A few things before we start:
- I used 500g of chicken thigh/drumstick and 500g chicken breasts for this recipe. The ratio was perfect for us as we were trying to cut down on carbs anyway. But next time I will use less chicken and more rice since the sauce flavours the rice so well, you want to eat more and more of the rice.
- If you end up with a lot of sauce in your chicken, keep some aside. You don't want to soak all your rice making it wet.
- Marinate for more time if you have the time, keep refrigerated.
- Omit the garnish ( I omitted) if you want to keep your biriyani lower in fat.
Ingredients:
1- Chicken - 1 kg
2- Biriyani masala -1 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Yogurt - 1 tbsp
Lemon juice - of half a lemon
Salt to taste
3- Coriander leaves - 1 cup
Mint leaves - 1/4 cup
Green chillies - 5
Cashew nut - 7
4- Black Cardamom - 1
Green Cardamom - 3
Bay leaves - 2
Cinnamon - 1
Cloves - 5
5- Onions - 3, roughly sliced
Ginger-garlic paste - 3 tsp
Tomatoes - 2
6- Rice - 2 cup
Water - 3 cups, boiled
Salt to taste
7- Bay leaves - 2
Cinnamon - 1
Cloves - 5
Black pepper - 5
8- Onion - 1, thinly slced
Garlic - 4 cloves, thinly sliced
9- Ghee - 3 tbsp + 3 tbsp
10- Cashew nut - a handful
Onion - 2 thinly sliced
Sultanas- a handful
Method:
- Soak rice in water for 30 minutes. Drain and keep aside.
- Marinate chicken in (2) and leave for 30 minutes.
- Deep fry (10) separately in batches and keep aside.
- Grind (3) to a fine green paste and keep aside.
- In a pressure cooker, add 3 tbsp of ghee and add (4). Now saute roughly sliced onions till they turn soft.Now add ginger-garlic paste and saute till their raw smell disappears. Add tomatoes and saute for another few minutes till they turn mushy.
- Now add the ground green paste, saute for a minute, followed by the chicken. Mix well to coat the chicken pieces with the masala.
- Close the lid of pressure cooker, let the pressure built up and when steam starts to escape, place the weight. Let the pressure built up again till you hear the first whistle. Reduce the heat and let simmer for 10 minutes. Turn the heat off and let the pressure release itself with time.
- Meanwhile, in a large deep pan heat another 3 tbsp of ghee and add (7) to release their aroma.
- Add (8) and sauce till onion turns transparent.
- Add drained and soaked rice and saute for another 3-4 minutes till all the rice grains are dry.Now add 3 cups boiled hot water, stir once and close the lid. Turn the heat down and let simmer for 4-5 minutes or till the rice is cooked through.
- Now is the time to layer. Take a large oven proof dish and layer the cooked chicken at the base. Sprinkle some of the fried onions and dried fruit. Spread the rice over. Sprinkle the rest of the fried onions and dried fruit, close the lid tight and bake for 20-25 minutes at 150 degrees.
- Serve hot with raita, pappadoms and pickle.
