Prep:

• First, prepare all the ingredients
• Wash and rinse the rice 5-6 times until the water becomes clearer, and soak it in cold water
• Slice and chop all the vegetables, and gather everything else in front of you

Biryani Masala:

• Heat the oil in a large pot
• Add the onion and cook it on medium high heat for 8-10 minutes until it becomes golden
• Add the ginger & garlic paste and saute for 1-2 minutes until it no longer smells raw
• Add the chicken, and cook on high heat for 5 minutes. This will give the chicken a light brown color and get rid of the raw smell
• Add the yogurt, salt, Bombay Biryani Masala, Sindhi Biryani Masala, and potatoes. Stir and fry on high heat for 2-3 minutes to toast the spices and make them fragrant
• Add the sliced lemon
• Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook until the potatoes are just cooked through (but not fully soft). This can take anywhere from 10-20 minutes depending on how big your potatoes are cut. Check after every 5 minutes
• Halfway through cooking the potatoes, add the dried aloo bukhara and green chilies, and stir them in
• Once the potatoes are just cooked through, remove the lid. Keep the heat on low, and layer the sliced tomatoes on top of the masala. Sprinkle 2 tbsp each of the cilantro and mint on top (you won't use all of the cilantro and mint in this step)
• Cover the pot with the lid and cook for about 10 min on low heat to soften tomatoes
• Remove the lid and cook for 2-3 more minutes on medium heat. Then turn off the heat
• At this point, the biryani masala should be very fragrant, the potatoes should be fully cooked through, and there should be a good amount of masala without being watery. If there's too much liquid, cook down a bit more without a lid
• Cover the masala and keep it hot

Parboiling rice:

• Follow the instructions given on the package of the rice to boil it in water with salt, but reduce the cooking time to ~75% and check frequently after the 50% mark
• To cook Sella rice, I add the soaked rice to boiling water, and cook it for ~8-10 minutes before draining
• The rice should be just cooked through (i.e., no raw middle) but should still have a firmness / bite to it. Drain the water by transferring the rice to a rice colander

Layering:

• To a clean, large heavy bottomed Dutch oven pot, add a third of the rice on the bottom. Drizzle over some food color (mixed in water) and sprinkle over a third of the remaining cilantro and mint
• Then add a layer of half of the biryani masala
• Repeat with another third of the rice, food color, cilantro, mint. Add the remaining biryani masala, and add a third and final layer of rice, food color, cilantro and mint on top

Steaming / Dum:

• Use the back of a large spoon / dowel to poke 3-4 holes through the layers of the biryani
• Wrap the lid of the pot in a large tea towel and cover the pot. Place it on a small burner on medium heat, and put some weight on top of the lid (e.g., a mortar and pestle). After 5 minutes, reduce the heat to the lowest setting
• Allow the biryani to steam for ~20 minutes. You will know it is done if you slightly lift the lid and see steam escaping
• Turn off the heat and let the biryani rest for 5 minutes
• Carefully and very gently mix the biryani. Use a large metal spoon or rice fluffer, and mix in a scooping motion just 5-6 times. The biryani does not have to be fully mixed; overmixing will risk breaking the rice
  • If you are serving the biryani in a different dish, you can skip the "mixing" and simply scoop the biryani into the dish, making sure to dig deep with each scoop. This will naturally mix the layers

Serving:

• Make the raita by mixing together the ingredients
• Serve the biryani while hot with the cold raita, and enjoy!!

Video Tutorial: