Authentic Muslim Chicken Biryani

Chicken Biryani

This is an easy to make recipe for biryani, if you opt to use the store bought biryani masala or if you wish, you can skip it completely.  The taste will be different but delicious all the same. Happy Cooking!!!

Ingredients:

1 kg chicken, medium pieces

1 kg basmati rice, soaked for 30 minutes

250 g onions, finely sliced

2 tomatoes pureed

250 gm oil

250 gm curds

8-10 cloves

8-10 cardamom

1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste

3 tsp chilli powder

2 tsp coriander powder

1 tbsp garam masala powder (recipe given below) or store bought biryani masala powder

1 cup milk

A handful each of coriander and mint leaves.

juice of 1 lemon

a few drops of orange/yellow food color

salt to taste

Method:

• Heat oil in a thick-bottomed vessel.  Add the cloves and half the mint leaves.
• Add the onions and fry till pink.
• Add the chicken and 2 tsp of salt and cook till the water is all absorbed.
• Add ginger-garlic paste, chili powder, coriander powder, and mix well and fry for 5 minutes.
• Add the curd, lemon, tomato puree, coriander leaves, and the garam masala powder/biryani masala powder and cook till the chicken is done and there is no extra water. Cook this on a low or medium flame.
• Heat water in a separate vessel.  When the water boils, add cardamom, rice, and 4 tsp of salt and cook the rice till half done.
• Drain the rice and mix in with the gravy.  
• Mix the food color in milk and pour over the rice in a circular motion all over.  Top it with remaining mint leaves.
• Now, cover the mouth of the vessel with a cloth and place the lid over it.  Keep a heavy object on top of the vessel so the steam does not escape. (you can save the water you drain from the rice and place it on top).
• Place the biryani vessel on a tawa, on low heat, and cook on dum for 20 minutes.
• Serve hot with raita.

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BIRYANI GARAM MASALA:

6 Green cardamom

2 Black cardamom

1 tsp peppercorns 

4 inch cinnamon stick

1 tbsp cloves

2 tbsp black cumin seeds/shahi jeera
2 tbsp nigella seeds/kalonji

½ tsp grated Nutmeg

1 bay leaf

1 star anise

Mughlai Mutton Biryani

Biryani...The word seems so small and inadequate to describe a dish of such fame.  Just have a look at the biryani page in Wikipedia...the various styles, the types, the variations, the different versions of it, its mind-boggling.  In our family as in every other muslim household, every important occasions like birthdays, anniversaries, festivals, and even Sunday lunches and family get-togethers are incomplete without biryani.  But I do think we muslims tend to have a rather casual attitude about it.  We really do not give it the reverence and awe it inspires in most people I have met.  My cousins and I have tried many different kinds of biryani and the mughlai biryani is one of the best tasting ones.  Personally, I think my mum makes the best biryani in the whole wide world (the people who have tasted it, will agree with me!!) but that is one recipe I will share later or I may not..I am rather possessive about it.

Mughlai Mutton Biryani

Ingredients:
1 kg mutton
1/2 kg basmati rice, soaked for 30 minutes
1 tsp garam masala powder
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
2 cups curds
1/2 cup cashewnuts (about 100 gms)
4 tsp chili powder
1 big onion, sliced
1 tsp black pepper powder
1 bayleaf
a 3 inch cinnamon stick
1 cup of mint leaves, chopped
2 tomatoes chopped
1 cup coriander leaves, chopped
1 cup milk
Few strands of saffron
6 tbsp oil
salt
1 tsp ghee

Method:

• Marinate the meat with curd, garam masala, and ginger-garlic paste for 2 hours.
• Soak the saffron strands in 1 cup of warm milk and keep aside.
• Fry the onions to a crisp golden brown.
• Fry cashews to a golden color and keep aside.
• In a bowl, mix the coriander leaves, mint leaves, and the fried onions.
• Heat oil in a vessel and fry the cinnamon and bayleaf.
• Add pepper powder and chilli powder along with the tomatoes.  Add marinated meat and about 4 tsp of salt and mix well.
• Cook till completely dry and the meat is done, on a medium to low fire.  Keep stirring occasionally so that it does not stick to the vessel.
• Heat about 1 liter of water in a separate vessel.  When the water starts to boil, add the rice and 1 tsp of salt and cook till the rice is half done.  Drain the rice.
• Grease a heavy-bottomed dish with ghee and add a layer of rice, then, add a layer of the meat mixture, and then a layer of the mint-coriander-onion mix.  Repeat the layers and end with a layer of rice on top.  Add the milk on top and cook on low flame for about 25 minutes or till the rice is completely done.  Serve hot with raita.

RAITA:

Ingredients:

500 gms cups of curd

2 large onions, finely sliced.
1 small cucumber, chopped
3 green chillies, finely chopped
A handful of coriander leaves, chopped
salt to taste
1/4 tsp of red chilli powder

Method:
Mix all ingredients together except the red chilli powder.  Just before serving, sprinkle the chilli powder on top sparingly.