Dry roast Cinnamon Stick, Green Cardamom, Black Cardamom, Mace, Nutmeg, Cumin seed, Coriander Seed, Clove, and also Black Pepper till the spices emit aroma.
Switch the flame off and wait till the spices are cooled down.
Make a powder of the spices.
Keep it handy for use in the Pulao.
To make the Pulao:
Wash and clean the meat and marinate with 1/2 Tsp. of Salt.
Wash and soak rice in water for 30 minutes.
Slice three onions and make a paste of 2 onions
Heat oil in a deep bottom vessel and add 1 Tbsp. Ghee to fry the onion in small batches to make the onion crisp or Piyanj beresta.
Add 1 Tbsp. Ghee to the remaining oil.
Temper the mixture of Ghee and oil with Dry Red Chili, Bay Leaf, Cinnamon Stick, Green Cardamom, and also Black Cardamom.
Add Onion paste to the pan and cook till the onion turns brown in color.
Now add ginger and garlic paste followed by 4 green chilies and cook for a minute or two.
Add both types of curd after blending those and mix well.
Cook till the mixture leaves oil from the edges.
Add Red chili powder, turmeric powder, salt, and also 1/2 Tsp. Garam Masala to it and mix.
Add 1 Tbsp. Lemon juice as well.
Now add chicken pieces and cook by covering the pan.
Turn the meat chunks once in a while.
Cook for around 20 minutes on low flame.
The chicken by then will release sufficient moisture.
In this dish, the chicken may take extra time to cook as the chunks are bigger.
Check the chicken by pricking it with a fork.
Cook till the chicken is 2/3 cooked and then switch the flame off.
Once the chicken is cooked properly remove the chunks from the pan and keep the gravy in the pan as it is.
Now add the soaked rice to the pan and after mixing add boiling water to it.
the Mixture of gravy and water must be double the quantity of the rice.
Adjust spices as needed except the Garam masala.
Cover the pan and cook for around 15 minutes or till the rice is 2/3 cooked.
Now after 15 minutes when the rice will be 2/3 cooked, the pan may have little extra moisture.
Take out half of the rice from the pan and place the cooked chicken chunks over the rice which is remaining in the pan.
Top it with the rest of the alu bukhara, half of the Birista, 1/4 Tsp. of Garam Masala, 1/2 portion of the mawa, and also half of the milk and saffron mixture.
Add some lemon juice as well.
Now top it with the remaining rice.
Add half of the Birista, 1/4 Tsp. of Garam Masala, 1/2 portion of the mawa and also half of the milk and saffron mixture, and also a few green chilies.
Add 1 Tsp. Ghee as well.
Cover the pan with a lid and place a weight over the lid.
Keep the flame on the lower side and cook for 10 minutes on dum.
After 10 minutes switch the flame off.
Open the lid and lightly mix the rice before serving the Pulao.
Notes
The meat-to-rice ratio in this dish is 4:1
One whole chicken is to be cut into four pieces and slow cooking is a must. You may refer to the picture for the exact cut.
Instead of oil, only ghee can also be used or you can skip ghee completely.
The key is to cook the rice with the gravy of the chicken to make it flavorful.