Sorry, I didn’t notice this comment till now.
The issue seems to me to be this: what is “logistically possible” for restaurants, and how close do they need to stay to traditional recipes for a particular dish? Biryani is traditionally prepared along the lines that bmorecupcake describes. The layering of meat/chicken (or alternatives) with rice, and their final cooking together is essential for a biryani. Since “pakka” (cooked) biryani recipes involve precooked meat layered with parcooked rice, it’s quite possible for restaurants that care to offer “true” biryanis if they warn customers that there will be a short wait. They can then offer multiple types of biryani without sacrificing that final, exquisite whiff of flavor when the dish is unsealed.
Simply stirring meat/chicken with rice is, in my view, lazy surrender.
(There are other rice and meat dishes in Indian cooking – pulaos, for example – that better fit what many Indian restaurants in the US offer.)
