Rice is rinsed but not soaked (this is Portuguese-style rice, where short-grain is preferred for its slight starchiness). Goan chouriço is rendered in olive oil with garlic and bay, onion is softened, tomato is cooked down to a paste, and the rice is toasted briefly before stock is poured in for a covered steam. Peas are folded through in the final minutes. The dish has a faintly smoky paprika colour and a clear Portuguese DNA.
Chicken thighs are marinated overnight in a yogurt-and-vinegar paste with a freshly-ground Goan masala (Kashmiri chillies, peppercorns, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, cumin and fennel) plus a touch of toasted coconut and ginger-garlic paste. Basmati is parboiled in salted water with whole spices. Fried onions are crisped and reserved. The biryani is built in layers: marinated chicken, rice, fried onions, saffron milk, mint, coriander, repeated; sealed under a tight lid and cooked under dum for 45 minutes. Distinctively Goan: palm vinegar in the marinade and a small splash of coconut milk in the layering.
Aged basmati is rinsed and soaked. A whole-spice tempering of cinnamon, cardamom and cloves is bloomed in coconut oil with sliced onion and a slit green chilli. The drained rice is toasted briefly in the spiced oil, then half-coconut-milk and half-water is poured in for a covered steam. The grains finish white-cream coloured, faintly sweet from the coconut and warm from the whole spices.
A bright green masala paste of coriander, mint, green chilli, ginger and garlic is ground with a splash of vinegar. Basmati is rinsed, soaked and drained. Whole spices and onion are softened in coconut oil, the prawns briefly seared and lifted out, then the green masala is fried into the onion before the rice is added to toast. Stock goes in for the steam; the prawns return at the end so they don't overcook.