Ingredients:
1 kg chicken, cut into medium pieces
3 cups basmati rice/ jeerakashala/kaima rice
5 cups of hot water
5 large onions, thinly sliced
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 1/2 tbsp ginger paste
1 1/2 tbsp garlic paste
10-12 green chillies, crushed
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1-2 tsp coriander powder
2 tsp garam masala
3/4 cup coriander leaves, chopped
1/4 cup mint leaves, chopped
lemon juice of 1 lemon
6 cloves
4 cardamoms
2 small piece cinnamon sticks
1 bay leaves
salt to taste
2 tbsp oil
4 tbsp ghee
1 onion, fried for garnishing
8-10 raisins
8- 10 cashew nuts
2 tbsp saffron milk (few strands of saffron soaked in 2 tbsp milk)
Preparation:
- Cut chicken into pieces, clean it and keep it aside.
- Wash and drain the rice and keep it aside.
- In a large thick bottomed pan, heat oil and 1 tbsp ghee and add 4 sliced onions and saute well till transparent.
- Add crushed green chillies, ginger and garlic and saute well till raw smell disappears.
- Add chopped tomatoes and saute well till soft.
- Add cleaned chicken pieces, coriander powder, turmeric powder, 1- 1 1/2 tsp garam masala and salt, mix well and cook covered on medium flame until almost done.
- Then add chopped coriander leaves, mint leaves and lemon juice and cook the chicken until done. Keep it aside.
- Heat remaining ghee in another large pan and fry the cashew nuts until golden and keep it aside. Then fry the raisins until they puff up and keep it aside,
- Then add 1 sliced onion and fry until just golden and keep them with fried cashew nuts and raisins for garnishing.
- In the same pan, add cardamom, cinnamon, cloves,bay leaves and 1 sliced onion and saute till transparent.
- Then add drained rice and saute for 2-3 minutes in low-medium flame. To this add boiling water and salt and cook till rice is done. Keep it aside.
- For layering, sprinkle half of the fried onions, raisins and cashew nuts over the prepared masala.
- Layer in the cooked rice over the chicken masala and sprinkle saffron milk/Â little yellow food color mixed with 1 1/2 tbsp milk.
- Add 1/2 tsp garam masala, chopped coriander leaves, mint leaves, fried onions, cashew nuts and raisins over the rice.
- Cover with an aluminium foil and close with a tight lid. Then cook on low flame for 10-15 minutes.
- Remove from flame and serve with raita, pickle and pappadum….
healthy chicken biriyani..yummy!
Kandittu kothiyavunnu…