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Layered chicken biryani recipe, a simple recipe from my Mom’s kitchen.
Ingredients
For the Rice:
- 2 cups of basmati rice
- 2 onions, sliced
- 1 tsp of crushed ginger
- 1 tsp of crushed garlic
- 4 cardamom pods
- 4 cloves
- 1 bay leaf
- A small piece of cinnamon
- 3 star anise
- 1 tsp of cumin / jeera
- 1/2 cup of carrots, cut into small cubes (optional)
- 10 cashew nuts
- 10 raisins
For the Chicken Gravy:
- 1 kg of chicken pieces, with bones
- 3 large onions, sliced
- 1 tsp of minced ginger
- 1 tsp of minced garlic
- 2 tsp of coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp of powdered fennel seeds
- 2 tsp of chicken masala
- 1/2 tsp of garam masala (optional)
- 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder
- 2 tomatoes
- A small bunch of coriander leaves (cilantro)
- A fistful of mint leaves
- 1/2 tsp of sugar
- 5-6 green chillies
- 3 tbsp of ghee or oil
- 1 tsp of pepper powder
Instructions
For the Rice:
- Soak the rice for 30 mins. Cook the rice following whichever method you prefer. We usually
- cook rice for biryani
- in an open pan but you can use the rice cooker or pressure cooker too. Just make sure the rice doesn’t get overcooked. The grains need to remain separate.
- Meanwhile, heat the ghee or oil in a wide pan and add the sliced onions along with the whole spices (cinnamon, cloves, bay leaf, cardamom, star anise). Fry the onions stirring frequently.
- Grind or crush the garlic and ginger together. Add this to the frying onions and fry until the onions turn a dark golden brown. Drain and set aside. (If using carrots, add along with the ginger, etc and cook together).
- In the same pan, fry the cashew nuts and raisins until golden. Drain and set aside with the fried onions.
- Once the rice is done, mix it with the above onion mixture, add the fried raisins and cashew nuts on top and set aside.
For the Chicken Gravy
- Grind or crush ginger + garlic + green chillies
- Heat the ghee or oil and add onions. Fry until golden brown and add the ginger-garlic-chillies paste. Fry for another minute and then add the spice powders chicken masala + coriander powder + fennel powder + pepper + turmeric. Saute for a minute.
- Then add the chopped tomatoes and cook until they turn soft. At this stage, the mixture will turn mushy
- Add the washed and cleaned chicken pieces + salt + sugar + 1 cup water and mix well. Bring to boil and cook closed until the chicken is completely cooked. The meat will let out water so don’t add too much. Cook on a low flame until done. Then, garnish with garam masala, coriander leaves, mint leaves and more pepper powder. Mix well and set aside.
- The chicken gravy should be a bit watery as you see below. If not, add more water and cook further for a bit longer.
Layering the Chicken Biryani
- About an hour before serving, take a large serving dish and add a layer of rice. Top off with some chicken and gravy. Add more rice. Repeat this 2 more times. Keep the dish closed and at the time of serving, gently mix and transfer to plates.
- Serve chicken biryani with raita and papad
