Paragon Restaurant Style Chicken Biriyani

Paragon Restaurant Style Chicken Biriyani

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Ingredients (Serves 5)

Recipe courtesy – here and here

1. Chicken – 3/4 kg, cut into medium pieces

2. Oil – 3/4 cup or as needed (to deep fry onion)

Onion – 1 large, thinly sliced and deep-fried

3. Ghee – 1 tbsp + oil – 1 tbsp (used for frying onion)

Onion – 1.5 cup, thinly sliced

Ginger – 1 inch, crushed

Garlic – 6 medium-large cloves, crushed

Green chilies – 5 – 6 or as needed depending on your spice tolerance, crushed or coarsely ground

Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp

Coriander powder – 1 tsp

Kashmiri chilli powder – 1/2 tsp

Fennel powder – 1/2 tsp

Pepper powder – 3/4 tsp

Tomato – 2 small, sliced

Cilantro and mint leaves – 2 tbsp each, chopped

Biriyani masala powder – 3 – 4 tsp or as needed to taste (Recipe below)

Yoghurt – 1/4 cup

Salt – To taste

4. Cilantro – 2 tbsp, chopped

Mint leaves – 2 tbsp, chopped

Lemon juice – 1 tsp

To prepare ghee rice

9.  Biriyani rice / jeerakashala rice / kaima rice – 2 cup

10. Ghee – 3 tbsp + 2 tsp

11. Whole spices – Bay leaves – 2, Green Cardamom – 4, cinnamon stick – 1 inch piece broken, cloves – 6

Salt – To taste

Hot water – 3 cup (Use 1.5 cup water for 1 cup rice. Some varieties of kaima rice may need 2 cups of water.)

To garnish

12. Fried onion – 1/4 cup

Cilantro – 3 tbsp, chopped

Mint leaves – 3 tbsp, chopped

Ghee – 1 – 2 tbsp

Saffron or  turmeric powder – 1 pinch soaked in 1 tbsp hot water

For biriyani masala powder

13. Whole black pepper corns – 1/2 tsp

Fennel seeds – 1 tbsp

Cumin seeds – 1/2 tsp

Shahi jeera / kala jeera – 1/4 tsp

Cinnamon stick – 1.5 inch, broken

Cloves – 12

Green Cardamom – 7

Jathi pathri – 1

Star anise – 1 small

Nutmeg – 1/4th of a small

Bay leaves – 2 small

White kus kus – 1 tsp (optional)

Grind all the ingredients above to a powder (you can warm them on a skillet for 1 minute on low heat before grinding to a powder, i didn’t do it.)

Method

1. Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed pan over medium-high heat. Add sliced onion and stir in between until it turns light golden. Add 1/2 tsp sugar and bring down the heat to medium. Mix well. Cook until onion turns golden (do not let it turn dark brown, it will taste bitter). Drain on to a paper towel. Set aside 1/3 cup fried onion for garnish.

2. Add all the ingredients numbered 3 to the chicken pieces. Combine well. Add 2 tbsp water and cook covered for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally till almost done and gravy is thick. Make sure you stir in between. Add 1/2 tsp garam masala powder, fried onion (set aside 1/4 cup fried onion for garnish), chopped mint, cilantro and 1 tsp lemon juice. Taste-check for salt. Switch off the flame.

4. While the chicken is getting done, cook ghee rice. Heat a large pressure cooker or any heavy-bottomed vessel with 3 tbsp ghee. Add the whole spices numbered 11. Stir for a few seconds until fragrant. Add rinsed rice. Stir for two minutes. Add 3 cups of hot water, enough salt and bring to a boil. Add 2 tsp ghee. Taste-check for salt, the water should be slightly salty. Cover with lid and cook until steam starts to come out profusely. Put on the whistle (if you are using pressure cooker). Bring  down the heat to low and cook for 2 – 3 minutes. Switch off. Open the lid after 10 – 15 minutes. Fluff the cooked rice gently using a fork.

5. To layer –  In a heavy-bottomed vessel (you can use the one in which you cooked chicken if it is oven-proof), spread the chicken gravy in the bottom. Top it with cooked ghee rice. Sprinkle fried onion, chopped cilantro, mint, 2 – 3 pinches of garam masala powder, saffron water and few tsps of ghee. If there is any extra gravy, pour on top. Cover tightly with aluminium foil. Bake at 350 F for 10 – 15 minutes. OR Heat a large tawa over medium heat. Place the biriyani pot on top of the tawa and cook for 4 minutes. Bring down the heat to low and cook for 8 minutes. Switch off. Let it rest unopened for another 10 – 15 minutes in the biriyani pot. Paragon Style Chicken Biriyani is ready to serve. Serve with onion raita, boiled egg, biriyani chammanthi, pappadam, spicy lemon pickle and dates pickle.