Chicken Biryani- A very famous Indian delicacy made with aromatic basmati rice and flavored with exotic spices such as saffron and is layered with chicken cooked in a thick gravy.
Chicken Biryani is itself an entire meal. It is one special dish, that I generally make on Saturdays or Sundays for lunch and it delights my whole family.I have always been a fan of Biryanis since my childhood. Goat Biryani and chicken biryani is always on my list whenever we go to an Indian restaurant for lunch.
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Today, when I am writing this post, my brain is dragging me to the memories of my University life in Aligarh, where I used to stay in a hostel.The hostel mess food was sometimes good, sometimes okayish, but Fridays and Sundays were always special because of the food that was served on those days. The Lunch on Fridays was always Biryanis-Veg or Non-veg. Dinners were usual Chicken curry or goat curry with Rumali Rotis. The Hostel mess was always jam packed on those days.Hostel days are one of the best days of life and the memories gathered there are forever.
Coming back to my present, I made this Chicken biryani a few days before and this time I made a quicker version of chicken Biryani. I usually make a Dum version of chicken biryani, where the biryani is cooked slowly for hours and definitely it tastes awesome, but this quicker version is also no less. My family loved this, I served it with Mint and onion raita, chutney and some sliced onions.
Sometimes I also make Quick Chicken Seekh Kebabs or Grilled and steamed chicken and veggie kababs with Biryani.
Lets proceed towards the recipe
- 500 gms or 1 lb Chicken
- 1.5 Cups Basmati Rice soaked
- 8-10 green cardamom pods
- 2-3 cloves
- 2 inch Cinnamon stick
- 3 onions sliced
- 3 big tomatoes pureed
- Salt to taste
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp red chili powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1tsp ground coriander
- 1/2 ground black pepper
- 3 tbsp oil
- 3-4 garlic cloves chopped
- 1tsp finely chopped ginger
- 1/2 cup dahi or yogurt
- 4-5 saffron threads soaked in warm milk
- fresh cilantro leaves to garnish
- Wash and soak the Basmati rice for at least 30 minutes.
- Remove seeds from half the cardamom pods and grind them finely using a pestle or mortar.
- Bring a pan of water to boil and add the rice, whole cardamom, cloves, cinnamon stick. boil for 2-3 minutes and then drain leaving the whole spices in the rice. Keep the rice in hot covered pan.
- Heat the oil in a wok or Karahi and fry the onions till they are soft and brown.
- Add the chicken and ground spices, including the cardamom seeds.Mix well, then add garlic, ginger and lemon juice. Stir-fry for about 10 minutes.
- Now add the tomato puree, yogurt, and fresh coriander. Mix well everything and then cook for another 5 minutes on medium flame. You will see that chicken will start cooking.
- Now add the cooked rice on top, some coriander leaves and saffron infused milk on top.Sprinkle some water on top and now cover with a lid and let this cook for 15-20 minutes on low flame.
- Turn off the flame now and give everything a gentle mix. If you want you can add some fried cashews, raisins and almonds too. Serve hot with chutney and raita and enjoy.
NOTES
1. Make sure that you don’t overcook the rice otherwise the biryani would be mushy.
2. Never try to cook Biryani in a pressure cooker, usually it turns out to be mushy.
3. The cook timings for chicken may vary, so keep a check on the chicken when you are cooking it.
