Chicken briyani - Indian Recipe

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice - 1 kg

Chicken - 1.5 kg with bone

Oil - 3/4 cup

Onion - 3 large sliced thinly

Saffron a pinch

Warm Milk - 1/4 cup

Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup finely chopped

Mint Leaves - 1/4 cup finely chopped

Ghee - 3 tblspn

Cashews - 50 grams

Kishmish / Sultanas - 50 grams

Kewra Essence few drops

Rose Essence few drops

Salt to taste

For Marination:(2 hrs or overnight)

Chilli Powder - 2 tblspn

Coriander Powder / Malli Podi - 3 tblspn

Salt to taste

Coriander leaves - 1/2 cup chopped finely

Mint Leaves - 1/2 cup chopped finely

Thick Unsour Curd - 1.5 cup

Green Chillies - 4 broken into big pieces

Ginger Garlic Paste - 3 tblspn

Special Garam Masala Powder - recipe below

Lemon Juice - 1 tblspn

For Special Garam Masala Powder:

Cloves / Krambu - 10

Cardamom / Yelakai - 10

Bay Leaf - 3

Cinnamon / Pattai - 5 cm piece

Cumin Seeds / Jeerakam - 1 tblspn

Black Stone Flower / Kal Paasi - 4 piece

Star Anise - 1

Fennel Seeds / Sombu / Saunf - 1 tblspn

Method:

Powder the special garam masala powder.

Start by marinating the chicken with all the ingredients given. Let it marinate for 2 hours but overnight is great.

Wash and soak basmati rice for a hour.

Bring lots of water with salt to a boil. Once it boils, add in the drained rice and cook it for 5 to 7 mins till it is 90 percent done. When you taste it, it should have a bite.Drain it and set aside.

Heat oil in a big pot which you are making biryani.

Add in onions and fry till golden, drain and set aside.

Soak saffron in some warm milk, heat ghee in a sauce pan and fry cashews and raisans till golden.

In the same oil add in chicken and mix well for 5 mins.

Now layer the rice over it, top with fried onions, chopped herbs, saffron milk, fried nuts along with the ghee, kewra and rose essence. Cover the entire pot with foil and cover with a plate. Place a weight over it and let it cook on a very very low flame for 30 to 35 mins.

Now remove the weight and foil and fluff the rice carefully.

Serve.

Notes:

1)Soaking rice and marination chicken is very important, so never skip it.

2)Use god quality basmati rice for this, i used india gate basmati rice.

3)Cooking the rice perfectly is important. If you over cook it, the the whole biryani will be mushy. SO stand near the rice and keep checking it, after you add rice to boiling water, it will just take 5 to 7 mins for the rice to get cooked.