Chicken Biriyani

Ingredients:

For Chicken masala:
Chicken - 1kg
Basmati rice/ Kaima rice - 3 cups ( 750 gms)
Ginger, Garlic, Green chilly paste - 3 tbsp
Big Onions - 7 big
Chilli powder - 1 tbsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1⁄2 tsp
Tomato - 3
Poppy seeds -1⁄2 tsp
Fennel seeds (Perum jeerakam)- 2 tbsp
Garam Masala Powder / Biriyani masala Powder- 3 tbsp
oil- as required
Ghee - 2 tsps
Cardamom - 1⁄2 tsp
Cloves-1⁄4 tsp
Cinnamon sticks- 3
Cashew nuts- 1 tbsp
Raisins- 1 tbsp
Boiled water - 6 cups
Mint leaves chopped -  1 tbsp
Coriander leaves chopped - 1 tbsp
Fresh lime juice - 1 tbsp
Boiled eggs - As needed
Salt as required

Home made biriyani masala ingredients:-
Cinnamon - 3, 1"sticks
Cardamom - 5-6
Cloves -5-6
Caraway seeds/sa jeerakam - 1⁄4 teaspoon
Cumin seeds - 1⁄4teaspoon
Fennel seeds  -  spoon 1⁄4
Star anise - 2-3nos
Mace -1-2nos
Nutmeg -  1⁄2 piece

Bay leaves - 2 nos
             To prepare  home made biriyani masala  roast all the ingredients separately and make fine powder by grinding in a mixer all together. keep it in an air tight container.

Method:
Wash the rice thoroughly and soak in cold water for 25 – 30 minutes.  Drain and keep aside. 

Add 2 tbsp of ghee and 2 tbsp of oil to a large vessel. Fry cashew nuts and Raisins.remove from oil and keep aside.


Slice big Onions very thin and fry in the same oil till golden brown. Remove from oil and keep aside.

To the same vessal add cinnamon, cloves, bay leaves and cardamom and fry for a minute. Add the drained rice and fry for 5 - 10 minutes. Meanwhile, keep the water on another stove and let it boil. Add the boiling water and salt to the fried rice.

Cook the rice with the vessel closed with a tight lid. Also gently stir in between to make sure that the rice does not stick on the bottom of the vessel. Once the rice is done keep it aside.

Wash and clean the chicken pieces and marinate with 1 tsp Chilly Powder, 1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder, 1 tsp Ginger-garlic Paste, 1/2 tsp Pepper powder and Salt. Keep it aside for half an hour. 

Deep fry or shallow fry the chicken pieces.Take a pan and pour oil. Heat the oil and fry the marinated chicken pieces until golden brown. Keep this aside.If you dont want to fry chicken Add the marinated chicken to the masala and cook until done.

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Saute the sliced onions in oil until they become translucent. Grind green chillies, garlic and ginger to a fine paste. Add the ginger, garlic and green chilly paste. Saute them well. Add 1 tsp coriander Powder, 1/4 tsp turmeric powder, 1/2 tsp Red chilly Powder and 1 tsp garam masala and fry for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and let it cook until mashed. 

Grind Snauf and poppy seeds to fine paste and add to the masala and cook well. Add  curd and give a boil. 

Add the fried Chicken once the gravy starts boiling. Let it boil for few minutes. Gravy should be thick and not watery. Add chopped corriander and mint leaves. And remove from fire. 

 Now we need to start layering for that, divide the cooked rice into three Portions. Chop coriander leaves and mint leaves. keep lime juice and garam masala ready. 

In a big wide open vessel start layering by spreading the first layer with rice. Sprinkle one pinch of garam masala, Roasted onions, cashew nuts, raisins, few tsp of chopped coriander and mint leaves on each layer of rice. Sprinkle 1 tsp of lemon juice also . On top of this spread chicken masala. cover this layer with cooked rice. 

 Again repeat the same layers. finally end with a rice layer. 

After layering we can either bake this in a preheated oven for 180 degree Celsius for 15- 20 minutes or keep in dum on a stove top method by heating a thava/dosa kallu, when it is really hot, place the biriyani vessel on top of that. Reduce the heat to the lowest flame & cook for 10 - 15 mins. Keep the heat at the lowest flame throughout, otherwise it might get burnt. Also place a pan of boiling water on top of the biriyani vessel at the same time.

When its time to serve remove the lid and  mix the rice well with the masala.To serve, on the plate keep the chicken pieces and cover with the rice. Garnish with fried cashew nuts, raisins and onion. Also place a boiled egg on top.

Chicken biriyani Ready...:) Enjoy with salad, Pickle,  Pappad, Dates Chutney and pudina Coconut Chutney. 

Recipe Courtesy : Mrs. Prassana Sugathan.