Chicken Biryani Again

So yesterday I did this Biryani coz we had some cousins over for dinner. I must confess this time I had some progress over my all previous attempts, and it was really loved by our guests, made me feel even better. Btw no matter how much (usually) people boast/claim but making good biryani is extremely tricky and needs years of practice to be confident in it. And the only time I seriously pray is while making biryani :)

Stuff needed
1/2 kg boneless chicken pieces
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
200 gm rice
2-3 green chillies (or more if u like spicy)
almonds, cashews (as much as u like)
salt (as needed)
3-4 tbsp oil

Whole spices:
2 bay leaves
2" cinnamon stick
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tbsp cumin seeds
4 green cardamoms
3 cloves
2 tbsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
5-6 dry curry leaves
1/2 thyme seeds
1/2 tsp peppercorns
tiny bit of nutmeg


1. Dry roast all the whole spices and crush them well in a mortal n pestle.
2. marinate chicken pieces with salt, ginger-garlic paste, tomato paste and crushed whole spices for around 3o mins.
3. Heat oil in a vessel and add chicken pieces, cook for 5 minutes on high flame, keep stirring to avoid sticking at bottom.
4. Cover the vessel and keep the flame quite low.
5. Boil some water and add rice, cook for few minutes only as we want them only 40-50% done.
6. Now drain out all the water and spread the rice carefully on chicken or mix them very gently. NOW HERE THE TRICKY PART STARTS.
7. Put a tawa/griddle/hotplate on gas (still on low flame) and put the biryani vessel on top of griddle.
8. Cover the vessel and leave it for 40-45 mins. Now because our rice were quite raw, they will absorb any extra liquids left by the chicken pieces, as a result we'll have quite dry biryani without any sogginess.

(Please) do not forget:
1. if u want to put onions, fry the slices seprately and spread them on top of biryani as garnish.
2. Using boneless chicken is much better coz u dnt wanna pick bones while enjoying this fine dish.
3. Prefer boneless thigh pieces as they contain more fat than other chicken parts. and as a result you dont have to use much cooking oil.