Hey There!

I am back with this aromatic biryani recipe for you all.

Biryani is always associated with celebrations and weddings in India but that does not mean you cannot make it when you crave one.

I have been meaning to post a solo biryani post since a long time but never got my way around it. This time I was determined to click pictures  ( and make my husband patiently wait )before digging into our aromatic plates.

My mom is an amazing cook and that is where my love for cooking stems from, and her Chicken biryani is beyond amazing! So this recipe  and method is completely hers.

I understand that making a biryani , is a tiresome and lengthy process which involves slicing lot of onions, but the end result is worth the effort.

To make this process less daunting  I have broken it down into four parts, the first part involves  tempering and cooking rice, second involves cooking the chicken,the third one is frying the onions and cashews and lastly, putting everything together and giving it that classic “dum” (cooking with steam) effect.

Like my mom says, the secret to making any biryani is to keep making it, so without further ado here is the recipe.

Prep + Marination Time:  30 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Serves: 5-6 people

Ingredients:
Marination
1 and 1/2 Tbsp Yogurt
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp garlic paste
Salt to taste
1 tsp turmeric, red chilly powder, lemon juice
2 tsp mint chutney
2 Tbsp Biryani Masala

Spices to Temper
2 Tbsp finely chopped onion
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp garlic paste
Small stick of cinnamon
1 Star anise (chakri phool)
1/2 tsp shahi jeera

Other
1/2 kg chicken (mixture of boneless and with bone pieces or as you prefer)
2  cups of Basmati rice (1 cup = 230 ml)
3 and 1/4 cup (boiling) water
4 medium to large onions sliced thinly
2 Tbsp Shan Biryaani Masala.
1/4 cup  water
1 tsp ghee (clarified butter)
Oil for cooking
Roasted cashew nuts and coriander (chopped) for garnish

Method:
1. The main prep work  is taken to slice onions. Thinly slice 3-4 medium to large size (8 to 10 small sized) onions. Finely chop one onion and keep aside.
2. Secondly soak your basmati rice in cold water for about 15 minutes .
3. Marinate your chicken for atleast 30 minutes using the ingredients listed under “Marination” section and keep aside.
Cooking Rice
1. Before we start, take 4 cups of water in a pot and let it come to a boil.
2. Heat 2 tsp oil in pan + chopped onions + 1 tsp ginger and garlic paste+ shahi jeera + cinnamon stick + star anise  Let everything cook for about 4-5 minutes. Add 2 Tbsp of Biryani masala to this. I like using Shan Biryaani Masala but you can use whichever Biryani Masala you have at hand. To that add your soaked basmati rice and give it a mix.
3. Add 3  and 1/4 cup of water that we had kept boiling into the rice vessel. Add half a teaspoon of salt and 1 tsp of ghee to it (optional). Keep the rice vessel on a medium heat and let it cook for approximately 10-12 minutes. After that reduce the flame to low and close the lid. Give rice another 10 -12 minutes to cook on a low flame (Please keep checking at this stage as the  time for rice to cook on every burner and pot varies). After that switch off the flame and do not open the lid.

Note: A good Rice to water measurements for biryani rice is to add 1.5 times water plus quarter cup for every one cup of rice.(Do not  double the water for every  cup of rice)

Cooking Chicken

Heat 1 Tbsp of oil on a medium flame + 1/4 cup of thinly sliced onions. Let them cook until they turn golden brown. To that add our marinated chicken  and mix until the onions are well incorporated . Check for seasoning (esp Salt). Cook it for 10 minutes without the lid. Then add half cup of water (or more if it is too dry) close the lid and let it cook for another 15-20 minutes on a medium flame.

Roasting Onion & Cashew nuts
1. Quickly roast cashew nuts first for about 3-4 minutes in a tsp of oil and keep aside.
2. Fry the remaining thinly sliced onion in oil until they turn dark brown, add more oil as needed. This process take a little time so be patient 🙂 (approx 10 – 20 minutes) You might want to do this in batches for the onions to cook through.

Combining everything together:
1. Open the lid of your rice vessel, remove half of the rice and add half of roasted dark brown onions + your cooked chicken.
2. Cover them with the rice that we had removed earlier add the remaining dark brown onions along with roasted cashew nuts and coriander leaves on top. You can even add saffron if you have any.
3. Close the lid and let it sit on a low flame for 10 minutes before serving.

Tip: If your rice pot does not have a lid use aluminium foil to cover it.

Let me know your suggestions and feedback in the comments down below and I would love to know what method do you use to make your own Biryani.

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