Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani

Biryanis are a favorite in my home. Since we discovered Shaan - Bombay Biryani, we haven't tried any other recipe. So in the last year and a half we haven't cooked any other biryani recipe. It's the easiest biryani recipe ever and once we stumbled upon it, didn't try anything else till I ate this awesome Hyderabadi Biryani, that my friend Sudha cooked. 

This is our new favorite and will be yours too. 

Biryanis are a combination of long grained rice layered with meat cooked in spices, and potatoes. It is natural to get intimidated with the laundry list of spices that go into cooking the meat. However what I did to get over it, was organize the list of ingredients into manageable chunks, and then it didn't look so scary anymore. That's the reason I have organized the list of ingredients into three marinades. In fact it has helped me memorize the recipe too. Now when I cook this biryani, I don't need to look at the recipe. :-)

Potatoes are optional and many recipes do not include but since we are so fond of it, I end up adding it to all my biryanis. So you can completely skip potatoes. Also at times we may not have shahijeera, star anise and black cardamoms readily available in the kitchen. It's ok to skip them too. 

Recipe credit : Sudha J

Ingredients for rice:

1. Basmati Rice – 500 gms
2. Oil – 1 tbsp
3. 6 peppercorns 
4. ½ tsp shahijeera 
5. Salt to taste

Chicken – 500gms

4 large onions (sliced, deep fired till dark brown)
**The recipe my friend shared, requires the onion to be deep fried but I shallow fry the onions, and this has not altered the taste of the biryani in any way.

Marinade 1

1. 3 black cardamoms
2. 4 small cardamoms
3. ½ tsp shahijeera
4. ½ tsp jeera/cumin seeds
5. 5 cloves
6. 3 bay leaves
7. 2 star anise
8. 2 inch cinnamon stick

Coarsely grind the above.

Marinade 2

1. ¼ cup mint leaves
2. ¼ cup coriander leaves
3. 4 green chilies (adjust according to spice tolerance)
4. 5 cloves of garlic or 1 tbsp of paste
5. 1 inch piece ginger or 1 tbsp of paste

Grind to a fine paste using little water.

Marinade 3

1. 200 ml yoghurt
2. 1 tsp chili powder
3. ½ tsp turmeric powder
4. ½ tbsp coriander powder
5. Juice of half a lemon or one lime.

Garnish:

1. A few sprigs of coriander and mint leaves chopped finely
2. Food color (Red, yellow, green) – dissolve color as required in milk
3. 1/4 of the fried onions.

Method for rice:

1. Wash and soak the rice for half hour before you cook it.
2. In a pan big enough to cook the rice, add water so that ¾ of the pan is full. Put this on the stove.
3. Bring the water to a boil and add the rice.
4. Into this water add, salt, a tablespoon of oil, ½ tsp shahijeera and 6 peppercorns.
5. Cook till the rice is ¾ cooked, and drain the excess water using a colander.
6. Keep aside.

Method for chicken:

1. In the pan you wish to cook the biryani, add the washed and drained chicken, add marinade 1, marinade 2, marinade 3, salt, two tablespoons of oil and ¾ of the fried onions.
2. Mix all the ingredients well and let it rest for one hour at least. Marinate longer for better results.
3. When your ready to cook the biryani, layer the cooked rice on top of the marinated uncooked chicken.
4. Put your garnish on top of the rice. I also add a tablespoon of ghee on top of the rice. This is purely optional.
5. Seal the pan, and put it on the stove.
6. Now cook the biryani on high flame for 10 minutes, next cook on medium flame for ten minutes and finally on low flame for the last ten minutes.
7. After you put off the stove, let the biryani rest for at least half hour before serving.
8. Serve with cucumber raita.

                                      

You can add fried potatoes while layering, but ensure that the potatoes are cooked well. I used two large potatoes and par boiled them before pan frying for a few minutes and adding them to the chicken. I did this as the chicken was marinating.

One of the reasons the biryani is easier to cook, is cause it eliminates the whole process of cooking the chicken separately, layering and cooking on dum. It also works well since you are not using too many utensils so the cleaning process after cooking is much simpler too.

Fried rice with bacon and carrots

There is a lot that one can do with left over rice. I for one love to make different types of fried rice. I usually try and use ingredients that are already in stock, specially vegetables that are nearing their use by date. I use lots of vegetables, as that is my new obsession, getting my son to eat vegetables. Most of the times french beans, carrots, peas, corn, peppers, baby corn do wonders in any stir fry preparation.

The fried rice recipe I share with you today is not a traditional Chinese recipe. It is essentially lots of ingredients tossed together, that turns into a delicious treat. Since this recipe is totally flexible, you could try different permutations and combinations. My only suggestion is that you use rice that has been cooked a day in advance. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1. Bacon - 100 gms
2. Left over rice - 1 cup
3. Onion (medium) - 1 no
4. Carrot (medium) - 1 no
5. Capsicum (medium) - 1 no
6. Garlic - 1 to 2 flakes
7. Soy sauce - 1 to 2 tbsp
8. Oyster sauce - 1 tbsp
9. Pepper - to taste

Method:

1. Roughly chop bacon, onions, carrots, capsicum and garlic.
2. Heat a non-stick pan, add the chopped bacon, fry till light brown. Add the garlic and onions. Let it fry for about a minute.
3. Now add the carrot, mix well and let it cook for about three minutes.
4. Add the sauces and pepper, let it mix with the ingredients in the pan.
5. Add the capsicum, and rice. Mix all the ingredients well. Let it fry in the pan for two minutes and take off the stove.

Notes:

1. I don't add oil and salt. Bacon releases a lot of fat and is salty. Also the sauces have salt.
2. You could add as many veggies as you like to this delicious concoction. Veggies I recommend are french beans, peas, corn, baby corn, peppers.
3. You could also use different types of meats. Chicken, cocktail sausage, beef or pork strips. Just season it with salt and pepper and fry it first.

Vegetable Pulao

I joined back work after a long leave of almost a year and a half. I spent quality time with my baby and now I'm back at work. Every single day has been a whirlwind of activity as one can imagine. But I'm blessed in more ways than one and I'm ever so grateful for that!

That's the reason I haven't posted in the last two months. Today I share a very simple yet delicious recipe. As a mum, all recipes first need to pass the nutrition and vegetable test. How many veggies can I sneak in and get away? With this recipe, many. And that's the beauty.

So let's begin...

Ingredients:

1. Rice - 250 gms
2. Onion - 1 medium
3. Tomato - 1 medium
4. Carrots - 1 medium
5. French Beans - 8 nos
6. Green Peas - 1/4 of teacup
7. Oil - 2 tbsp
8. Salt to taste

Spice Mix:

1. Peppercorn - 6 nos
2. Cloves - 2 nos
3. Cinnamon - 2 inch stick
4. Cardamom - 2 nos
5. Bay leaves - 2 nos
6. Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Chicken or Vegetable Stock - 500ml
Or Stock cubes - 1 no & Water - 500 ml

Method:

1. Wash and soak rice.
2. Slice onions and tomatoes. Cut french beans and carrots into one inch pieces.
3. Heat oil in a pan and add the whole spice mix. Fry for 30 seconds and then add onions.Add salt sparingly, since the stock will be salty.
4. Let it fry for about two minutes while stirring it constantly. Add the tomatoes and stir well.
5. Fry for about two minutes and then add the vegetables and the turmeric powder. Fry for about two minutes.
6. Add the stock and bring to a boil.
7. If not using stock, add water and the stock cube and bring to a boil.
8. Add the rice and stir. Let it come to a boil. Lower the flame and let it  cook for 5-6 minutes.
9. When the stock is reduced, check for salt. The stock should taste a little salty and the grain of rice should be about 3/4th cooked. 
10. Put off the gas flame in 2 minutes after you've closed the lid. So that the steam is locked and the cooking process can continue.
11. Serve after you've let it rest for 20 minutes.

Notes:

1. You can also add and additional 100 ml of stock or water to make it a little wettish for the kids. :-)
2. The picture I added is of another time I cooked the pulao. You can add vegetable of your choice. Sharing the list I commonly use in my pulao : carrots, green peas, sweet corn, french beans, broccoli, cauliflower. 

Andhra Chicken Pulao

I tried this pulao after watching it on Food Food, it was presented by Master Chef Sanjeev Kapoor. I don't think it needs any further prodding. The pulao looks appetizingly red and tastes YUM! I made some minor changes to suit my palatte. It's one of the best pulao's I've tried. 

