There
was a small get together over the weekend at my place. Get to gather and good
food sets the mood of the party. The menu had variety.... In starters we
had Potato Cheese Shots, Chicken Skewers (recipe coming up shortly), Garlic
Sauce (recipe already there on the blog), Main course was Chicken Biryani and Dhaba
Chicken (recipe already on the blog). Desert was Aam ras and pieces of mangoes
over vanilla ice-cream had my guest hogging on all this delicious delicacy.
Chicken
biryani is cooked in quiet different variation. I like the version that my mom
cooks. It’s yummy and tastes awesome. I have tried many different variations of
biryani but my favorite remains this
one. Today I am sharing with you this recipe which has been passed on thru my
grandmother to my mom and from my mom to me :))
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1.1/2 Kg
Basmati
Rice - 1 Kg
Onion
Tomatoes
Potatoes
Haldi
Red
Chilli Powder
Green
Chillies
Coriander
Powder
Whole
Garam Masala (Cinnamon Sticks, Black pepper, Green Cardamon, Black Cardamon Clove
(lavang)
Coriander
Leaves
Salt
Ginger
garlic paste
Yogurt
Kewra
Water
Hara Masala - (Green Chilies,
Ginger, Garlic, Cumin seeds, Haldi, Garam Masala, Coriander Leaves and little
salt) – We usually keep this masala stored in our fridge, apart from biryani
this masala can also be used in other preparations. 3-4 Tbsp if masala is
required for the biryani.
Again
it all depends on the quantity of the biryani.
Ingredients
will vary as per the quantity of the Biryani. If you are cooking Mutton Biryani
then it will be 1 Kg Mutton and 1 Kg Basmati Rice.
Method:
.
Marination: Marinate the chicken with salt, Hara masala and yogurt. Keep it
aside for at least 1-2 hrs.
.
Potatoes:
Cut
potato in round circles, it should be 1/2 “inch in thickness, add little salt
& keep it aside for an hour and later drain the water completely and
shallow fry the potatoes.
·
Onions:
Take lot of oil in a cooking vessel, once hot fry the finely sliced onion.
While frying the onions put two pinch of salt so that onion will not soak much
oil. Once the onions are light golden remove it in a flat plate spreading
it across so the golden color remains intact.
·
Rice:
Take
little oil in a pan, add little garam masala (Kali Mirchi, Laung, Tikki,Brown cardamon (1-no) and Green cardamon(3-4 nos) Add rice leaves. Saute for 2 – 3 seconds & then
add water and salt. Wash basmati rice thoroughly & add to the pan. Keep
water more so that once rice is done you can drain the excess water. The
rice should be cooked ¾ (once you break the rice it should break in ¾ size ¼
should be yet to cook).
·
Biryani
Heat oil in a cooking vessel, add tomatoes cover the lid for 3-4 min so the
tomatoes are smashed well later uncover the lid and
sauté well so that the tomato water gets dried, add slit green chilies, red
chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, hara masala, salt and drain
the entire curd from chicken marination and add to this preparation and sauté
well so that the entire water is drained and the gravy starts separating oil.
Later add marinated chicken and sauté well for 5-7 minutes and add the fried
onions and mix it well.
 |
| Masala should look this way once ready for layering |
Keep
aside from the gas, add lots of finely cut coriander leaves, fried potatoes mix
well. Put the second layer of boiled rice on top of the dry gravy garnish it
with coriander and fired onions. You can add color to the biryani if you want
by mixing it in a bowl of milk and then spreading it over the rice, thou I
don’t prefer adding color as it’s not good for health. Add Kewra water few
drops. Cover it with a foil paper and keep it on the gas above Tawa, and
let it cook initially on high flame for 10 minutes and later for 15- 20 minutes
on a very low flame.
 |
| Layering of the Biryani |
 |
| This is how the Biryani should look once you are done with layering |
When you open the lid there should be
enough steam flowing out. That means your biryani is ready.
Serve hot with Raita.
Few Tips while making the biryani
- Making biryani
is an art, everyone can’t make it perfect. Timing and judgment plays an
important role.
- The onions
should be perfect golden brown if it gets fried to darker brown, your
biryani might turn sweeter.
- When you boil
the rice it should be cooked three forth. One fourth gets cooked in the
steam when you keep the biryani for Dum on Tawa.
- When you put
tomatoes make sure along with the masala it is well sauteed and there is
no water left or else your biryani might not have that royal taste.
Enjoi !!!!
Do you like Biryani?? Then you must try
this recipe. Stay tuned for the next recipe on the blog.
Next Recipe - Chicken Skewers
