Chicken Biryani

This recipe for Chicken Biryani is my attempt to make biryani using khada or whole masalas rather than ready masalas. In this, I tried a slightly different combination of masalas from my recipe of the mutton biryani. I added a piece of mace and a small piece of nutmeg to the whole masala mix, after checking the recipe of Thalassery biryani in which they add both these spices. There was no strong flavor from the two spices and that could be because I added them in quite minute proportions.

Ingredients

Chicken - 600gms

Rice - 2.5 glasses (approx. 450gms)

Onions - 4, medium

Ginger - 3.5 inch piece

Garlic - 20

Potatoes - 5 small

Tomatoes - 1 large

Yogurt - 1.5tbsp

Red chilli - 1tsp

Coriander leaves - 1 cup

Oil - 3tbsp

Ghee - 5tbsp

whole spices or khada masala for Chicken

Green Cardamom - 3

Black Cardamom - 2

Shahi Jeera - 1.5tsp

Jeera - 1tsp

Cloves - 8 to 10

Cinnamon - 3 pieces

Pepper - 6

Bay Leaf - 2

Mace - 1 piece

Nutmeg - 1/4 of 1 small

Coriander pwd - 1tsp

whole spices or khada masala for Rice

Shahi Jeera - 1tsp

Cloves - 5

Cinnamon - 2 piece

Green Cardamom - 1

Black Cardamom - 1

Bay Leaf - 1

Clean and wash the chicken pieces and cut it into medium sized pieces. Grind the ginger, garlic, red chilli pwd, little salt and yogurt and apply to chicken and keep in the frig. I put this in for about an hour and thought the meat had absorbed the marinade well.

Slice the onion, chop the tomatoes. Peel the potatoes, prick with a fork all over and put them in a bowl of water. Clean the coriander and chop it. Wash the rice and keep aside.

Heat a cooker with 3tbsp oil and 2tbsp ghee. Add the bay leaves, green and black cardamoms, shahi jeera, jeera, cloves, cinnamon, crushed pepper, mace and crushed nutmeg and fry for half a minute. Add the sliced onions and sauté till light golden, add coriander powder and sauté for a minute. Add the marinated chicken along with the marinade and sauté. Keep sautéing for 10 to 12 minutes or till the raw smell of the ginger and garlic goes away.

 

Separately start the process of cooking the rice - boil 6 glasses of water. In another vessel heat 1tbsp ghee add the whole spices /khada masalas for the rice, after half a minute add the rice and sauté for 4 to 5 minutes. Add the sautéed rice along with some salt to the boiling water, stir it well and lower the heat and cover with a lid. The rice has to be cooked only till 3/4th done. This does not take much time hence keep an eye on it. Once done drain the excess water out and try and separate the rice, add a teaspoon of ghee when doing this.

 

Back to the chicken, add the potatoes and sauté for a minute or two then add the chopped tomatoes and again sauté for a minute. Add about half cup water and cover and give one whistle so that the meat and potatoes are cooked. Cooking chicken does not require a cooker and can be done just by covering with a lid and cooking on low heat.

Once cooked, take off the heat and scoop the chicken and potato pieces out, leaving some masala and as much oil / ghee back in the cooker. Start the layering, put in half of the rice first, then sprinkle the chopped coriander on it. Add all of the chicken and potato, spread to cover the rice completely. Then spread the remaining rice over the chicken. Spread the remaining chopped coriander leaves on the rice. Warm the remaining ghee and pour on and around the layers and close with lid. Put a tawa on low heat and put the cooker without whistle on top of it and leave for 15 minutes. Take off the heat and serve after an hour or two. 

Mutton / Gosht / Erachi Biryani

Biryani is my weakness and some days I crave for it and end up ordering it. Though recently we have not had a good biryani from the restaurants around here. Leaving me disappointed and with only one option - to make it at home. I love chicken biryani more than mutton biryani and normally make only chicken biryani at home. But this time I tried making this mutton biryani (considering my husband's weakness for it), with masalas made ground up without any use of ready made mixes. Usually, I have a stock of Shan Memoni Mutton Biryani masala and use that. But like all readymade masalas there comes a time when you have had enough of the same taste again and again and want a change. Added to that, comes the thought that all ready / branded masalas have additives and the only way to avoid them is to make masalas at home. The process is tedious hence I do not resort to it always. I looked up recipes of Pakistani biryani online and then proceeded to put together the ingredients for my mutton / gosht biryani. Largely, I stuck to the process given on the Shan Masala packet with a little changes.

