making biryani for 10-15 people, never made for so many people before?

Question

Please could someone tell me, how many cups of rice and how much chicken would i require for that many people. Thanks

Answer 1

VEGETABLE BIRYANI (SOUTH AFRICA)

3 lg. onions, sliced
4 tbsp. butter
6 chili peppers, crushed into a paste or 2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 (2 inch) piece fresh ginger
10 cloves garlic
1/2 c. dry lentils, pre-soaked
1/2 lb. fresh green peas, shelled
1/2 lb. carrots, chopped
1/2 lb. green beans, chopped
3 lg. tomatoes, chopped
7 whole cloves
1 (4 inch) stick cinnamon
6 cardamom pods, crushed
1 tsp. turmeric
3 sprigs fresh mint or 1/2 tsp. dried mint leaves, pounded
2 c. long grain white rice (basmati is a good choice), uncooked
6 lg. potatoes, chopped into lg. chunks
1-2 tsp. salt
Yogurt

In a large, heavy skillet or stew pot, fry the onions in butter until they are golden brown. With a slotted spoon, remove about 1/3 of the slices and set aside.

Add to the pot the ginger, garlic and chili paste, and fry for 5 or 6 minutes, stirring constantly. Then add the lentils, green peas, carrots and green beans. Reduce heat and cook for 15 minutes, adding more butter, or a bit of oil, if necessary.

Add tomatoes, spices and mint, and stir for 5 minutes. Then pour in about a cup of hot water, cover, and simmer until vegetables are about half cooked. Add rice, potatoes, salt, and another 4-5 cups of hot water (use the lesser amount if your vegetables have created quite a bit of liquid). Cover again, and cook for another 20-30 minutes until rice is done and water is absorbed.

To serve, garnish with the reserved onion slices, and pass around a bowl of yogurt as a sauce. Serves 4-6.

Answer 2

Cooked rice expands 3-4 times in volume during cooking, so for the recommended service of 1/2 cup of cooked rice per person, you're looking at about two tablespoons of uncooked rice per person. Multiply that by 15 people and you get 30 tablespoons, which is just under two cups of uncooked rice. Personally, I'm a big eater, so I'd err on the side of caution and double that amount (you can always save the leftovers for lunches later). As for chicken, the single-serving size is about three ounces, so for 15 people, you're looking at a little under three pounds of chicken. Again, you may want to err on the heavy side to ensure everyone gets a good bit of chicken.

The recipe I found on Food Network calls for 2 pounds of chicken and 1.75 cups of long grained rice, service 6-8 people, which is pretty close to what I recommend. Just be sure that the ingredients are scaled proportional to how much rice you're using -- it's the base for the whole dish, and you want to be sure the flavor is appropriately intense for the size of dish you're talking about. Also, I'd adjust the recipe and add a little more liquid than what it calls for, because the more rice you have to cook, the more rice the liquid and steam will have to pass through to reach the top layers and you might end up with drier rice than you'd like.

Answer 3

this recipe serves 7 so you could use have again of the ingredients for 10 people or you could double it for more
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chicken-biryani/detail.aspx