Combine the marinade yogurt, ginger garlic paste, salt, garam masala, turmeric, optional lemon juice, and red chili powder in a bowl. The mixture should carry the seasonings evenly, without dry pockets of spice.

Stir thoroughly, then taste before adding any chicken and adjust the salt or spice if needed. The marinade should taste seasoned and tangy.

Cut slits into the chicken, coat every piece with marinade, and cover and refrigerate for 1 hour to overnight. Work the coating into the cuts as well as over the outer surfaces.

Wash the basmati rice three times, soak it for 30 minutes, and transfer it to a colander to drain. The rice should be drained rather than sitting in soaking water when you assemble the layers.

Warm the ghee or oil in your pot or stovetop pressure cooker. This is the cooking fat for the whole spices and onions.

Add the bay leaf, cardamoms, cloves, cinnamon, star anise, shahi jeera, and mace, omitting unavailable whole spices if necessary. Listen for a sizzle before moving on to the onions.

Cook the sliced onion with the sizzling spices, stirring frequently for even browning. Stop at a consistent light-brown color, without blackened edges.

Place the marinated chicken in the vessel and sauté over medium heat for 5 minutes. The outside of the pieces should turn pale during this stage.

Cover and cook over low heat until the chicken becomes tender, then sauté away excess moisture. Avoid leaving a loose pool of liquid beneath the chicken before layering.

Check the cooked mixture for salt, adjust if needed, and incorporate the remaining yogurt, half the mint, green chili, optional extra red chili powder, and garam masala. These additions form the final seasoned chicken mixture beneath the rice.

Combine the chicken mixture thoroughly and arrange the pieces evenly across the bottom. An even chicken layer provides a consistent foundation for the rice.

Distribute the drained rice over the chicken without stirring it through. The rice should form a separate upper layer.

Measure the water into another pot, using 3 cups for the pressure cooker or 3½ cups for the covered-pot method. The vessel choice determines the starting resistance liquid amount.

Dissolve the water’s salt, taste it, and bring it to a vigorous boil. The water should taste slightly salty before it reaches the rice.

Direct 2 cups of boiling water around the inside edges of the cooking vessel, then gently distribute the remaining water over the rice. A gentle pour helps preserve the separate layers.

Even out the rice surface as needed and scatter over the remaining mint, plus the optional fried onions and saffron milk if using. Keep these additions on top rather than stirring them into the chicken.

For the pot finish, cover and cook over medium heat until the rice is tender, checking around 15 minutes after the liquid begins boiling in the assembled pot. If the grains remain hard and the bottom is dry, add ¼ to ½ cup more boiling water as needed and continue covered cooking until the grains are fully cooked but separate.

For the pressure cooker finish instead, use medium-high heat, secure the lid and whistle, and move the cooker off the burner after 1 whistle. The whistle marks the point to stop heating the cooker.

Allow the cooker’s pressure to release naturally before opening, then gently loosen the finished rice with a fork. Handle the grains lightly so they retain their shape.

Lift portions through the full depth of the layers. Each portion should contain upper-layer rice and chicken from underneath.