Chicken Biryani

Ingredients

• 8 boneless, chicken thighs or fleshy Chicken breast
• 2 cups Basmati rice
• 1 onion thinly sliced and browned
• 1 grated ginger
• 4 tablespoons yogurt
• Few cardamom pods and cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
• 1/2 teaspoon chili
• 1 teaspoon saffron (dissolved in milk)
• Vegetable oil
• Clarified butter (ghee) 3 tablespoon
• Mint leaves
• Salt

Method

Heat oil and add the chicken, some cardamom pods, cloves, salt, chili pepper, cinnamon and turmeric. Add yogurt to the mix. Then mix the onion slices, mint leaves and ginger. Keep aside some of the browned onions. Stir well for nearly 15 minutes till the chicken is cooked through. Boil the rice in a separate pot with salt till par-cooked. Drain the rice, keeping the boiled water for later use.
In a separate small pot, heat 1 tablespoon of ghee and add some of the boiling water. Add the remaining ghee to the dissolved saffron and keep aside. In an ovenproof dish, put some of the rice, then the chicken along with a little ground cardamom and chili. Add another layer of rice and pour some saffron liquid then another layer of rice and browned onions. Cover the dish with foil and a heavy lid and then place in oven on medium heat for 20-30 minutes. Serve hot.

Tips

Dry roast the spices before you grind them or add them. Dry roasting releases the strong aroma. Making a biryani is a laborious time-consuming process, from marinating to layering and the dum pukht method. But it is worth the effort! The dum cooking method involves cooking the rice dish on a low heat. The pan is sealed with sticky dough. Add kewra for a rich flavor.