Tasty Chicken Biriyani preparation

Chicken biriyani is a mouth watering delicious recipe made with a unique blend of traditional spices and chicken.

As you have heard, chicken biriyanis can be of different versions like Hyderabadi, Sindhi, Chettinad, Awadhi, Kerala or Malabar biriyani and so on. It is one of a common recipe for dining in many of the festivals like birthdays, weddings, engagements etc. The word biriyani was taken from a Persian word ‘birian’ which means ‘fried before cooking’. Back when the traditional spices were not readily available and when the old cooking techniques were in place, chicken biriyani preparation were a tedious and time-consuming process. Hence, it’s made only once or twice in a whole year. Nowadays, with the increased availability of spices and with the use of modern cooking techniques, chicken biriyani preparations is no longer a difficult process. Chicken pieces, ghee, spices and biriyani rice are the essential ingredients for making this recipe. The unique blend of spices like cardamom, cloves, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, star anise, cinnamon, pepper etc imparts an intriguing flavour. Garnishing the rice with sauteed raisins, cashew nuts and lentil fried onions would increase the taste and aroma.

Ingredients required for making a tasty Chicken Biriyani

• 1kg of chicken pieces
• 3-4 cups of biriyani rice (ideally 4 cups)
• 5 medium sized onions (sliced to pieces)
• 7 cups of hot water
• 3 tablespoon of ghee
• 1/2 cup of curd or yoghurt
• 1-inch ginger piece
• 8-9 cloves of garlic
• 2 tomatoes, sliced to medium pieces
• A pinch of turmeric powder
• 1/2 tablespoon of chilli powder
• 3 tablespoon of coriander powder
• 13 raisins
• 13 good quality cashew nuts
• 1/2 cup of pineapple (sliced to small pieces)
• 3-4 medium sized green chillies
• 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
• 3 tablespoon of coconut oil
• 2-3 medium pieces of cinnamon
• 8 cloves
• 5 cardamom seeds
• 8 pepper
• Salt for the taste.

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Method of preparation of Chicken Biriyani

• Wash the biriyani rice in clean water and soak it for 20 minutes.
• Drain the rice and keep it aside.
• Clean the chicken pieces and wash it in running water.
• Grind the ginger, garlic and green chillies to a paste. Mix it with the curd and salt. Marinate the chicken pieces with this paste and keep it aside for half an hour.
• In a frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon of ghee and add the raisins and cashew nuts. Fry it for some time and take out from the flame.
• Now add some sliced onion pieces and saute it to a golden brown colour. Once it is almost done, add some sugar so that the fried onion pieces maintains the crispy texture.
• Heat the coconut oil in a pan and add the remaining onion pieces. Once it gets to a golden brown colour, add the coriander powder, chilli powder, turmeric powder and garam masala. Reduce the flame to a low-medium range.
• Stir the contents for few minutes and add the tomato pieces, saute it for 2-3 minutes.
• Now, add the marinated chicken pieces, occasionally stir the pieces for 4-5 minutes. Add 1 cup of water, close the lid of the pan and cook the chicken pieces.
• Take out another cooking pan and add 1 tablespoon of ghee, add the cinnamon, pepper, cloves and cardamom and stir it for few seconds. Now, add the rice and stir it for few minutes. Add the hot water and the salt. Cover the lid and cook the rice until the whole of water is absorbed by the rice.
• Take out a vessel and spread some ghee and layer it with rice and cooked chicken. Bottom layer and the top layer should be cooked rice. Each layer should be garnished with pineapple, fried onions, raisins and cashew nuts. Pour 1 tablespoon of Ghee on the top of Chicken Biryani and close the lid.
• Keep the vessel on the heated tawa and heat it for 15 minutes. Turn off the flame and keep the vessel undisturbed for about 10 more minutes. (Instead of cooking it on a heavy tawa, you can also cook it in a pre-heated oven
• Serve chicken biryani hot with salad, pappad and lime pickle.