Biryani Recipes - Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani

Biryani Recipes - Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani


Ingredients:
1 kg chicken preferably in 16 pieces and a couple of drumsticks,
1 kg Basmati rice,
1 cup finely chopped onions,
2 tsp ginger and garlic paste,
3 tsp chilli powder,
½ tsp turmeric,
100 g cashew nuts,
4 or 5 bay leaves,
4 or 5 cloves,
2 cm long cinnamon sticks,
6 to 10 green chillies ground to paste
3 or 4 cardamom pods,
1 or 2 tsp cumin
2 cups mint leaves,
1 cup coriander leaves
2 tsp coriander powder,
½ tsp garam masala powder,
1 cup coconut milk,
1 lemon,
1 ½ tsp salt (according to taste),
1 cup ghee (clarified butter),
½ cup yogurt,
1 cup oil,
2 tsp dried coconut powder,
few strands of saffron,
2 cups finely sliced onions

Preparation:
1. Make deep incisions on the chicken flesh. Mix turmeric, chilli powder, salt, garlic paste, yogurt, and half-lemon's juice.Apply this paste onto the meat flesh and let it marinate for an hour.
2. Heat about 100 ml of oil. Roast cumin, cloves, cinnamon, depoded cardamom, bay leaves, ½ spoon cumin, 1 spoon coriander powder, and finally add onions(2). Wait a couple of minutes to add mint leaves. When onions turn slight brown, add marinated chicken and cook for about 20-30 min. Add garam masala and coconut powder and turn off flame when it's about ¾th cooked. Gravy should not be much, chicken pieces should look roasted.

3. Meanwhile, while the chicken is still cooking, prepare the biryani rice. Slightly rinse 3 cups of basmati, and add water little less than the volume of the rice itself so that its only half cooked preferably in an electric cooker. Amount of water actually depends on kind of rice at hand and your experience helps to judge it. Also add 1-2 teaspoons of salt to it. Take a few semicooked grains of rice and colour them with diluted saffron for garnishing.

4. You will need a utensil of about 12" (300 mm) base. Place about half of semicooked rice in it. Next, layer half of chicken on it again topped by a layer of rice (half of the remaining). One more layer of remaining chicken, finally with layer of rest of the rice on top ends the rice-chicken layering stage.

5. Heat oil and deep fry half the sliced onions to golden brown. Similarly fry cashew. Garnish the top layer with these two along with 100 ml ghee, coconut milk, saffron rice grains and coriander. Lid the vessel and try making it airtight (but no pressure should build up). Put on high flame for 5 min before reducing it to low flame. The flame should NOT be at the vessel's centre, but on one side of it. Wait for 2-3 min and turn the vessel to heat other next part on its circumference.This way, keep rotating the vessel every 2-3 min for about 20 min. Everytime you turn it, carefully disturb the contents by a shake/jerk so as to avoid settling of ghee at the bottom.

6. Put off the flame and wait for about 10 min before opening. Before serving, mix the medley from the bottom. Serve with boiled egg halves.

Biryani Recipes - Easy Chicken Biryani

Biryani Recipes - Easy Chicken Biryani

Ingredients:
Chicken - 1 lb cut into medium sized pieces
Onions - 2 big (sliced)
Tomatoes - 2 big (sliced)
Green Chillies - 3 - cut slanted
Ginger garlic paste - 2 to 3 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Chilli powder - 2 to 2 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Cumin seed powder - 1/2 tsp (optional)
Garam masala items - 2 cloves, 1 bay leaf, 1 cardamom, 2 medium sized cinnamon sticks, a pinch of saunf (if not available, substitute with 1 tsp garam masala)
Salt - to taste
Oil - 5 tbsp (with a little butter or ghee)
Food coloring/Saffron - a pinch
Basmatic rice - 3 cups
Mint leaves (pudina) -1/4 cup
For garnishing:
Coriander leaves (Cilantro) - a little
Fresh mint (sautéd in ghee) - a little
Raisins - 5 (optional)
Cashews - 8 (optional)


Method:
In a large pan, heat oil and add the garam masala items and onions. Saute the onions for a while. Then, add the mint leaves, ginger garlic paste and saute for a few minutes. Then, add the tomatoes, green chillies, turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin seed powder and salt. Fry this mixture for a while maybe adding a little bit of water. Then, add the chicken pieces and saute for 10-15 min. Pour some water, close with a lid and allow the chicken to cook. This should be in a sort of a gravy consistency (the oil would have come out on top).
Separately cook the basmati rice (for 3 cups rice, add 4-4 1/2 cups water) ensuring that the rice is not sticky (Make sure not to overcook the rice). Soak the pinch of saffron in a little water. Roast cashews and raisins separately and keep aside. In a large dish, put in a layer of rice. Sprinkle a little saffron water. Add some chicken masala to this and mix. Then again add another layer of rice, saffron water, and chicken masala. Continue this until all of the rice and masala is exhausted. (Note: The biryani would have a mix of colors - orange (from the food coloring), partially plain white (from the rice), orangish brown (from the masala)). Toss in the cashews, and raisins, mint and coriander leaves and serve hot with onion raita or cucumber raita or plain sliced onions.