Coorgi Chicken Biriyani

Chicken Biriyani

 

My hubby & I are big time Biryani Fans. Most of the time when we go to Indian restaurants this will be one of the items that we will order. In India Biriyani is made differently in various states. In my house alone for that matter, my mom has her own version, so does my sister & mother-in-law. I love to taste the different variety of Biriyanis. The most commonly made in my house is the Hyderbadi Dum Biriyani. This time I wanted to make something really new. I just tried to mix up my Mom's coorg Biriyani recipe with the Malabar (Northern Kerala) Biriyani & made this new recipe. This one definitely is a keep recipe & we loved it! My hubby kept saying very nice after every serve:). This biriyani was so tempting that we both had 3 serves & still kept looking at the Biriyani in the serving dish:) This recipe is very light I have used only whole spices & have not added any masala powders. This is also a healthy version as I have just used 2 Tbspn of Ghee. This is how I made it.

 

 

 
Serves: 5
 
Ingredients:

• 2 cups Basmati Rice
• 1 Kg chicken (medium pieces around 14)
• 2 Tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 1 Tbsp fennel seeds
• 1 Tbsp Poppy seeds
• 6 green chilis slit
• 3 Large Onions sliced
• 2 Medium tomatoes chopped
• 1 cup chopped coriander leaves
• 4 Tbsp yogurt
• 2 piece 4 inch cinnamon
• 4 Cardamom
• 4 Cloves
• 1 Bay leaf
• 1 Star Aniz
• Biriyani Masala (Recipe below)
• 1/2 cup fried onion
• 2 Tbsp Lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp Black currants
• 2 Tbsp chopped sweet Lemon peel preserve
• Salt as per taste
• 2 Tbsp Ghee

Biryani Masala:

• Cinnamon 2 inch piece
• Cardamom 8
• Cloves 4
• Nutmeg 1/2 Tspn grated
• bay leaves- 1
• Star Anise-1 pod
• (Dry roast all together and grind to a fine powder along with ginger garlic, fennel seeds & poppy seeds)

For the Rice:

Soak Basmati Rice (India gate premium)in water for about 15 mins. Now Boil a big pot of water & add in the Rice in the boiling water along with some salt. Let the rice cook for 5 mins or untill its 70% done. Turn off the flame, drain water & set the rice aside.

 

Method:

1. Clean the chicken and cut into medium sized pieces. Wash and drain well.
2. Soak the fennel seeds and poppy seeds in a bowl of hot water for 5 mins. Grind this along with Ginger, garlic, green chili's & the Biriyani Masala.
3. In a big Kadai add in 2 Tbp of oil & fry the onions, Cinnamon sticks, cloves, cardamom, bay leaf  until they are light brown.
4. Now add in the ground Masala paste , turmeric powder & saute until fat separation for 3 to 5 mins.
5. Add in the yogurt, salt as per taste & chicken. Give it a good mix turn off the stove & let it marinate in this masala for about 2 hours,
6. After 2 hours cook the chicken for about 5 to 7 mins until 80% done.
7. Add in the lemon juice & 1 tbsp of coriander leaves.
8. Now transfer 1/ 4th of the chicken curry to a big Pan in which you want to Dum cook or Bake.
9. Layer the rice on top of the curry, sprinkle fried onions, coriander leaves, black currants & Lemon preserve. Now continue this process again & in the final step add in 2 Tbsp of Ghee on the top most layer. (I made 3 layers in total)
10. Now close lid tightly, use a silver foil if required. Dum it (Slow cook it on a very very low flame for about 30 mins)
11. After 30 mins turn off the flame & let the Biriyani rest for another 20 mins,
12. Now slowly mix the rice with a wooden spatula so that the masalas get well coated on the rice. Do not over mix at this stage.

 
Here is the step by step picture.