Chicken Biriyani – Naan n Curry Restaurant Style

Ingredients (Serves 6)

1. Chicken – 1 kg, cut into medium pieces

2. Oil – 3 tbsp + ghee – 1 tbsp

3. Onion – 2.5 – 3 cups (1 large), thinly sliced and deep-fried until golden-brown

4. Whole spices – Green cardamom – 5, cloves – 5, cinnamon stick – 1 inch, broken

5. Ginger-garlic paste – 2 tbsp

6. Yoghurt – 1/4 + 1/4 cup, beaten

Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp

Chilly powder –1 tsp

Coriander powder – 1 tsp

Garam masala powder – 2 – 2.5 tsp (recipe below)

7. Salt – To taste

8. Kewra water – 1/2 – 3/4 tsp

Saffron – 1 pinch

Meetha attar – Few drops

For the rice

9. Basmati rice – 2 cups, soaked in enough water for at least 25 minutes and then drained

Whole spices – bay leaves – 2, cloves – 6, green cardamom – 5, cinnamon stick –1 inch broken, star anise – 1

Ghee – 1 tbsp

Salt – To taste

To layer

10. Kewra water – 1 – 1.5 tsp

Meeta Athar / edible perfume – Few drops

Fried onion – 1/3 cup

Ghee or oil (used to fry onion) – 1 tbsp

Garam masala powder – 1/4 tsp

Method

1. Deep fry onion till golden brown. Drain on to a paper towel. Remove 1/3 cup fried onion for garnish. Grind the remaining fried onion with 1/4 cup yoghurt.

2. Heat oil + ghee in a kadai / heavy bottomed pan. Add whole spices and stir for a few seconds until fragrant. Add chicken pieces and salt. Cook for 4 – 5 minutes. Add ginger-garlic paste and mix well. Cook for a few minutes till the raw smell of ginger-garlic paste completely disappears. Add 1/4 cup yoghurt, ground onion and yoghurt paste and spice powders numbered 6. Mix well. Cook for a few minutes until oil starts separating. Add 1/4 cup hot water. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook over medium-low heat until chicken is almost done and oil separates, around 20 – 25 minutes, stirring once or twice in between. Add 1/2 tsp kewra water, few drops of meetha athar and few saffron strands. Mix gently. Set aside until rice is ready.

2. While the chicken is cooking, boil water in a large vessel adding the remaining ingredients numbered 4. Taste-check for salt. The water should be slightly salty. Add drained rice and cook until the rice is  85 – 90 % cooked. Drain well.

3. In a heavy-bottomed vessel or any oven-proof vessel (you can use the one in which you cooked chicken), smear 2 tsp ghee and spread cooked chicken at the bottom. Top it with hot cooked rice. Top with fried onion, kewra water, ghee/oil, garam masala powder and a few drops of meetta attar / edible perfume. Cover tightly with an aluminium foil. Bake at 400 F for 20 minutes. OR Heat a wide tawa over high heat for a few minutes. Once hot, bring down the heat to medium. Place the biriyani pot on top of the tawa. Top the biriyani pot with lid and place a heavy weight on top. Cook for  3 – 4 minutes. Bring down the heat to the lowest flame. Place the biriyani pot and cook for 8 – 10 minutes (rotate the pot halfway through). Switch off. Let it rest unopened for 15 minutes in the biriyani pot. Yummy chicken biriyani is ready to enjoy! Serve with raita, salad and green chutney.
Garam masala powder recipe

1. Cumin seeds – 1 tbsp
2. Whole black pepper – 1.5 tsp
3. Cloves – 6 – 8
4. Black cardamom – 1
5. Green cardamom – 4
6. Cinnamon – 3/4 inch

Grind the above ingredients to a fine powder. You need only about 1.5 – 2 tsp for this recipe. Store the remaining in an air-tight container to use later.