Chicken Biriyani

The myriad uses of spice and the varied spices set Indian cooking apart. Indian dishes are by far the most aromatic...atleast according to me..and i know that most of you out there would agree to it as well.. What I have discovered is although a lot of spices go into the making of an indian dish..they are not too hot for the palate..

Green chillies are lot less hot than red chillies and larger chillies are very mild in their hotness..To minimize the hotness, it is best to remove the seeds before use..

Always make sure you wash your hand after handling chillies, because you dont want your eyes burning...I have been through several instances of this..
Also, remove whole spices before serving, because you dont want end up being in tears at the dining table..

Indian cooking involves spice mixtures or better known as masalas..Spices release their flavour more when they are ground.. The traditional pestles are now replaced with mixers and the like..Whole spices are better than ready crushed ones because the former has more flavour..

Indian cooking also uses fat for its cooking..basically ghee ;.With the growing trend of healthy eating, fat has been replaced by vegetable oil, etc.

Hence, here I present a dish that makes use of a lot of spices the Biriyani - a chicken version with boiled eggs..

Mind you the biryani I present here is not for people who are health conscious..I used a lot of ghee..But there is no harm in indulging in it once in a while...


Basmati Rice-2 1/2 cups
Water-8 1/2 cups
Salt-to taste
Chicken-1 kg
Egg- 2 boiled (increase as per the number of people)
Curds-2 1/2 cups
Ghee-2 cups

For grinding
Onion- 3 medium (chopped)
Green chillies-5 or 6
Ginger-2"
Garlic-7 pods
Coriander Leaves-1 bunch
Pudina/Mint Leaves-1/2 bunch
Turmeric Powder-1 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon-1"
Mace-3
Clove-3
Cardamom-5
Saffron threads- A large pinch
Food colouring-Optional

Wash chicken pieces. I always dab some turmeric powder on the chicken pieces to remove any impurities.. This is a step that I always follow for any meat I cook.

Grind the above-mentioned ingredients and add the curds and salt. Mix well. Marinate the chicken pieces with the mixture and leave it in room temperature at least for 2 hours.

After this take the rice and wash it well and set aside. Meanwhile in 1/2 a cup of ghee fry sliced onions until brown along with a tsp of sugar and add to the marinated chicken including the ghee and mix in well.. (Optional). Meanwhile boil the eggs.

In a thicked bottomed kadai, add 1/2 a cup of ghee and fry the washed rice for some time. Remove the rice and set aside.

When the chicken has marinated, allow it cook on low heat until it becomes soft.After this, add in the rice, and cover and cook until the rice is done.

Soak saffron threads in boiling water and pour into the rice and mix using a fork (Using a fork prevents the rice from breaking).


For garnishing
Nuts- fried
raisins-dried and fried

or

Fried onions


Serve the biriyani and add in the boiled eggs.. Halve the eggs for a better appeal.