Chicken Biryani Recipe (Special tips included)

Chicken Dum Biryani Recipe

Restaurant style!

Biryani is a slow cooked flavorful rice dish which is made by mixing it with curried meat or vegetables and owes its roots to the Indian Subcontinent. I've made Biryanis several times before, but on this occasion, my parents just couldn't stop praising it, so I thought I had to share it with you!

This particular recipe is called a Dum Biryani because the rice and meat are slow cooked under pressure so that the aromas and flavors are trapped in their own steam. It employs a longer procedure than the regular biryani, but after doing ample research, I came up with ways to make the recipe slightly simpler and more practical. How, you ask? Read on...

First up, powder a mixture of whole spices and add ginger  & garlic paste, chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, shahi jeera, salt, ghee, juice of half a lime, chopped coriander, chopped mint leaves and half a cup yogurt to the mixture. Mix well to form a paste and marinate chicken pieces overnight or at least for 3-4 hours. Tip - Overnight marination works best! Also, pierce the chicken and use fresh chicken instead of frozen.

Next, slice up 2 medium sized onions, roughly sprinkle some corn flour over the onions and deep fry immediately. This will give you perfectly browned onions. Tip - Take the onions off the heat before it becomes too brown as the colour darkens a bit even after it is taken out of the hot oil. 

Roast a few cashew nuts and keep aside. The fried onions and cashew nuts are to be used along with a few sprigs of mint leaves for garnishing in the end.

Boil 3 cups of long grain Basmati rice so as to cook it half way through. Add salt, ghee, bay leaves and jeera to the water and drain the excess water once rice is cooked halfway. Add a few drops of kewra essence and rose water to the rice to bring out the true Biryani flavour in the rice. Tip - Soak the rice in water for 45 minutes before cooking so that grains lengthen and appear truly restaurant style.

Layer a thick bottomed pan (handi) with the chicken pieces and all of the marinade. Tip - You can also add half cooked potato wedges if you like potatoes in your biryani like my parents do! Sprinkle 1/3rd of the fried onions over the chicken and then layer with the half cooked rice. Top the rice with the rest of the fried onions, some food colour (optional), roasted cashew nuts and saffron soaked in hot milk. Tip - While placing the chicken in the bottom layer of the pan, make sure each piece touches the bottom of the pan to ensure equally cooked pieces and a flavorful roasted texture to the chicken. 

Cover the pan with a lid and weights so that the steam and flavors are trapped in the pan. Place a tawa on the fire and the pan over the tawa so that the chicken doesnt burn. Cook the biryani on high flame for the first 10 minutes and then reduce the flame to a medium for the next 20 minutes. ...and Voila! Authentic Chicken Biryani is ready! Whip up some cucumber raita and serve with lime wedges and onion! This Biryani is to die for! 

Go try this right now and experience the taste of the most authentic restaurant style biryani in the comfort of your home! You can thank me later ;)

Lot's of love,

Salo!