Chicken Biriyani Recipe

Chicken Biriyani Recipe

Biriyani is the most spicy and aromatic food which we all like to have for lunch or dinner,if there is any special occassions at home.Most of the people are trying different varieties of Biriyani. Among biriyani's Chicken biriyani is the common and cheap in restaurants too.I'm sharing you a simple and easy recipe for chicken Biriyani.Its simply mixing the Half cooked rice and cooked chicken method.

   RECIPE OF CHICKEN BIRIYANI  

• 1.Chicken - 1 Kg
• 2.Basmati rice - 4 cups
• 3.Onion - 3 large or 5 medium
• 4.Tomato - 1 big or 2 small
• 5.Green Chilli - 3
• 6.Chicken masala - 2 Tb sp
• 7.Chilli powder - 1 Tb sp
• 8.Turmeric powder - 1/2 Tsp
• 9.Garam masala - 1 Tsp
• 10.Pepper powder - 1 Tsp
• 11.Salt - to taste
• 12.Lime juice - of 1 lime
• 13.Coriander leaves - 1 bunch
• 14.Cashews - 10-15
• 15.Raisins - 10-15
• 16.water - 11 cups
• 17.Ginger - garlic paste - 2 Tb sp
• 18.Mint(pudhina) - 1 bunch,if available

Method of preparing Chicken Biriyani

1.  Marinating Chicken


    1.Clean and cut chicken in medium sized pieces. If you need fat don’t remove fat else remove fat and clean chicken.

    2. Make a paste of the powders given below and apply to the cleaned chicken and keep it in refrigerator for 1-2 hours.

 List of ingredients for marinating 1 Kg Chicken

• Chilli powder                -    1 Tb sp
• Turmeric Powder        -  ½ Ts sp
• Coriander Powder       - 1 Tb sp
• Chicken  Masala           - 2 Tb sp
• Garam Masala              - 1 Ts sp
• Ginger Garlic Paste     - 2 Tb sp
• Salt                                 -to taste

2. Cooking

• Shallow fry the chicken pieces and keep aside.Saute chopped ginger n garlic(only add this,if you did not add while marination) and onions.
• When the onion cooked nicely add tomato puree and cook until the raw smell goes.
• Add 1 Tsp Garam masala n 1 Tsp Chicken masala to the gravy and saute it.When the raw smell goes,add the fried chicken pieces and 1 cup water.Cover and cook for 20 minutes.
• .If you want more spicy biriyani you can add 2-3 green chillies(slited) to the gravy while cooking.
• After 20 minutes if its having more gravy,open the lid and cook for 5 minutes in medium flame and switch off the flame.Chicken curry is ready.

                                                        

 3. Preparing the rice

• Rice – 5 cups
• Water-11 cups
• Lime juice of 1 lime

Note:

• Use long, good quality Biriyani rice  for the  preparation,since the rice itself gives a special aroma. 
• For 1 cup of rice take 2 cup water .It should be mentioned  in the Biriyani Rice packet.So check your rice packet before measuring rice and water.(ratio differs for each rice varieties) 

Spices Used

• Cinnamon – 4 medium sticks                                
• Clove – 10
• Cardamom -5
• Black Pepper – 10
• Bay Leaves – 4
• Star Anise - 2(optional)
• Cumin seeds - a few(optional)

•  Soak the rice for 20 minutes in water. Wash well till the water runs clear. Drain all the water.
• Boil 11 cups of water in a large vessel(heavy bottom).
• Add all spices which I have listed to the water. Also add required amount of salt to the water.
• When the water gets boil, add all the drained rice with few drops of oil or ghee and   lemon juice(1 full lemon) which helps to reduce the sticking of rice.
• When the rice is half cooked(by that time water will reduce) drain out the rice with all spices to another container and keep aside for layering.

How to check whether rice is half cooked:

• Water is about to drain and rice becomes curve shaped and if we try to break the rice  it will break.
• So this stage of rice is the correct time to drain the half cooked rice

4. Preparing the saffron-milk:

•  Take 1/4th cup warm milk in a cup and dissolve saffron strands in the milk.Use a little bit of red food colour or turmeric instead of saffron for those who don't have saffron.
• Cover and wait for 20 minutes. Add Biriyani essence or Pine apple essence to  the milk for getting more flavor(I didn’t use these essence, Its optional.) . Mix well, cover and keep aside.

  Fried Onions,Golden Raisins,Cashews and our herbs(cilantro n mint)

5. Layering the Chicken Biriyani

• Take a large heavy bottom pan with tight fitting lid.
•  Melt the ghee on low heat. Turn and rotate the pan carefully so the ghee can coat the bottom and sides of the pan. Switch off the heat.
• Add a layer of cooked rice, then cooked chicken pieces, sprinkle saffron/colour water, add fried onion slices herbs(cilantro n mint)and ghee/fat.
• Again add a layer of rice, then chicken,fried onions,herbs and ghee...go on like this till you are done. Top and bottom layer will be rice.
• Cover with chopped mint(pudhina) and cilantro(coriander),fried onions and juice of half a lemon.
• Add the prepared Saffron- milk mixture randomly on the top of rice.
• Cover with a tight fitting lid. Seal the pan with flour dough or aluminium foil, then put the lid. Keep the heat to lowest. And cook the Biryani in this 'Dum' process for 20 minutes.
• Make sure your pan is heavy-bottomed other wise  rice will burn. Or you can place a flat tawa with some water and then keep the pan on that tawa.
• Instead you can keep the biriyani in a conventional oven at 350°F for 30 minutes for Dum process.In this case,cover tightly the glass ware or that  dish with aluminium foil.
• After 30 minutes switch off the heat and let the biriyani stand for another 10 minutes. Transfer to a serving bowl.
• Decorate  plates of rice with fried onions, fried nuts and raisins. Serve with raita, salad, pappad and lemon pickle .

Tips 

• Cut all the needed onion,tomato,green chillies,ginger,garlic while the chicken is refrigerating.
• Cut onion into thin slice for frying(used for layering) and also fry this onion.cashews n raisins in ghee for more flavour.
• Prepare pappad,boiled eggs n salad in between
• Serve hot.

Hope you all like this simple recipe

Happy Cooking

Kottayam Kitchen

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