Chicken Biryani - a highly aromatic and well-seasoned one-pot dish is the showstopper recipe on 'Cooking by Elsa'. Essentially, it's your favourite chicken curry (or vegetable or other protein of choice) buried under a mound of delicately spiced fluffy rice, all made in one pot. The rice is steamed over a low heat so it absorbs the flavours of the curry bubbling away underneath.
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Ingredients
Chicken-1kg
Marination items for chicken
chilli powder - 1 and 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Pepper- 1/2 tsp
Garam masala- 1tsp
Salt
Curd -2 tbsp
Egg beaten 1
Lemon juice - 1/2 of a big one
Chicken masala items:
Onions - 5 large diced long
Ginger- 1 large piece
Garlic - 9 cloves
Green chili - 1 large
Cashew nuts - 1/2 cup
Black raisins - 1/2 cup
Cashew paste - 3 tbsp
Coconut cream - 2 tbsp
Salt
Kashmiri chilli 1 tsp
Biriyani masala 1 tsp
Pepper 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
Lemon juice as required
Nutmeg (optional 1/4 tsp)
Coriander leaves
Mint leaves
Cloves 12
Cardamom 6
Rose water
Curd
Tomato 2 large
Rice - Basmati rice -3 and 1/2 glass
4 large onions (bista) - use half to garnish and for chicken masala
Directions
1. Marinate the chicken overnight or about 1/2 an hour to 1 hour. Deep fry the 4 large onions diced for garnish and chicken masala. Mildly fry the chicken to semi cook and form a fried texture. (Do not deep fry it.)Clean and soak the rice for about 20 minutes- 3 and 1/2 glass. Mildly fry the cashew nuts and raisins in ghee.
2. Keep the water boiled for rice. Add salt (add it a little more than usual to absorb on to the rice.) Add the spices and when it starts boiling, add the washed rice.In another pan, add ghee, saute onion, ginger garlic and green chilli. You can add onion in batches. When the colour starts changing, add the tomatoes. Merge well. Reduce the flame.
3. Add 1/2 tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp chilli powder, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1 tsp biriyani masala. Cook well to merge masalas. Eventually add cashew paste, coconut cream and curd. Add half of fried onions, cashew nuts and raisins to the chicken masala. Add sufficient water and close the lid to cook chicken.
4. Once the rice is cooked , drain it and spread it out on a flat tray. Squeeze the lemon juice to add flavor and avoid stickiness. Use a fork to slightly make it independent.
Layering:
Add a layer of rice at the bottom. Mix some turmeric/saffron in rose water and gently spread it and different parts of the rice. Add the cashew nuts and raisins fried in ghee. Add some bista (fried onions) on top. Sprinkle a dash of biriyani masala. Add some coriander leaves and mint leaves on top. Now add the chicken masala on top, mix the pieces and masala evenly. Keep layering on top.Either you can steam in a non stick pot or bake in a tray for 5 minutes. I have added ghee to the last two layers. (If you prefer, you can add ghee to every layer.After steaming/baking , transfer it to a serving plate.
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