste
1 tbsp dhania powder
1/2 tsp haldi powder
2 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
1 cup dahi
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp kewra essence

For rice
2 cups basmati or sela rice - washed and soaked for 30 minutes
2 tbsp oil
6 pepper corns
6 cloves
6 green cardamoms
1/2 tsp salt
water
1/4 tsp saffron - soaked in 2 tbsp warm milk
dough - to seal the pan

Method:
Marinate the chicken in ginger and garlic paste, dhania powder, haldi powder, chilli powder, garam masala powder, yogurt, salt and kewra for 3-4 hours.

Heat oil in a kadahi and fry the onions in it till brown and crisp. Drain out the oil from the onions and keep aside.

Heat oil again in another pan and add the peppercorns, cloves, and cardamoms in it. When slightly dark add the rice and turn around to mix well. Drain the rice and keep aside.

Add 2 1/2 cups water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and cook for about eight minutes. The rice is almost done but not fully cooked. Keep aside.

Heat 1/2 cup of the remainder of the oil in a kadahi with a lid and add the chicken to it, spreading it to form a layer.

Cover the chicken, make a layer of half each of the rice, onions and coriander leaves.

Repeat the same layers a second time, sprinkle the saffron mixture over it and cover the pan, sealing it with some dough (grease the edges before applying the dough, so that the dough comes off easily later on).

Let cook on high heat for 10 minutes, then place on a tawa and leave on low heat to cook for about an hour. Alternatively, you could cook it in a moderate oven for an hour.

Break the seal and serve either in the same pan or transfer on to a serving dish.