If you are wondering why the word “finally” is there in title, here it goes.
There are 2 reasons. First, if I make a list of recipe requests I get from readers of MariasMenu, Chicken Biriyani easily tops that list. You might ask, what took me so long to post the recipe then. Usually, whenever I get a request for Chicken Biriyani recipe, I reply to them with my mutton biriyani link. Because that’s originally a chicken biriyani recipe and I happened to make it with mutton sometimes. We were & are perfectly happy with the recipe & I never wanted to try another one. Hence I never bothered collecting or going through any other biriyani recipe. Since the number of mails & comments asking for a chicken biriyani kept on increasing, I gave a second thought and “Finally” I’m posting a Chicken Biriyani recipe :)
Second, this is my 200th post. Let me make something clear here, I dont think this is my 200th food post, because there are some non foodie posts also. However WordPress is telling me that I have 199 posts now and when this post gets published it will be 200. Now, I’m a peace loving person and didnt want to disagree with WordPress ;). I thought ok, lets go ahead with 200! I know…it took me almost 4 years to hit double century, the run rate is really sad :(. When I’ve seen other bloggers celebrating 200 or 300, I used to wonder “mera number kab ayega”? Here it is “Finally” :) Thank you for helping me to hit the double century, I owe it to YOU big time :)
About the recipe… when I made this biriyani, I had a feeling that I was standing in the mix n match section of Shoppers Stop :). Because I’ve picked the recipe from here and there. This recipe wont fit under the “authentic” or “traditional” Biriyani recipe. In this, I have fried the chicken pieces and I have also used chilly & coriander powder etc which I normally dont use in the biriyani. I’ve seen some of my friends doing it, so I thought I will try it. I’ve got the masala part from some other friends, so its a total mix n match stuff. I’ve made it 2-3 times and it came out well every time. Hope you will also like it.
Here is the recipe:
- Chicken – 900 gm
- Pepper powder – ½ tsp
- Chilly powder – 1 tsp
- Coriander powder – 1½ tsp
- Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
- Lemon juice – 1 tbsp
- Salt
- Onion – 4-5 medium size, finely sliced
- Ginger & Garlic paste – 1½ tbsp each
- Green chilly – 5
- Tomato – 2
- Coriander leaves – a handful
- Yogurt – 2-3 tbsp
- Garam Masala – 1 tsp
- Water – ½ cup
- Cashew nuts – 2tbsp
- Oil/Ghee
- Salt
- Basmati rice – 3 cups
- Water – 5 cups (refer notes)
- Cardamom – 4
- Cloves – 4
- Cinnamon – 2 small pieces
- Lemon juice – 2 tbsp
- Coriander leaves – a handful
- Ghee – 2-3 tbsp
- Salt
- Cashews & raisins – 1 handful each
- Onion – 1 big sliced finely
- Coriander leaves
- Ghee/Oil
- Masala Preparation
- Clean the chicken pieces and make small gashes. Marinate the cleaned chicken pieces with the marination ingredients. Keep aside for half an hour and shallow fry the chicken pieces in oil/ghee till it turns golden brown & half cooked.Keep the chicken pieces aside.
- Grind tomato & coriander leaves to a smooth paste. Soak the cashew nuts in hot water (2 tbsp) for 5-10 mins and grind it to a smooth paste. Add the finely sliced onion to the same oil/ghee (in which chicken is fried) and saute till it becomes brown. Add ginger garlic paste and crushed green chilly. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Add the tomato coriander paste and cook till the oil separates. Add garam masala and cook for a minute. Add yogurt, salt and mix well. Add the fried chicken pieces and combine well. Make sure that the chicken pieces are coated well with the masala. Add ½ cup water and cover and cook the chicken. When the chicken is almost done, add the cashew paste. Cook till the chicken is done.
- Rice Preparation
- Wash and soak the rice in water for 25 minutes. Drain the water completely. Boil 5 cups water with half the quantity of whole masala & keep it aside. Heat ghee in a vessel/pan, splutter the remaining whole masala and add the rice. Fry the rice until it starts cracking. Add the boiled water, lemon juice, coriander leaves & salt. Cook till the rice is done and water is completely dried. Spread the rice in a tray & keep aside.
- Layering the Biriyani
- Preheat the oven to 180 degree 10 minutes before baking the biriyani. Apply some ghee to a baking dish. Put one layer of masala in the dish. On top of that spread some rice and make another layer. Again spread another layer of masala on top of the rice. Repeat the process until the masala and rice is finished. The top layer should be of rice. You can drizzle ghee & sprinkle coriander leaves in between the layers. Cover the dish with a wet cloth. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes.
- Garnishing:
- Heat ghee/oil in a pan and fry the cashews & raisins. Remove them from the pan & in the remaining ghee/oil fry the onions till it becomes golden brown. Drain the excess ghee in a paper towel & keep it aside.
- Garnish the baked biriyani with fried cashew, raisins, onions & coriander leaves. Serve hot with pickle, raita & pappad.
Check out other biriyani recipes here:
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