Dry roast the ingredients under biryani masala all together and grind to a fine powder. Require only 1 - 2 tsp from this for biriyani preparation.
Clean the chicken and cut into medium sized pieces. Wash and drain.
Grind together the fennel, ginger, garlic and green chilies, half of mint leaves into a coarse paste
:- You can add some coconut too while grinding if you prefer.
Chop the tomatoes into small pieces and slice the onions.
:- One onion should be sliced very thin for garnishing.
Marinate the chicken with half of the masala paste, turmeric and salt. Keep covered for atleast an hour.
Clean and soak rice for 30 mins. Keep aside.
Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan.
Fry the onions required to garnish till golden brown. Add raisins and cashew nuts too. Drain and remove. Keep aside.
Heat up the remaining oil and add the rest of the sliced onions and sautT it till it becomes light brown.
Add the remaining masala paste n saute till raw smell goes.
Add tomatoes n saute.
Add biriyani masala, curry leaves, curd n saute it for 5 mins.
Add chicken n pressure cook for one whistle and remove whistle and let it cook on low till chicken is done.
:- The gravy should be bit watery n thick as u need this to mix with rice.
:- Check taste and add salt, pepper etc depending on it. Do not add water at all. Use curd instead.
Heat oil or ghee and add the whole spices- cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and bay leaves,remaining mint leaves. SautT for a minute.
Add the drained rice. Stir the rice till it turns opaque and add 2 cups water and 1 tsp lime juice.
Cook on low heat.
Add more water till the rice gets done.
:- It shouldn`t be over cooked or get sticky.
In an oven proof dish, spread half of the chicken masala and place half of rice over it.
Spread the remaining masala and top it with rice followed by lemon juice.
Sprinkle roasted onion, nuts and raisins.
Bake it for 15 - 20 mins at 200ªC n let it stand for 10 minutes before serving.
Add lime juice after each layer of rice to prevent it from getting sticky.
:- Serve hot with chutney or raitha or date chutney.
For date chutney:- Grind together 100 gm dates, 2 - 3 green chillies, 1 small piece ginger and salt. Add vinegar or lime juice.