Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani

Ingredients

• • Basmati rice - 2 cups
• • Shah jeera/Black cumin - 1 teaspoon
• • Tej pattas/Bay leaves - 2
• • Salt - 1 ½ teaspoons
• • Oil - 1 tablespoon

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Ingredients For The Chicken

• • Chicken (cut into 8 pieces) - 800 grams
• • Onions (chopped) - 4
• • Ginger-garlic paste - 1 ½ tablespoons
• • Tomatoes (chopped) - 2
• • Curd - 1 cup
• • Chilly powder - 1 teaspoon
• • Salt - as required
• • Oil - 6 tablespoons

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Ingredients For Garnishing

• • Onions (sliced, prepare: fried till crisp & brown) - 1 cup
• • Pudina leaves - 1 cup
• • Kesar/Saffron (prepare: dissolved in 1 teaspoon warm water) - a few

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Ingredients For Flavouring Masala

• • Jeera/Cumin seeds - 1 ½ teaspoons
• • Choti elaichis/Green cardamoms - 4
• • Laungs/Cloves - 4
• • Dalchini/Cinnamon - 2 inches
• • Saboot kali mirches/Pepper corns - 3
• • Moti elaichis/Black cardamoms - 2

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Method

• 1. To cook the rice, boil 5-6 cups of water with shah jeera, tej patta, salt, and oil.
• 2. Add the rice and cook till almost tender.
• 3. Strain and spread it on a wide tray. Run a fork through the rice to let the steam escape.
• 4. Mix colour or kesar with ¼ of the rice to colour it.
• 5. Mix the coloured rice with the white rice after some time when the colour turns dry.
• 6. To cook the chicken, heat oil in a pressure cooker. Add chopped onions.
• 7. Stir fry till brown. Add 1 ½ Tablespoon ginger-garlic paste. Stir for ½ minute.
• 8. Add chopped tomatoes. Cook till dry.
• 9. Add curd. Stir for a minute. Add the salt, chilly powder and the chicken.
• 10. Roast for 2-3 minutes. Add 1 ½ cups of water and pressure cook to give 2 whistles.
• 11. Remove from fire immediately after the 2nd whistle. Keep aside.
• 12. Grind all the ingredients under flavouring masala by adding ¼ cup water to get a paste.
• 13. Add ½ cup water to the above paste and strain it.Keep liquid masala aside.
• 14. For assembling the Biryani, take a large heavy bottomed pan, sprinkle some curry of the chicken at the bottom.
• 15. Spread 1/3 of the rice. Place ½ the chicken pieces on it and wet the rice with some curry.
• 16. Sprinkle 1/3 of the fried onion and pudina on it. Sprinkle 2-3 tbs liquid flavouring masala.
• 17. Repeat by adding rice, then chicken, followed by pudina and fried onions and flavouring masala.
• 18. Finish with a top layer of rice sprinkled with some fried onions, pudina and flavouring masala.
• 19. Cover the pan with a tight fitting lid and seal the lid with dough.
• 20. Place the pan on fire with a tawa underneath to reduce the heat to minimum for ½ hour before serving.

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Note

• • You may assemble the biryani in an oven proof dish and cover it with foil and keep warm in the oven for ½ hour, at very low temperature.