Chicken Biryani

                                  

About

Biryani is a rice based dish made with spices and herbs.  It was believed to have been invented in the kitchen of Mughal Emperors. It is very popular in the Indian subcontinent and is a key element of the South Asian cuisine.Hyderabad, Malabar, Delhi/Agra, Kashmir, Kolkata, Lucknow and Lahore, are the main centres of biryani cuisine. To find more about this delicious dish, you can go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biryani. This is a version of the Hyderabad Dum Biryani. It was baked in the oven to add the "dum" factor. Dum means to ‘breathe in’ and pukht to 'cook' which is basically ‘roasting’ and ‘maturing’ of a prepared dish. One of the many variations of Biryani is Chicken Biryani. In this recipe, Chicken and rice were cooked separately and then layered in a Dutch oven, sealed and baked to perfection in a preheated oven. The difference that you will notice in this version is that mint and cilantro are generously used to flavor the chicken.  You can use boneless skinless chicken breast or whole chicken cut into medium cubes with the bones. This dish brings back old memories as a child. My mum is a master of Hyderabadi Dum Biryani. This is my tribute to my mum. I hope that you enjoy this dish as much as I do. 

Ingredients

Chicken: 

Skinless boneless chicken 1 to 1½" pieces- 1 pound

Yogurt- 1 cup

Garlic paste- 1 teaspoon

Ginger paste- 1 teaspoon

Cumin powder: 1 teaspoon

Chili powder: 1 teaspoon

Turmeric powder: ½ teaspoon

Biryani Masala- 1 tablespoon (I used Shan Chicken Biryani Mix)

Serrano Chilies, halfed lengthwise and remove seeds and white membrane- 1 (Add more if you would like to increase the heat)

Salt: ¼ teaspoon

EVOO: 2 tablespoon

Onions, thinly sliced- 2 cups

Cinnamon sticks, 3" x¼" broken in half- 1

Black peppercorn- 5-6

Cloves- 5

Mint leaves- 1 bunch

Cilantro leaves- 1 bunch

Water- 1 Cup

Saffron Mint Rice:

Basmati Rice- 1 cup (I used Kohinoor platinum aged rice)

Saffron- ¼ teaspoon (Any good quality saffron)

Salt- ¼ teaspoon

Cinnamon sticks-1

EVOO- ½ Tablespoon

Mint leaves- ½ cup

Water- 3 cups

Juice of half a lemon

Other Ingredients: 

EVOO- 1 Tablespoon

Boiled eggs, cut in half-3

Bay leaf- 6-7

Onions thinly sliced vertically and fried: ½ Cup

Almonds skinned and sliced-2 Tablespoons

Cashews halves: 2 Tablespoons

Milk- ½ Cup

Cardamom powder- ½ teaspoon

Saffron strands, crushed- 6

Rose essence- ¼ teaspoon

Sliced Lemon- ½

Lemon Juice- of ½ lemon

Method

Chicken:

Combine yogurt, ginger, garlic, cumin powder, chili powder, turmeric powder and salt. Stir in chicken. Make sure chicken pieces are full coated. Let it rest 4 hours to overnight in the refrigerator. Heat EVOO in a heavy bottomed stock pot. Add cinnamon sticks and black cardamom. Fry for a minute. Add onions, sauté till onions are ready to turn brown about 6 minutes. Add cloves and black peppercorn. Sauté for about 2 minutes. Add the marinated chicken. Cook on low to medium heat and fry until the chicken starts to turn brown on all sides and the marinade releases oil. Blend mint leaves and cilantro in a blender with ½ tablespoon water. Add this to the stock pot with the chicken. Sauté until chicken releases the oil and all the flavors are blended in. Add 1 cup of water. Once this starts to boil, cover and cook on medium heat till chicken is tender for about 25 minutes. If required add another cup of water until the chicken is thoroughly cooked. Take the lid off and pan fry until the gravy is thick.

Rice:

Wash and rinse the rice a couple of times. Soak the rice in water for about 30 minutes. Drain. In a rice cooker (if you don’t have a rice cooker, then use a pot), add the rice, add water, saffron strands, cinnamon sticks, salt and bring it Bring it to a boil. Add lemon juice. This will prevent the rice from sticking together. Simmer and cook for 12 minutes with the lid on. The idea is to half-cook the rice. Transfer to a colander and let all the excess water drip off. Check by tasting the rice. If required, season with some more salt to adjust the taste.

Layer the Chicken and Rice:

In a pan, add about 1 tablespoon of EVOO. Once the oil is hot, add almonds and cashews. Fry till almonds and cashews turn brown. Transfer to a bowl with paper towel to drain the excess oil. To the same pan, add 1 cup of sliced onions and fry till crisp and brown. Transfer to a bowl with paper towel to drain excess oil. Next, in the bottom of a Dutch oven (or any heavy bottomed pot), drizzle some oil. Place 6-7 bay leaves. Put half of the rice on the bottom of a Dutch oven. Put Chicken gravy on top of the Rice. Put the remaining rice on top of the Chicken gravy. Carefully place the eggs facing down on the rice and Sprinkle onions, mint leaves, almonds and cashews on top of rice. Prepare a mixture of warm milk, saffron, cardamom and rose essence. Add to the layered rice and chicken slowly in a circular fashion. Cover the Ditch oven with Aluminum foil. Place the lid on the Aluminum foil to help making a tight seal so that the flavors are blended together. Place the Dutch oven in a preheated oven to 400°F. Bake for 20 minutes. Turn the oven off and let the Dutch oven stand on the rack for an additional 20 minutes. Carefully open the seal. Add a dash of lemon juice. Garnish with sliced lemon and serve hot with mint raita.  

Happy Cooking!!