There are a lot of ingredients and many steps to a good biryani—and this is a good biryani. It’s not particularly difficult to make, but I do recommend reading through all the steps before starting. Get your rice soaking first, then chop, dice, and prepare all your ingredients before cooking. Believe me—all this work will be worth it. With patience, you will have a dish worthy of your own Bollywood-and-biryani party.

Ingredients

• 3 cups basmati rice
• 3 tbsp cooking oil or ghee
• 4 onions, sliced thin
• 2 tbsp ginger garlic paste (or 2 garlic cloves, crushed, and 1½ tsp grated ginger)
• 2 lb bone-in chicken pieces, skin removed (Thighs and drumsticks work well; if using breasts, cut them in half. Boneless chicken is fine, too—cut in bite-sized pieces and reduce the cooking time.)
• About 2–3 tbsp ready-made biryani masala (see note)
• 4 medium tomatoes, diced
• 2 green chilies, slit down one side (omit or reduce if you want it less spicy—the biryani masala is quite spicy on its own)
• ½ cup plain yogurt
• 3 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters
• 1 cup cilantro leaves, chopped (set aside ¼ of this for garnish)
• 1 cup mint leaves, chopped (set aside ¼ of this to layer with rice)
• 3 pods green cardamom
• 4 whole cloves
• 1 stick cinnamon
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tsp salt
• 10 cups water
• 3 hard-boiled eggs (Optional. These can be boiled while the chicken is simmering.)
• ½ cup crispy fried onions (Optional, and available from an Indian store. If not available, fry 2 sliced onions in ghee or vegetable oil until dark and starting to crisp.)

Directions

Cook chicken: