Everyone makes biriyani a different way.
This is the first
time I’m making it,
but I want to write down what I did –
so that I remember next time!
Chicken Biriyani
Dry ingredients –
dried red chillies, black pepper,
green
cardamom, black cardamom, star anise,
clove, cinnamon, mace powder,
salt, dried
plum, bay leaves and some salt.
Other ingredients –
Ghee, Thai red chillies, Indian green
chillies,
garlic, ginger, coriander leaves,
a large onion, half a lemon,
tomato, tomato paste.
Cut chicken, wash, and set aside to drain well
Grind all the dry spices except for black cardamom, and set
aside
Grind garlic and ginger together and set aside
Fry 6 cups of basmati rice in a little ghee,
add some
cloves, green cardamom and cinnamon whole,
along with some crushed garlic,
and
set aside the rice.
I coloured some rice red, and some yellow with food colour
and turmeric.
Stir-fry a large onion, add the garlic/ginger mixture when
brown.
Add chicken, tomato and black cardamom and stir-fry till
brown.
Cook for a few minutes. Separate the liquid from the pieces
of chicken.
We need to add 11 to 12 cups of liquid to cook the rice,
that’s why we are separating the liquid – to measure it.
Add water to this liquid to make up 11 to 12 cups
(I say 11 to 12 cups because,
there is always
some liquid in the chicken that was separated)
Bring to boil, add the rice, stir well, add sufficient salt
and cook shut on low flame.
Make sure the rice doesn’t stick to the pan.
When
the rice is partially cooked, add the lemon, coriander leaves and bay leaves.
Turn off the flame and leave the rice to cook shut.
At this stage you can add the chicken, mix well,
make sure there
is enough salt, mix gently,
so that the chicken doesn’t come off the bone.
Keep shut for a while before serving
There's enough to give away to our friends!
While I was cooking this,
I also made this eggplant dish to go with it
Here's the recipe for cooking eggplant with tomato
And don't forget to open a bottle of
Shiraz!
(if you didn't already do that before starting to cook)