i've made this now for a second & third time and well sold on it. the family love it too.
the pillau is currently KD1 (no Dippies version). the madras sauce was the Secret Santa Chilli sauce version (i made 3 off, 1 per person).
the method for making the biryani is exactly to Dipuraja's spec. i had 1 off complaint that the almond was not chopped fine enough (i will buy flakes next time in stead of whole).
i also used CA's tikka as the family had rebelled against Dippies (they are real heathen's).
going fwd i need to work on the pillau or get inspiration from Dipuraja. i've tried 2 methods. first: rinse rice in 3 changes of water, fry whole spice quickly then add water and rice, boil for 3 mins then drain - this seems to produce the best overall. second: the covered method - this produces greater whole spice flavour but sticky rice.
on next go i'm going to add a 1tsp of my Tgad2007 roasted whole spice when adding the mix powder when assembling the biryani as this would simplify the pillau rice making.
ps the methi really works well in this dish - i found myself x2 the spec on my 3rd go.
i've had the best curry week possible this week having cooked 9 off curries and 2 off biryani. many thanks to Dipuraja who for me remains real star. u have to watch what he does in terms of what we already know as he is clearly taking a commercial safeguard in many areas.

