Rayalaseema Biryani

Dry-masala Rayalaseema biryani — bone-in country chicken or mutton marinated in a paste of roasted dry red chillies, poppy seeds, fresh coconut, fried onion, ginger, garlic, and whole spices, then cooked with par-boiled rice in a dum-sealed vessel without the layered Hyderabadi technique. The biryani is drier and more intensely spiced than Hyderabadi or Kolkata styles; the ground masala paste coats every grain of rice in a deep red, aromatic crust and the country chicken's fat releases into the rice during dum cooking. Made at weddings and festivals across Kurnool, Kadapa, and Anantapur districts; its heat level is not for the faint-hearted.