I know it’s past the deadline, just didn’t get a chance to sit down and write this post till today. I took some pictures a couple week ago when we made chicken biryani for guests. With cucumber raita.
CHICKEN BIRYANI
1 kg chicken, cut up into pieces, on the bone
Marinate chicken overnight in the following ingredients: (blend these into a paste)
Ginger, large knob, peeled
Garlic, a whole head, peeled
4 green chilies
1 lemon, juiced
1/2 bunch cilantro
1 tsp red chili powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp salt
Now you will need:
2 1/2 cups basmati rice, rinsed 5 times and then soaked for 45 minutes
1 onion, sliced
1/4 cup of oil
1/2 cup yogurt
Pinch saffron dissolved in scalded milk
Fry onion in 1/4 cup of oil until browned. (These are fried darker and at a higher heat, but you can use regular caramelized onions.)
Place chicken with marinade into your oven-safe cooking vessel and mix with the yogurt. Arrange into an even layer.
Spread fried onions and the frying oil over chicken. Pour saffron/milk over the whole thing.
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Have ready:
Pinch saffron dissolved in scalded milk
1 lemon, juiced
2 TBSP butter, cut into small cubes
Boil 5 cups of water in a separate pot and add:
2 tsp salt
2 green chilies, partially slit open
5 cloves
10 whole black peppercorns
4 cardamom pods
1 black cardamom pod
1 cinnamon stick
Let the aromatics boil for a couple minutes. Then drain the rice and add it to the boiling water. Cook the rice a bit more than half done. This is just based on experience. If in doubt, err on the side of overcooking.
Drain the partially cooked rice and aromatics. Working quickly, gently transfer the rice and aromatics to your cooking vessel, making an even layer over the chicken layer. Don’t let the rice cool down. Pour the saffron milk and lemon juice over the rice. Spread the butter pieces over the rice.
Heat the bottom of the pan until you can hear the marinade cooking. While heating, seal well, using foil if you don’t have a tight fitting lid.
Place in the oven for 30 minutes. Turn the oven off and wait another 10 minutes.
Remove from oven using mitts and carefully remove the foil/lid. I know you want to dig in, but the hot steam can burn you if you rush.
Gently mix the biryani before serving. I wasn’t gentle so you can see a lot of broken rice grains.
CUCUMBER RAITA
Yogurt (like Dannon Plain Whole Milk)
Cucumber, peeled, seeded, and grated
Cilantro, leaves only
Salt
Red chili powder
This is more ratios. I start with equal volumes yogurt and grated cucumber, then adjust if needed. Cilantro, salt, and red chili powder are all adjusted as necessary. For example, if the cucumber is bitter, I will use extra salt. If the green chilies in the biryani were too hot or not hot enough, I’ll adjust the amount of red chili powder. And cilantro varies in strength, too, especially for a raw preparation, so I taste as I go.
Leave in the fridge for the flavors to meld.
COMMENTS
Salt is Morton table salt, adjust appropriately for kosher salt. To the boiling water, I added more than 10 peppercorns because mine were a smaller diameter than usual. Also, I was using Indian cinnamon, so I estimated how much would be equal to a regular cinnamon stick. In the picture, there is far too much milk in that teacup for that amount of saffron. Use less than 1/4 cup. (Maybe steep is a better term than dissolve.) The biryani should have better color than the pictures. I panicked and added extra rice because our guests are good eaters and we thought it wouldn’t be enough. Don’t do that. Your guests might still love it, but you’ll know. Lastly, for whatever reason, all our Hyderabadi friends use this type of pan: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0161V9TS0