Chicken Biryani
- 500 gms chicken pieces (or 300 gms breast in 3x3 cubes)
- 1/2 cup curd
- 1 1/2 tsp salt (to taste)
- 2 tsp red chily powder
- 1 1/2 tsp coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp cumin powder
- 1/2 tsp garam masala
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 2 cups basmati rice
- 2 tbsp ghee
- 2 small cinnamon sticks
- 4 cloves
- 4 pods cardamom
- 3 large onions, cubed
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 5 cm ginger, grated
- 1 large tomato, skinned and chopped
- 3 green chilies - slit
- 1/2 bunch mint leaves
- 1/2 bunch coriander leaves
- 1 tsp oil
- 10-15 cashew nuts
- 10 raisins
- 1/2 teacup water
- large pinch of saffron, crushed
- marinate the chicken pieces in the curd, salt, and the spice powders
- cook the rice in salted water until it's almost done
- heat the ghee in a large pan, on a low flame, when hot add cinnamon, cloves,
and cardamom, leave for a minute or two
- add the onions and fry on a medium flame until golden
- lower flame, add garlic, ginger and chilies, leave for a couple of minutes
- add tomato, mint and coriander leaves
- when the tomato is pulpy and the oil starts to seperate, add the marinated
chicken and increase the flame, fry for two minutes then lower the flame
again
- when using whole chicken pieces, add some water
- leave until the chicken is cooked
- heat the water, add the saffron, leave for a while
- seperately roast the cashews and raisins in a dry non-stick pan on a low
flame
- now in a large skillet or frying pan, add a layer of chicken masala, then a
layer of rice, sprinkle some of the saffron water on it, then add another
layer masala, another rice, etc. until all is used
- garnish with the cashews and raisins, serve hot with raita and some bread