 

When making this Mutton / Gosht Biryani I kept a pen and my diary on the kitchen counter knowing fully well, I would make adjustments on the go based on the taste and aroma of the dish. I made this Mutton / Gosht Biryani last night and I have to say I was very very happy with the results of this recipe. It is one of the best biryani's I have had to date. And yes, my husband loved it too.

Ingredients

Mutton / Gosht / Erachi - 500gms

Basmati Rice - 2 glasses

Onion - 4 medium

Ginger - 3inch piece

Garlic - 15 - 20

Green chilli - 2

Dry Red chilli - 4

Potatoes - 4 small to medium

Tomato - 1 medium

Fresh Yogurt / Curd - 2tbsp

Coriander leaves - 1 cup chopped

Turmeric pwd - 1tsp

Cloves - 8

Cinnamon - 3 (1 inch) pieces

Green Cardamom - 2

Black Cardamom - 2

Shahi Jeera - 1.5tsp

Jeera - 1/2tsp

Pepper - 5 to 6 crushed

Bay Leaf - 2

Saffron - 1 generous pinch

Milk - 2tsp

Salt to taste

Oil - 2tbsp

Ghee - 4tbsp

For the Rice:

Water - 3.5 glasses

Shahi Jeera - 1tsp

Jeera - 1/4tsp

Cloves - 4

Cinnamon - 1 small stick

Green Cardamom / Chhoti Elaichi - 1

Black Cardamom / Moti Elaichi - 1

Bay leaf - 1

Ghee - 1tsp

Start out with a few preparatory steps before the actual cooking, - wash and clean the meat and rub in with salt, turmeric and curd / yogurt and put it in the frig for an hour at least. Slice the onions, chop the tomatoes and keep aside. Peel the potatoes, wash, halve them and prick them with a knife and keep aside. Grind the ginger, garlic, green chillies and dry red chillies together and keep aside. Warm the milk and soak the saffron in it. Wash the rice and soak it in water.

I used my pressure cooker to cook this for two reasons - 1. I do not have a big vessel & 2. the pressure cooker has a thick bottom. Heat 2tbsp oil and 2 tbsp. ghee in the cooker, when hot add the shahi jeera, jeera, cloves. cinnamon, green cardamom, black cardamom, bay leaf and crushed black pepper. Stir it then add the sliced onions and fry till the onions turn translucent. Add the ground ginger-garlic-chilli paste and fry well. Keep stirring it so the mix does not stick to the bottom and fry till the raw smell of the ginger garlic has gone. Then add the marinated mutton and mix well. Saute it for about 10 to 15 minutes till you see the oil leaving the sides. Add the potatoes and stir to coat well with the masala mix. Then add the tomatoes and about half cup water and mix well. Let it boil once and check for salt, add some if needed and close with lid and cook till the mutton is done.

 

Separately, cook the rice to be done in time with the mutton. Boil the water and then add the shahi jeera, jeera, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaf, green and black cardamoms, salt and ghee. Stir it once and then add the rice. Stir the rice so it does not stick to the bottom. The rice has to be only 3/4th done. I did not want to drain the flavorsome water hence put less water and kept checking if more water was needed to get it to 3/4th done level. Once the rice is done take it off the gas and fluff it so it does not stick together. I took it out in a bigger vessel so I could spread it out a bit without clumping.

