This is for all those people who love biryani, but don’t have time for the elaborate process involved in making it. Sometimes we might just wish, how nice it would be to have biryani, but feel lazy to make it and end up buying it from a restaurant and would say…oohhhh this is not the biryani I wished for! So this recipe is dedicated to all those people, for this is the next best alternative to chicken biriyani. This pulav uses almost the same ingredients as a biriyani, only the method is entirely different. So be prepared to taste the difference!
Ingredients
- Chicken – 2.5 chicken breasts or around 1/2 kg (You can also use chicken thighs or whole chicken)
- Basmati rice – 2 cups
- Water – 4.5 cup
- Onion – 1 medium, thinly sliced
- Tomato – 1, chopped fine
- Mint leaves – 1/2cup, chopped
- Cilantro – 1/4 cup, chopped
- Ginger – garlic paste – 1 tsp
- Ginger – 1 inch, roughly chopped
- Garlic – 2 – 3, crushed
- Green chillies – 3 – 4 slit
- Chilli powder – 1 tsp
- Garam masala powder – 1 tsp
- Shahi jeera/ black cumin seeds – 1/2 tsp (optional)
- Whole spices – Cinnamon stick – 2, cloves – 5 -6, cardamom – 3-4, bay leaves – 2-3, whole pepper corns- 5-6
- Cashews – 2 tbsp, to garnish
- Raisins – 2 tbsp, to garnish
- Oil / ghee – 3 tbsp
- Salt – To taste
Method
1. Wash and soak the rice for 30 minutes. Drain water and keep aside.
2. Clean and cut the chicken to small pieces. Marinate them with around 1/2 tsp salt for at least 30 minutes. This step is optional.
3. Boil 4.5 cups of water in a vessel adding enough salt, roughly chopped ginger, crushed garlic and half of the whole spices mentioned under the ingredients. Add the chicken pieces and cook until just tender (for around 8 – 10 minutes). Take out the chicken pieces with a slotted spoon. Keep aside. Reserve the stock for cooking rice. Discard the whole spices along with the chopped ginger and garlic. You can pass the stock through a fine-meshed sieve if you want.
4. Heat ghee / oil ( 2 – 3 tbsp) in a pan at medium heat. Fry cashews until golden brown. Drain on to a paper towel. Now fry the raisins until they get plump. Drain on to a paper towel. Finally fry sliced onion until golden brown. Drain 2 tbsp of fried onion onto a paper towel. Keep aside for garnishing. Now add the remaining whole spices to the pan. Mix well and saute for a few seconds. Add ginger-garlic paste, green chillies. Saute until their raw smell is gone. Now add the chopped tomato pieces. Saute for 2 minutes and add chilly powder, shaji jeera, little salt and garam masala powder. Mix well and add the chicken pieces, chopped cilantro and mint. Saute until the chicken pieces are lightly browned or for around 8 – 10 minutes. Add the strained rice and mix well. Saute for another 2-3 minutes.
5. Now add 4.25 cups of chicken stock to the pan. Give it a mix. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook at medium flame until the liquid gets absorbed. I prefer cooking it in a pressure cooker. Pressure cooker procedure – Transfer the whole mixture to a pressure cooker after step 4 and add 4.25 cups of the chicken stock to it. Give it a mix. Let the mixture come to a boil. Close the pressure cooker with its lid and cook at medium heat. When steam starts coming out continuously and profusely from the vent, put the pressure cooker weight and switch off the stove. Open the pressure cooker when the pressure releases or after 12 – 15 minutes. The rice will be perfectly cooked. Fluff the rice with a fork and transfer immediately to a wide serving bowl. Garnish with fried onion, cashews, raisins, 1 – 2 tbsp chopped cilantro and mint leaves. Serve hot along with raita.
Mouthwatering chicken pulao, looks absolutely irresistible..
Hi,
Yummy chicken pulao…beautiful presentation…:)
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http://www.myeasytocookrecipes.blogspot.com
yummy delicious pulao..
yummy, wish i could have it …
kothi varunnu…i have 2 give this a shot soon
Adipoli presentation…Kanditu vishakunu.Have a nice trip to Dubai.
That looks absolutely yummy and love the bowl and presentation Maya…
Great pics and a lovely recipe !!
that looks adipoli…nice presentation…
Delicious pulao..love the cute tomato flower 🙂
US Masala
pulao looks so delicious …i am hungry now ..mmm
Satya
http://www.superyummyrecipes.com
Nice one dear..kothiyavunnu,so yummy
Beautiful presentation….my mouth is watering looking at this dish..spectacular chicky rice..
Pushpa @ simplehomefood.com
wow…thats so tempting…Never tried this way …sounds pretty easy
pulav adipoli ayittundu ketto kanditttu kazhikkan tonnunnu
This looks so delicious!
thank u so much…..am waiting 4 this recipe.
Nice decoration.Pulav looks sooo delicious!
I’ve shared an award with u..plz collect it from my blog
aaha… this one is interesting.. especially for someone who loves only “named” rice into the lunch box.. orappayittum try cheyyumallo..
My Fav..looks so perfect and yummy!!
Hi,
I tried this out and it was really good !! On another note the pressure cooker method didnt work for me , when i opened the pressure cooker there was still water in it so had to transfer to another vessel and cook till done. Dont know where i went wrong coz i followed your instructions properly !!
Also you havent mentioned where you add the ginger garlic paste n green chillies..i figured it out, but you might want to update in the recipe !!
Cheers
Kelly
Thanks a lot for your feed back, Kelly. I have updated the recipe. I really have no idea why the pressure cooker method didn’t work for you. It has always worked for me. Two of my friends have also tried this chicken pulav and vegetable biriyani using the pressure cooker method, with successful outcome. Did you put the pressure cooker weight, when the steam started coming out continuously through the vent? After the steam is released, you can let it stand for an additional 5 minutes before opening it. I use a 5 litre pressure cooker for cooking rice. Which pressure cooker did you use? I don’t know whether the model / capacity of the pressure cooker has something to do with this method of cooking. Will surely do a thorough research and update this method.
My friend shared another method for cooking rice in a pressure cooker. You can try it next time if you wish. Cook the rice in the pressure cooker for 1 whistle at high heat. Now bring down the heat to medium-low and cook for 3 minutes. Switch off and wait for five minutes. If the pressure is not released yet, hold the pressure cooker under a stream of cold running water and then open it. The rice will be perfectly cooked. Do let me know if you try this method. Thanks again, Kelly..
Hi,
Thanks for the prompt reply.. my pressure cooker is a hawkins, 5L. Yeah i put the weight on when the steam started coming through the vent and immediately switched off the stove and let it stay like that till the steam went out.
Will try the other method you suggested next time i make this. Will let you know how it comes out.
Thanks
Kelly
Good Luck, Kelly..Waiting for your feedback 🙂
Gr8 recipe… very tasty!
Thanks Neethu 🙂
Made this today and my hubby and I loved it!!
Dr Sumi,
Thanks a lot for your feed back..Really happy to know that you loved it 🙂
This is super yummy receipy and I’m gonna make it for the third time today, thank you for it!!!