CHICKEN BIRYANI and Love - How They Are the Same

Biryani is an Indian dish that comes in set of rice-based foods made with spices, rice and meat. I've tried many types of biryani at restaurants but this one is my favorite. I've reached to the perfect recipe by experimenting so many times. I've made this with chicken, You can make with any meat or even veggies. This is one of the kind biryani that cannot be found anywhere. I make this dish on special occasions only. I personally love this dish and my family loves it too. The main essence of any biryani is the flavorful meat with the perfectly flavored rice. There are a lot of steps, so this recipe is a bit long and takes a lot of time and energy. But trust me guys, at the end when you take a bite of this biryani, it is all worth it. I've given perfect steps with the ingredients and the quantity. Follow the steps and I assure you that this recipe won't go wrong. Do try this recipe and tell me how was it in the comments section. I am very excited to share my recipe with you all. Without any further delay let's start cooking!

Nutritional Facts: (1 serving)

• Fat 9.4 g
• Cholesterol 48 mg
• Sodium 419 mg
• Carbohydrates 31 g
• Dietary fibre 1.4 g
• Sugars 3.2 g
• Protein 20 g

Supplies

Ingredients:

• Rice 1kilogram.
• Chicken 1 kilogram.
• Egg 1.
• Oil for frying.
• Ghee 4-5 tablespoons.
• Tomatoes 3
• Onions 5.
• Ginger Garlic Paste 5 tablespoons.
• Curd 1 cup.
• Salt as per taste.
• Turmeric powder 2 tablespoons.
• Red chili powder 4 tablespoons.
• Kashmiri Red Chili Powder 2 tablespoons.
• Garam masala powder 1 tablespoons.
• Chicken Masala 3 tablespoons.
• Coriander Cumin powder 4 tablespoons.
• Black pepper powder 2 tablespoons.
• Food color 1 teaspoon.
• Black peppercorns 15.
• Cinnamon stick 3.
• Cloves 9-10.
• Cumin seeds 2 tablespoons.
• Bay leaves 3.
• Green Cardamom 4.
• Black Cardamom 2.
• Green chilies 5-6.
• Corn Flour 2-3 tablespoons.
• All purpose flour 2-3 tablespoons.
• Coriander Leaves.
• Mint leaves.
• Lemon 1- lemon juice- 7-8 tablespoon.

Step 1: Wash and Cut

1. I have taken around 1kg of chicken.
2. Cut them into medium pieces.
3. You can take boneless or with bone, whatever you like.
4. I would suggest you guys to take both boneless and with bone chicken pieces.
5. Wash them thoroughly.

Step 2: Marination

1.Take a big bowl.

2. In the chicken add the following ingredients.

• 2 tablespoons ginger garlic paste
• 1 egg.
• Salt as per taste.
• 1 tablespoon turmeric powder.
• 2 Tablespoon Red chili powder.
• 2 tablespoon cumin coriander powder.
• 1 tablespoon black pepper powder.
• 1 teaspoon garam masala powder.
• 1/2 teaspoon red food color. (Optional but recommended)
• 2-3 tablespoon lemon juice.
• 3-4 tablespoon curd.
• 2-3 tablespoon oil.
• 2 tablespoon corn flour.
• 2 tablespoon all purpose flour.
• Mix all the ingredients with the chicken very well.

3. Our marination is ready. Keep this aside for at least 2-3 hours. Best if kept overnight. I usually let this marinate for 5-6 hours.

Step 3: Boil Water

1. I usually cook biryani rice in a pot, but you can cook it in rice cooker or pressure cooker or any other way you like.
2. Biryani tastes better when it's basmati. You can select the rice as you like, Preferably Basmati or any long grain rice.
3. Wash rice grains with clean water for at least 2-3 times.
4. Soak the rice in water for 1 hour before cooking it.
5. Now we have to boil the rice. To do that, take a big pot with water.
6. The quantity should be in a 1:2 ratio ( 1 cup of rice: 2 Cups of water). It actually depends on the rice.
7. Let the water boil.
8. In the water add:
9. 2 tablespoons of oil.
10. 2-3 Tablespoon of salt (as per taste).
11. 4 black peppercorns.
12. 3 cloves.
13. 1 bay leaf.
14. 2 green cardamom.
15. 1 black cardamom.
16. 3 tablespoon of lemon juice.
17. 1 tablespoon of chopped coriander leaves.
18. 1 tablespoon of chopped mint leaves.
19. Let the water comes to a boil.
20. This will give a great smell and flavor.

Step 4: Cook Rice

1. Add the soaked rice to the boiling water.
2. Cook the rice for 7-8 minutes. Cook up to 80%.
3. Don't cook it fully.
4. In 8 mins or less the rice will be done.
5. Drain the cooked rice and keep it aside to cool down.

Step 5: Chopping and Slicing

For this full recipe we just need 2 veggies. That is tomatoes and Onions.

• For the biryani gravy:

1. Finely chop 3 small-medium sized tomatoes.

2. Finely chop 3 small sized onions.

• For making caramelized onions:

1. Finely slice 2 medium sized onions

Step 6: Caramelized Onion

Making perfect caramelized onions is one the most important things for making biryani. Let's start making that. The steps are pretty simple.

1. In a pan, heat oil.
2. (Any type of oil would do. Preferably use vegetable oil or olive oil as it does not have any distinct smell.)
3. Once the oil is hot, fry the sliced onions in batches.
4. Fry them till they are nice golden brown and crispy.
5. Once done, Take them out on a kitchen towel or tissue paper to soak the excess oil.
6. Keep this aside and move to the next step.