Ingredients:

Chicken - 1.2 kg
Basmati rice - 3 glasses ( 3/4 kg) [Wash and soak the rice prior to cooking the dish.]
2 cups coconut milk
3 chicken maggie cubes or 4 cups chicken stock
Tomatoes - 4 nos chopped

Make a paste of the below ingredients:
Kashmiri red chillies - 8 nos
Garlic cloves - 30 nos
Ginger - 2 inch piece
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp

Heat a pan, add 4 tbsp of oil and fry the below ingredients :
Cinnamon - 4 inch stick
Cloves - 8 nos
Cardamom - 6 nos
Star anise - 2 nos
Curry leaves - a few
Onions - 6 medium (sliced)
Green chillies - 5-6 long ones(chopped)

Method:

1) Fry the onions well, let them brown, add the chicken and salt. Mix well and let it fry for two mins.
2) Then add the ground paste, and mix well and saute for two more mins.Now add the tomatoes
3) Add the rice, chicken stock or cubes, and coconut milk. If your using cubes use 4 glasses of water.
4) You can use the juice of one lemon, so that the rice grains remain separate and long.
5) Check for seasoning and when the rice is almost cooked, turn off the gas and keep the lid on for atleast 20 mins for it to cook on its steam.

Pulao's ready for lunch. You could serve this with raita and or green salad. The pulao turns out wettish and hence can be eaten on its own without any curry or sauce.

Prawn Pulao

I am posting after two weeks of non-stop action. I've just returned home after spending a littIe over two months with my parents-in-law. It was an awesome time considering that I didn't really have to worry about mundane household chores, and other routine things that are normal in any home. Grocery shopping, paying bills, washing, cleaning etc. And David (my little boy) had an amazing time with his grandparents. He was totally pampered and spoilt by his doting grandparents.

After coming back home I wanted to indulge in something comforting and delicious and easy to cook. Prawns pulao was an obvious choice for all the reasons mentioned in the sentence before. I learnt this recipe from my elder sister - Anita, who is a fab cook. She can turn the most boring  and mundane foods like khichdi or dal rice into delicacies. I have no clue how she manages that feat, but her opinion is - years of cooking makes one perfect. Well, that only time will tell in my case, but the prawn pulao recipe I have shared in this post is a must try for all you prawn lovers.

Ingredients:

1. Rice - 1/2 kg
2. Prawns - 1 cup 
3. Cloves - 4 nos
4. Cardamom - 4 nos
5. Cinnamon - 2 sticks of 1 inch each
6. Peppercorn - 10 nos
7. Bay leaves - 2 nos
8. Green chillies - 2 nos
9. Kashmiri chilly powder - 2 tsp
10. Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
11. Coriander pwd - 1 tbsp
12. Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
13. Saunf (Aniseed) - 1 tsp
14. Onions - 3 nos (medium)
15. Tomatoes - 3 nos (medium)
16. Corainder leaves - for garnish
17. Soya sauce - 1 tbsp
18. Salt - to taste
19. Oil - as required
20. Water - double the measure of rice

Method:

1. Shell prawns and de-vein them. In a bowl put the prawns, add the soya sauce, and a pinch of turmeric. Mix well and let it marinate till your other ingredients are being readied.
2. Chop onions, tomatoes and chillies and keep them seperately.
3. In a pan, heat oil, add the whole garam masala (whole spices) including saunf and cumin seeds. Let it fry well.
4. Add onions and fry well. When the onions are translucent, add chillies and the marinated prwans, and fry well.
5. Add tomatoes, salt, chilly pwd, turmeric pwd and coriander pwd. Mix well and fry.
6. Add the water, get it to a boil and then add washed rice. Get it to a boil and lower the flame. Check for salt at this stage.
7. Cook till the rice is done and before you put the flame out garnish with coriander leaves.
8. Let the rice stand for atleast 10 minutes before serving.

* Please note: you could also make this preparation in the cooker and take three whistles. The rice becomes soft and wet.
Also you could fry the prawns in a pan seperately before adding it to the onions, specially if your sensitive to the whiff of sea food.

Serve the pulao with cucumber salad.   

