Chicken Biryani

Biryani as in definition is a spicy rice dish with meat or chicken, has its roots in middle east but when Muslim invaders came to India, they brought their cuisine also along with them. As time passed there were so many changes brought by our royal cooks.

The style of recipe which Im sharing here is known as 'Pakki Biryani'. This type of biryani was cooked by the royal chefs of Lucknow (Awadh). Here rice and meat are cooked separately and then set together in layers before serving to the guests.

Ingredients:

For Marinade:

1 cup yogurt

1 tsp garam masala

salt, to taste

1-2 tsp chicken masala

3-4 tbsp lemon juice

2 tsp red chilli powder

2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste

3-4 tbsp tomato paste

Other ingredients for biryani

1 kg boneless chicken

4-5 onions, sliced

10 tbsp ghee/oil

1/2 kg good quality basmati rice

4 tbsp fresh coriander and mint leaves, chopped

4 green chillies, sliced or slit

1 pinch saffron strands, mixed in 1/2 cup hot water

1 Bay leaf

3-4 cloves

3-4 green cardamoms

2" cinnamon stick

1 cup slivered almonds and cashew nuts (Optional)

Method:

1. Marinate the chicken with above mentioned ingredients and keep for 4-6 hours in fridge.

2. Add 1 tbsp ghee in a pan and fry the dry fruits for 1-2 minutes and take them out with a slotted spoon.

3. In same oil fry the onions till they become light brown.

4. Now take a kadhai, heat rest of the ghee in it and add bay leaf, cinnamon, cloves and cardamoms, cook them for 1-2 minutes and add half of the onions, along with chicken and its marinade. Cook it on medium flame without covering. This might take around half an hour.

5. Meanwhile boil the rice upto 80% done and drain out all the water. Even better if the rice were boiled on the previous day.

6. Now take a deep thick bottomed pan, set a layer of 1/3 quantity of rice, followed by the layer of half chicken, again second layer of rice and then chicken layer. Add rest of the rice as top layer and spread rest of the fried onions, dry fruits, mint-coriander and saffron on top, cover it with the heavy lid and place it on tawa/hot plate for 10-15 minutes on medium flame.

7. Garnish with coriander leaves and chillies, serve hot.