CHICKEN BIRYANI

There are so many good places in Pune itself where you can get fabulous biryanis. One of favourites is Blue Nile restaurant. I can hardly match their amazing creations but here’s my version of a chicken biryani. It does need some tweaking around and I’m sure it can be made a lot better but this is not half bad.

Ingredients:-

·       500gms chicken

·       500gms long grained basmati rice

·       2 large onions blended into a paste

·       2 pureed tomatoes

·       Chopped coriander

·       Ginger-garlic paste

·       Bay leaves

·       3-4 cloves

·       Black peppercorns

·       Green cardamom

·       Curd

·       Turmeric powder

·       Biryani masala

·       Red chili powder

·       Salt

·       Oil

·       1 onion thinly sliced

Procedure:-

·       Partially cook the basmati rice and keep it aside.

·       Marinate the chicken pieces in curd, ginger-garlic paste, turmeric and some red chilli powder for about 2 hours.

·       Heat oil in a pan and throw in a couple of bay leaves, cloves, cardamom and black peppercorns.

·       Then sauté the onion paste in the oil until it changes colour and darkens slightly.

·       Add the pureed tomatoes and half a tablespoon of turmeric powder. Add the biryani masala and mix it well.

·       At this point add the marinated chicken, salt, chopped coriander and just enough water to cook the chicken.

·       The gravy should remain thick after the chicken is cooked.

·       Now in a deep utensil, add alternate layers of rice and the chicken with the top most layers being that of rice.

·       Keep the lid on and secure it to the untesil with the help of roti dough so that no steam escapes and the rice is cooked properly.

·       Do not keep the pot directly on the stove as the rice at the bottom might burn. Keep a pan or a skillet on the stove and then keep the biryani pot on top of it.

·       Fry the sliced onions until they are brown and crispy.

·       Garnish the biryani with fried onions and serve hot with salad and yogurt.