Wash and soak the rice for 2 hours at least.

Hawaij: Grind all the spices into powder. Keep aside.

Chicken Marination: Clean and wash the chicken and pat dry using kitchen towels so that the spices stick to the skin.

Apply 3 tsp of hawaij spicemix and salt on the chicken and marinate for 2 hours or preferably overnight.

After marination, Place a rack in a pot and place chicken on it. Cover and cook on medium flame for 20 minutes.

Rice Cooking: While the chicken is cooking, we will start preparing rice.

Add oil and onions to a pot and cook until golden brown.

Add 3 tsp of hawaij spices and cook for 1 minute until spices release their aroma.

Add tomatoes, mix, cover and cook until mushy.

Add drained rice, salt, remaining hawaij and carefully stir fry for 1-2 minutes until the moisture of the tomatoes is absorbed by the rice.

Now add 3 cups of water and raisins. Mix, cover and cook until only little water is remained (about 1 cm) at the bottom of the pot (about 5 minutes).

Remove the lid and place a rack in the rice and place the chicken over it. The rack should be high enough so that the chicken and the rice should not touch each other. Pour the drippings of the chicken in the rice and cover with a lid.

Place a frying pan below the rice pot (watch my video for the demonstration) and cook for 30 minutes straight at medium to low flame (no peeking please!).

Now the rice and chicken is ready at this stage. Turn the flame off and smoke with a live charcoal (watch my video for the demonstration).

Meanwhile, heat desi ghee and add cashew nuts, almond and 1 tsp or raisins. Fry until golden.

Take the rice out in a wide dish and place chicken on top.

Garnish with fried nuts, green chili, onions and lemon slices.

Chicken mandi is ready. Serve hot with salata haar.