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Sunday 18 August 2013

Chicken Dum Biryani

We all know there are different ways of preparing Biryani.. so this time I thought of trying a different recipe and big inspiration behind this recipe is the cook in my office whose food everybody loves. This one happens to be a very simple recipe using Shaan's biryani masala unlike other Chicken biryani recipe I have posted here. Both the flavors are entirely different so there is no comparison really. I assure you that the first one in spite of being longer is definitely worth its time. So try both and share your feedback :-)

If you have a recipe too, please share! :)






Ingredients

Dalchini - 2 pieces each 1 inch
Lavang - 5
Tej patta - 1 large
Chakra phool - 1
Shah jeera - 1 tsp
Jayphal - 1/2
Choti elaichi - 5
Badi elaichi - 1
4-5 tiny saffron strands
[Alternately you can use Badshaah saffron milk masala 1 tsp]
Half packet of Shaan's Chicken Biryani Masala
500 gms chicken (bone/boneless)
500 gms basmati rice
2 large potatoes peeled and each cut into 4 pieces
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste 
[preferably homemade, market ginger garlic paste has vinegar and other acidifying agents which spoil the fun]
2 medium sized tomatoes pureed
3 onions finely chopped
6 green chillies finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped mint
1 large tsp tamarind pulp
[For preparing tamarind pulp, remove seeds and dip tamarind in warm water, stuff the tamarind as much as possible, to avoid watery pulp. Put it in a mixer and grind till it reduces to pulp. For storing for future use, add a pinch of salt to the pulp and store in a dry air tight container in fridge]
1 cup of big pieces of your choice of vegetables like carrot, cucumber, french beans etc [optional]
1/4 cup ghee
1/4 cup oil
Salt to taste
[Shaan's biryani masala has good amount of salt already, so check before you add more]

Wash and soak rice for 30 minutes.

Use a fork and prick the chicken and potato pieces, add ginger garlic paste and 1 tbsp biryani masala , mix well and marinade for at least 1 hour.

Add 1/4 cup water to marinated chicken and boil by covering with a lid on low flame till chicken becomes tender. Do not over cook as it will become tough. Increase the flame till water evaporates.

Meanwhile, bring 10 glasses of water to boil. Add some cardamom powder, small stick of dalchini and 2 tsp salt. Add the rice and boil till rice is partially cooked. Drain the water and evenly spread rice over a large wide plate/tray. Put some ghee and mix well gently.

Put half oil and half ghee in a heavy bottom cooking vessel , when its hot, fry the boiled chicken and potato till the edges turn brown, set aside.

In the same vessel, add all the spices and fry for few seconds. Now add onions and chillies and cook till onion becomes transparent. Add tomato puree and cook till oil separates. Add half packet biryani masala, tamarind pulp, chopped mint, vegetables (if any) and some salt to taste and mix well. Fry for few seconds. Add half cup water and cook for 5 minutes on low flame. Turn off the flame and move the contents to separate vessel.
Turn off the flame. Smear some ghee in the bottom and around the inside of the vessel. Spread half of the rice at the bottom , add half of the cooked chicken on top, then spread remaining rice and finally spread rest of chicken on top. Spread evenly and cover with lid.
Cook on low flame till the rice is cooked.

Well, you will know its done when the aroma of biryani fills your house ;)  It usually takes about 30 mins. Use a vessel that has heavy bottom, so that rice doesn't get burnt at the bottom.

ps: wanted to share the pick of the vessel I cook biryani in (4th pic). One can make up to 3.5 kg biryani in this. It is quite heavy and thick which is important for slow cooking.







1 comment:

  1. Thanks for sharing Chicken Dum Biryani recipe, it is my all time favorite dish. and I loved to cook it.

    ReplyDelete