Chicken Biriyani

This recipe is not for the faint of heart. You need nerves of steel and the patience of a saint. I have both of these things :) If you're making this for the first time, make sure you free up a couple of hours. You will need a gazillion ingredients and a couple of pots and pans.
1 full chicken cut in small pieces
3 tbsps biriyani spice
1 tbsp ginger paste
1 tbsp garlic paste
lemon juice
salt/pepper
Marinate the chicken with the above ingredients overnight.

2 onions sliced
2 green chillies sliced
2 tomatoes chopped fine
1 tbsp ginger paste
1 tbsp garlic paste
3 tbsps biriyani spice
3 tbsps beaten yoghurt
5 cups basmati rice soaked for a hour in water
whole spices - cardamons, cinnamon, cloves, star anise
2 tbsps ghee
yellow powder food colour
1 cup washed coriander leaves
1/4 cup heated milk with a pinch of saffron strands
3 potatoes sliced think and fried.

Fry the two sliced onions, take half out when golden brown and leave half in to fry a bit more to be used as the garnish. Remove and keep aside. Fry the chillies and add the chicken and fry till golden brown. Add the 3 tbsps of biriyani spice. In a separate pan heat the tomatoes till it it forms a gravy. Add to the chicken, cover and cook for 20 mins. Add the reserved golden brown onions. Add salt and finally some yogurt.

In a separate pot heat the ghee which is Indian clarified butter. Add the whole spices followed by 10 cups of water. Add salt and bring to the boil. Add the rice and cook covered for 10 - 15 mins till half cooked. Drain the water.

Layer the chicken curry and rice starting with the curry. Layer the potato slices in between.  Pour the milk with saffron over the rice. The final layer must be rice. Sprinkle some yellow foold colour powder over the top layer and add the fried onions. Bake in the over for an hour. After that mix the layers together and add some coriander leaves and serve.