Ingredients (Serves 3 – 4)
- Jeeraga Samba Rice / Kaima Rice – 1.5 cup
Hot water – 1 3/4 cup - Chicken, bone-in – 500 – 600 gm, cut into medium pieces
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
Lemon juice – 2 tsp
Salt – As required - Oil + ghee – 3 tbsp
- Whole spices- Green cardamom – 5, cloves – 5, cinnamon stick – 1 inch broken, star anise – 2 small, dagad phool / stone flower – 2 small, bay leaves – 2, mace/jathi pathri – 1/2 of 1
- Onion – 1 medium, thinly sliced
- Ginger-garlic paste – 2 tbsp
- Green chilies – 8 – 10, roughly chopped and ground in a blender
- Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
Coriander powder – 1.5 tsp
Cumin powder – 3/4 tsp
Garam masala powder – 2 + 1 tsp - Tomato – 1 small, sliced
- Mint leaves and cilantro – 1/2 cup each
- Salt – To taste
- Ghee – 1 + 1 tbsp
Lemon juice – 1 tbspMethod
1. Combine chicken pieces with turmeric powder, lemon juice and salt. Set aside for an hour.
2. Heat oil + ghee in a pan and add whole spices numbered 4. Cook for a few seconds till fragrant. Add thinly sliced onion and saute till translucent. Add ginger-garlic paste, crushed green chilies and cook for a few minutes till their raw smell completely disappears. Next add spice powders numbered 8 and cook over low heat till their raw smell disappears. Add sliced tomato and cook for a few minutes.
3. Meanwhile grind mint and cilantro to a fine paste adding little water. Add this to the pot. Mix well and cook for a few minutes over medium heat. Add chicken pieces and mix well. Cook for 4 – 5 minutes. Add 1/4 cup water and mix gently. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally until the chicken is almost cooked through. Taste-check for salt.
4. Meanwhile soak jeeraga samba / kaima rice for 20 minutes.
5. Remove the chicken pieces from the gravy. Measure the gravy, I had around 1/2 cup. For 1.5 cup jeeraga samba rice, you’ll need 2 1/4 cups of water). So add the remaining 1 3/4 cup hot water to the pot. Bring to a boil. Add chicken pieces to the gravy. Sprinkle 1 tsp garam masala powder. Mix gently. Bring to a boil. Taste-check for salt. Drain jeeraga samba rice well and add to the pot. Add 1 tbsp ghee and 1 tbsp lemon / lime juice. Mix gently. Cover and cook for 4 – 5 minutes over medium-high heat. Mix gently and again cover and cook for 6 minutes over very low heat until the moisture is mostly absorbed. Now cover the pot with an aluminium foil and cover with lid. Place a weight on top.
6. Meanwhile heat a tawa to medium flame. Bring down the heat to low. Place biriyani pot on the tawa and cook on the lowest flame for 8 – 10 minutes. Switch off. Let rest for 10 – 15 minutes. Open the biriyani pot. Add a tbsp of ghee. Mix everything gently. Cover with lid again and let rest for 5 – 6 minutes. Yummy and flavorful donne chicken biriyani is ready to enjoy. Serve with raita and pickle.
Hi Maya,
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Thanks in advance,
Harini Vino.
Wow ! Biryani and that roasted chicken looks yummilicious 🙂 Where do you buy your chicken and meat in US?
Thanks for making me a biriyani addict… made this … turned out perfect as ever
Thanks for taking time to write here, Nita..Great to know that the biriyani came out well..
When did you add chicken to cook?
After cooking the mint-cilantro paste. So sorry that I missed it, have updated the recipe.