Ingredients

· 1kg chicken, cut into 8 pieces

· 1kg onions, sliced uniformly

· Oil for frying onions

· 1 cup coriander, finely chopped

· ½ tsp garlic paste

· ½ tsp ginger paste

· 1tbsp coriander powder

· ½ tsp turmeric powder

· 2tsp chilli powder

· ½ tsp garam masala

· 1 cup yogurt

· Salt to taste

· 2 cups basmati rice

· Some dough to seal the pan

Method

Heat oil in a karahi and fry the onions till brown and crisp. Strain the onions and keep aside. Marinate the chicken in garlic and ginger pastes, coriander, turmeric, chilli powder, garam masala, yogurt and salt for at least three to four hours. In a separate utensil, bring water to a boil, add in rice and salt, and cook till the rice is almost cooked then drain and keep aside. Heat half a cup of oil in a large heavy-based pan and add the chicken to it, spreading it to form a layer.

Over the chicken, make a layer of half each of the rice, onions and coriander leaves. Repeat the same layers a second time and cover the pan, sealing it with some dough (grease the edges before applying it, so that the dough comes off easily later on). Let it cook on high heat for 10 minutes then place on a tawa (griddle) and leave on low heat to cook for about an hour. Alternatively, you could cook it in a moderate oven for an hour. Break the seal and enjoy steaming hot.