Chicken Biryani

I am a hardcore rice eater, I guess everyone in South India is. If I could help it, I’d eat rice for breakfast too. All forms of rice preparations are welcome in my kitchen; so pulaos, biryanis, khichdi, phodni bhaath, etc are looked forward to.

Today I share with you an excellent Chicken Biryani recipe. I have copied this recipe a long time ago, 12 years to be precise, so I can’t remember where I took it down from. Needless to say, I have tweaked the recipe a bit, mostly in the preparation phase to suit my needs. So here goes !

Serves 12 – 14 people

Ingredients for Rice:

1. Basmati Rice – 1 kg (4 glasses)
2. Oil – 2 tbsp (Use oil as much or as little as you want)
3. Bay leaves – 4 nos
4. Ginger Garlic paste – 1 tbsp
5. Onion – 1 no (small, sliced)
6. Maggie cube – 4 nos
7. Salt – to taste
8. Water – 6 glasses (use the same glass used to measure rice)

Method:

1. Wash and soak rice for fifteen minutes before the rice preparation.
2. Put oil in the pan, add the onions and bay leaves, sauté for a minute and add the ginger garlic paste, fry well.
3. Add the water, Maggie cubes and wait for the water to boil.
4. Wash away the excess water, and add the rice into the pan. When the rice starts boiling, lower the flame and let the rice cook for 5 minutes.
5. Check for salt, and ensure that the rice is 3/4^th done.

Ingredients for the chicken gravy:

1. Chicken – 1.5 kg
2. Ginger garlic paste – 2 tbsp
3. Onions – 6 medium (Sliced)
4. Tomatoes – 6 medium (Sliced)
5. Turmeric – 2 tsp
6. Coconut milk – 1 cup
7. Yoghurt – 1 cup
8. Ghee/ Butter – as required
9. Salt – to taste

I) Make a paste of the following:

1. Green chillies – 6 nos (Increase or decrease depending on your spice quotient)
2. Coriander leaves – 1 cup
3. Mint leaves – ½ cup (optional)
4. Kashmiri Chillies – 10 nos (soak in hot water and keep for at least 10 mins)

II) Dry roast on a tava/ flat pan and powder the below ingredients:

1. Cardamoms – 4 nos
2. Cloves – 8 nos
3. Cinnamon – 4 inches
4. Peppercorn – 1 tsp
5. Poppy seeds - 1 tsp
6. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
7. Cumin seeds – 1 tsp

Method for gravy:

1. Heat a pan, add oil, fry the onions till they are brown, add salt, and the ginger garlic paste, fry well.
2. Add the chicken, and brown it on high flame for about 2 minutes.
3. Add the roasted powdered spices, turmeric and tomatoes, and mix well. Cook for about 10 minutes.
4. Add the ground paste and mix well. Let all the masala fry and blend well. Cook till the chicken is almost done.
5. Lastly add the yoghurt and coconut milk and mix it into the gravy. Let it cook for about 3 minutes. Put off the flame.

Garnish:

1. Onions – 4 medium (Sliced and fried in oil till dark brown, almost black, and kept aside.)
2. Potatoes – 6 medium (Either halve or cut lengthwise, ensure they are not cut too small. Par boil in salt water and fry till golden.)
3. Food colour – a pinch of yellow, green, orange (soaked in 2 tbsp of milk each)
4. Or Saffron – a few strands soaked in milk.

Finally the Biryani!

1. Take a big handi (saucepan), put in generous portion of melted ghee or butter. Grate nutmeg about ½ tbsp and move the ghee/ butter to all parts of the handi/saucepan so that it is well coated.
2. Now, make the first layer with rice, put half of the coloured milk, arrange the chicken and gravy and then put the fried onions, and potatoes.
3. Repeat this process one more time. There will be three layers of rice and two layers of chicken curry.
4. Finally seal the handi or sauce pan with dough. Place a tava/flat pan on the gas, and the biryani handi/sauce pan on it for 45 – 50 mins.

Chicken biryani is ready to be served. Tastes yummy with raita, specially boondi raita.

* Adding salt when frying onions is said to aid the process of browning the onions and also less oil is absorbed.

* If using salted butter, use salt accordingly in rice and gravy preparation.

* Garnishing is completely optional, you could use either of the ingredients mentioned or none at all. It's your choice but I gotta say, fried potatoes and onions taste awessssoooommmme with biryani!