Step 7: Frying Chicken

1. It has now been 3-4 hours our chicken is marinated.
2. Now we will deep fry the chicken.
3. Use the same pan where you fries the sliced onions.
4. You can shallow fry it or roast it with butter too.
5. In a pan, take oil and start frying the marinated chicken in batches.
6. See that the chicken is covered well from all the sides with the marination.
7. Fry all the chicken well and keep it aside.

Step 8: Gravy- Step 1

1. In a big pan, heat about 5-6 tablespoons of oil. I've used regular vegetable oil.

2. Once the oil is hot, add the following spices into the hot oil:

• 1 Bay leaf.
• 3 cloves.
• 4-5 Black peppercorns.
• 1 cinnamon stick.
• 2 green cardamom.
• 1 black cardamom.
• 1 tablespoon of cumin seeds.
• 2 sliced green chilies.

3. Sauté it for a few seconds, till you smell the beautiful aroma from the spices we added.

Step 9: Sautéing

1. Once you get that aroma, Add the finely chopped onions.
2. Sauté it for a few minutes.
3. Try not to burn it. My onions were slightly burnt. :P ( Happens sometimes, because I'm not a pro yet.)
4. The onions will be nicely cooked in 2-3 minutes.
5. Once the onions are done, Add 2-3 tablespoons of ginger garlic paste.
6. Sauté this for 2 mins more.
7. Then add in the chopped tomatoes.
8. Mix every thing well and let the tomatoes cook for 2-3 minutes more.

Step 10: Spice It Up

1. The base of our gravy is done. Now it's time to spice it up.
2. Add salt as per taste.
3. Then add the following spices:
4. 1 tablespoon turmeric powder.
5. 2 tablespoon red chili powder.
6. 2 tablespoon coriander cumin powder.
7. 1 tablespoon black pepper powder.
8. 2 tablespoon chicken masala. (Optional)
9. 1/2 tablespoon Garam masala powder.
10. Mix everything well.
11. Add 1/4th cup of water to it.
12. Cover and cook for 5 mins.

Step 11: Thickening the Gravy

1. Our gravy is now cooked.
2. To thicken the gravy, add fresh curd.
3. When you add the curd, remember to lower the heat.
4. Add 1/2 cup of curd to the gravy.
5. Mix well.
6. Let it cook for 2 more minutes.

Step 12: Main Ingredient- CHICKEN

1. Add the fried chicken into the gravy.
2. Mix well.
3. Let the fried chicken get coated with the gravy well.
4. If it does not, add 1 cup of water to it.
5. Let it cook for 4-5 mins more, till the chicken is fully cooked.

Step 13: Gravy Is Ready

1. The gravy is all ready. Garnish it with chopped coriander leaves and chopped mint leaves.
2. Turn the flame off.
3. Keep this aside for a few minutes before layering. You will see the color and texture of the gravy change.
4. The gravy will become thicker, the oil will float above.
5. You can remove this oil with a spoon if you want. (In India, we say " Biryani is supposed to be a bit oily and unhealthy" :P )

Step 14: Prep for Layering

1. Finely chop coriander leaves and mint leaves.
2. Slice 4-5 green chilies.
3. In 3 small bowls take 1/8 cup of warm milk.
4. In those three bowls, add 1/2 teaspoon of food color (Orange, Yellow and Green).
5. You can use gel colors too.
6. Powdered food colors will give a better color to the biryani.
7. Our Caramelized onions were ready in step 3.
8. In a small bowl take 1/8th cup of ghee (Clarified butter).
9. The prep for layering is done.

Step 15: Layering

Now we have to layer the biryani.

1. Take a big pot or Pressure cooker. I have taken a pressure cooker here.
2. First layer will be of the chicken gravy.
3. Then the next layer will be of rice.
4. Over the rice, add 1 tablespoon of ghee, orange, yellow and green food color mixtures each.
5. Garnish it with the caramelized onions we prepared.
6. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves, mint leaves and sliced green chilies.
7. Repeat the steps 4,5,6.
8. Gravy--> Rice---> Garnishing.
9. Follow the same steps finishing with the garnishing.
10. Watch the following video for your reference.

Step 16: Final Step

1. Cover the pot or pressure cooker (Without the whistle), and let the biryani cook for 15 mins on low flame.
2. After 15-20 minutes, turn off the flame.

Step 17: Raita

Optional step

1. Finely chop cucumber, tomatoes, onions.
2. Mix it with thick curd.
3. Add salt as per taste.
4. Mix well.

Step 18: Ready

Our SPECIAL CHICKEN BIRYANI is ready.

Lets do a quick recap:

1. Marination.
2. Chopping.
3. Cooking rice.
4. Caramelizing onions.
5. Frying Chicken.
6. Preparing gravy.
7. Assembling everything.
8. Making raita.

Serve this yummy, delicious, flavorful chicken biryani with some raita. Making this is time consuming, but with the first bite, all the tiredness goes away and energy comes back. This biryani is my absolute favorite type of biryani. This chicken Biryani is truly my love. I am an absolute foodie. I love making as well as eating this. I hope you guys love it too. Do try making this and tell me how it was. I'm sure you will make it again and again like I do.

Also please follow me on Instagram @thelockdowncheff.

Thank you so much for reading!