Sindhi Chicken Biryani (Karachi-style)

Soak the sella rice for 30 minutes. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil with a few of the whole spices, add the rice, and cook only until it bends but still has a hard core — about 70% done. Drain and set aside.

💡 Undercooked on purpose — the dum finishes it. Fully cooked rice here becomes paste after steaming.

Fry the sliced onions in the oil until deep golden. Lift out and reserve half for the layers; leave half in the pot. Add the ginger-garlic paste and the rest of the whole spices and cook 1 minute.

Add the chicken and the ground spices with a little salt and fry over high heat until the chicken colours, 5 minutes. Stir in the whisked yogurt and the tomatoes and cook until the oil rises to the surface and the masala looks glossy, 12–15 minutes.

💡 Waiting for the oil to separate is what makes a pakki biryani taste cooked-through rather than raw-spiced. Do not rush it.

Add the aloo bukhara, green chillies and boiled potatoes. Cover and simmer 5 minutes until the chicken is tender and the gravy is thick, not soupy.

Layer: spread half the masala in a heavy pot, cover with half the rice, scatter fried onions, mint and coriander; repeat. Drizzle the lemon juice and the dissolved food colour over the top rice.

Seal the lid (a strip of dough or foil under the lid helps), set the pot on the lowest heat, and dum-steam 20 minutes. Rest sealed 10 minutes, then fold up from the bottom so the two colours streak through without breaking the grains.

💡 Put a flat tawa or heat diffuser under the pot for the dum so the bottom layer steams instead of scorching.