 

Assembling:

Scoop the mutton and its masala out leaving back as much oil in the cooker as possible. Divide the rice in half and layer one half of the rice in the cooker. Then sprinkle half of the coriander leaves on top of it. Put in all of the mutton on this layer and spread out evenly. Then layer the rest of the rice over the mutton and spread it out. Sprinkle rest of the coriander leaves on the rice. Spoon the balance 2 tbsp. ghee on the sides and top of the rice. Then sprinkle the saffron and milk over it and shut with the lid. I put the cooker on top of my tawa and put it on low heat for about 10-15 minutes. Take it off heat and leave it for sometime ideally an hour or so to give time for all the taste to be absorbed.

 

Serve the biryani with raita / yogurt and salad.

Chicken Biryani with Shan Biryani Masala

After ages, I made biryani at home. Actually, its long since I cooked, after all mom's there to take care of everything. Biryani has always been my weakness. It can be biryani time anytime for me. I am partial to chicken biryani and go if for it if the restaurant is remotely known for its biryani. In Bombay, I enjoy biryani from - Lucky, Blossoms-Hotel Sun City & Jaffer Bhai Delhi Darbar to name a few.  And for the days I can't get my fix I make it at home and this is one such recipe:

For preparing meat:
Chicken 500gms, cut in medium sized pieces
Onion 4, medium to large sized, chopped/sliced
Garlic 10 cloves, medium sized, juliennes
Ginger 4 inch piece, juliennes
Shan Memoni Mutton Biryani Masala powder
Yogurt (dahi) 2 tbsp
Green chillies 2, big sized, slit
Tomato 1, medium sized, chopped
Potato 4, small sized, peeled to be used whole
Butter/ Ghee 3 tbsp
Little salt
For preparing the rice:
Basmati Rice 2 cups, soaked in water for 15 minutes
Cloves (lavang) 2
Cinnamon (dalchini) 1 inch piece
Green Cardamom (elaichi) 2
Black Cardamom (kaali elaichi) 1
Little salt
For assembling:
Coriander Leaves 1 cup, rough chopped
Mint Leaves, about 15 to 20 leaves, rough chopped
Onions sliced, fried in ghee or oil 1/2 cup
Butter/ Ghee 2 tbsp

Rice:

Take 4 cups water in a saucepan add the whole spices (khada masala) cloves, cinnamon, cardamoms and salt put it to boil. When the water boils lower the heat and add the soaked rice, cook for 5 minutes stirring in between. Check the rice, it should have a bite, about three-fourth cooked. Take it off the heat and drain off the excess water using a colander. At this time, you can remove the whole spices. In case you want to avoid removing it individually, you can make a bouquet garni and drop into the water when boiling.

Meat:

Mix the chicken and the ginger and garlic in a bowl and keep aside. In a heavy bottomed deep vessel (I use my big pressure cooker), add the ghee, once hot, add the chopped onions and saute it. When the onions are nearly brown add the meat mixed with the ginger and garlic. Saute it for a few minutes then add the yogurt and the Shan biryani masala powder. Saute for a few minutes and add potatoes, mix well and cover and let cook on low heat for 10 minutes. Check for salt, you may need to add very little salt since the masala powder has salt in it. Add the tomatoes and green chillies and cover and cook it done.

Now for the assembling for dum, you can do this on the stove or in the oven. I did it on the stove and to lessen the work used the cooker again. In case you are using the oven butter the insides of a deep glass baking dish and follow the steps below.

I took the chicken preparation out into a bowl. Add 1 tbsp spoon ghee in the empty cooker and let it spread the bottom of the vessel. Now to layer the chicken mix and rice.

Add half the prepared chicken mix to cover the bottom of the vessel. Layer half the rice on top of the chicken. Now top the rice with half of - the coriander leaves, mint leaves and fried onions. Repeat the layers - Layer the balance of the chicken and top it with the balance of the rice layer, Top these layers with the rest of the coriander and mint leaves and the fried onions. Sprinkle them to cover the rice. Sprinkle the remaining ghee on the top and the sides. Now cover and keep on very low heat for 15 to 20 minutes. If using the oven, cover the dish with foil, pierce the foil with fork a couple of times and put into a warm oven. When serving try to scoop out with the layers intact, its yummy with all the different tastes.

You can use oil instead of butter or ghee. Personally I love ghee and salivate when the aroma wafts through the entire home.