Traditional Madrasi chicken biryani
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken + 1/2 a breast 2kgs
- 6 onions medium size
- 5 tomatoes medium size preferably plum
- 10 cloves
- 10 green cardamoms
- 2 x3" cinnamon sticks
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 a cup ginger garlic paste
- 10-12 green chillies small size
- a handful of mint leaves
- 1 cup cilantro chopped
- a generous pinch of saffron
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp red chilli powder
- 5 cups long grain basmati rice
Instructions
- Peel, wash and slice the onions. You could use a food processor as it is much easier. Grind the ginger garlic paste. Wash and cut tomatoes into quarters, remove the stems from the green chillies, wash and chop coriander, wash mint leaves and keep aside.
- Heat 1 cup of oil in a big pot. Add the whole cinnamon sticks, cloves and cardamoms.
- Add the sliced onions and fry them on medium heat stirring on and off taking care not to burn them. The onions first turn translucent and then start getting golden brown.This takes at least 10 - 15 minutes. They should be evenly brown as in the picture.
- Stir in the ginger garlic paste, turmeric and red chilli powder. Stir the spices on medium heat and as soon as you get a whiff of the spicy aroma add the tomatoes and green chillies.
- Let the tomatoes soften a bit, then add the yoghurt followed by mint leaves and chopped coriander. Stir gently to mix everything well. Let it simmer for sometime till the oil starts leaving the masala and coming on top.
- Now is the time to add the chicken pieces. Lightly turn over the chicken in the masala on medium heat taking good care not to break the pieces.
- Cover with a lid and cook the chicken on medium low till it is tender and cooked through. Do keep checking the chicken from time to time and gently turn over the pieces so they don't stick to the bottom.
- Meanwhile wash and soak the basmati rice for 1/2 an hour. Set the pot with at least 6 litres of water to boil.
- After 5-10 minutes when the chicken looks opaque and no longer pink, simmer on low heat till the gravy slowly thickens and the oil rises on top. At this stage the chicken yakhni (biryani curry) is ready. Squeeze in the juice of half a lime, taste and adjust the salt.
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Remove the chicken pieces from the yakhni curry on a plate and transfer just the yakhni (curry) to a roaster and place it in the oven without the lid.
- Boil the soaked basmati rice till it is 70% cooked. The grains should be soft outside but still brittle inside.
- Drain the rice quickly and pour it over the yakhni (the prepared chicken biryani curry) in the roaster.
- Crush the saffron using a mortar and pestle then add 2 table spoons of hot water to it. Sprinkle half saffron water over the white rice. Add the food colouring to a few grains of cooked rice and sprinkle the coloured rice on top. Then top it with more chopped coriander and mint leaves. Now place the chicken pieces over the rice.
- Cover the roaster with the lid and bake in the preheated oven for 10 - 15 minutes. After 10 minutes , open the roaster and test the rice for doneness. If you find it gritty then bake it for 5 more minutes. Once it is done, remove from the oven, add the remaining saffron water, close the lid and let the roaster rest on the counter or the stove top for 5 more minutes.
- With the help of a flat rounded spatula gently turn over and mix the biryani from the bottom to the top little by little, taking care not to break the chicken pieces. And as you mix, keep transferring the biryani and the chicken pieces to the serving platter a little at a time. Do not mix the biryani all at once as this will not only break the chicken pieces but also the rice grains. You have to slowly and gently mix it little by little with lot of patience.
- Enjoy the chicken biryani with onion raita and eggplant chutney.
Notes
Cooking Tips:
1. When you soak the basmati rice the water should be at least 4 inches above the rice. If there is less water the rice would tend to break and become sticky. Regular basmati rice should be washed and soaked for 1/2 an hour and the golden Sela basmati for 2 - 4 hrs. Please note that the golden sela rice takes longer to cook than regular basmati rice.
2. Boil the rice in a big pot that can cook 5kgs of rice/pasta and which can hold at least 8 litres of water. If you boil 1 kg of rice in a 1 litre pot then the rice would become sticky and mushy.
3. To test the rice for doneness, take a grain of rice and press it between your index finger and thumb. It should leave 3 small brittle grains on your finger. If the rice is not done yet then you wouldn't be able to press the rice. Therefore it should be just a little soft on the outside but still gritty inside.
4. For extra flavour, smash 3-4 more green cardamoms just to open them a little and add them to the yakhni when it is simmering in the roaster just before adding the rice.
5. Adding saffron water or saffron milk right at the end brings out the extra flavour.
6. I also add a little ghee on top of the rice before steaming it in the roaster at the final stage for added flavour.
7. Alternatively instead of pouring the saffron water on the biryani,, you can melt butter in the saffron solution, add some of the boiled basmati rice to it and then sprinkle the butter flavoured saffron rice on top. This also enhances the flavour.
8. Use preferably ripe vine or plum tomatoes as they are not too tangy.
9. Choose medium sized freshly slaughtered yellow grain fed chicken.
10. Yoghurt should be thick, creamy and slightly sour. I prefer balkan style astro yoghurt or the 3.5% plain astro yoghurt.
11. Use the darker variety of cinnamon (cassia bark) not the lighter Ceylon cinnamon which is mostly used in making sweet dishes.
12. For food colouring use the natural food colouring such as cochineal. Other dyes (red no.1 and red no.40) carry great health risks as they come from petroleum by products.
1. When you soak the basmati rice the water should be at least 4 inches above the rice. If there is less water the rice would tend to break and become sticky. Regular basmati rice should be washed and soaked for 1/2 an hour and the golden Sela basmati for 2 - 4 hrs. Please note that the golden sela rice takes longer to cook than regular basmati rice.
2. Boil the rice in a big pot that can cook 5kgs of rice/pasta and which can hold at least 8 litres of water. If you boil 1 kg of rice in a 1 litre pot then the rice would become sticky and mushy.
3. To test the rice for doneness, take a grain of rice and press it between your index finger and thumb. It should leave 3 small brittle grains on your finger. If the rice is not done yet then you wouldn't be able to press the rice. Therefore it should be just a little soft on the outside but still gritty inside.
4. For extra flavour, smash 3-4 more green cardamoms just to open them a little and add them to the yakhni when it is simmering in the roaster just before adding the rice.
5. Adding saffron water or saffron milk right at the end brings out the extra flavour.
6. I also add a little ghee on top of the rice before steaming it in the roaster at the final stage for added flavour.
7. Alternatively instead of pouring the saffron water on the biryani,, you can melt butter in the saffron solution, add some of the boiled basmati rice to it and then sprinkle the butter flavoured saffron rice on top. This also enhances the flavour.
8. Use preferably ripe vine or plum tomatoes as they are not too tangy.
9. Choose medium sized freshly slaughtered yellow grain fed chicken.
10. Yoghurt should be thick, creamy and slightly sour. I prefer balkan style astro yoghurt or the 3.5% plain astro yoghurt.
11. Use the darker variety of cinnamon (cassia bark) not the lighter Ceylon cinnamon which is mostly used in making sweet dishes.
12. For food colouring use the natural food colouring such as cochineal. Other dyes (red no.1 and red no.40) carry great health risks as they come from petroleum by products.