Ingredients
For cooking rice
4 cups Basmati Rice
10 Cloves
8 Cardamom pods
5-7 small ½” inch long Cinnamon sticks
1-2 bay leaves
A handful of fresh mint leaves
2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
Salt to taste
Marination
1- 1 ¼ kg cleaned & cut chicken pieces
½ tsp turmeric powder
¾ tsp red chili powder
½ tsp Garam masala
Salt to taste
Oil
For Chicken korma
1/3 cup sliced garlic
1/3 cup sliced ginger
20-26 Indian Green chilies
2 tbsp ghee
4 cups thinly sliced big onions
2 cups chopped or 2 big tomatoes
½ cup yoghurt
½ - 1 tsp red chili powder
4 tsp coriander powder
¾ tsp turmeric powder
1/8 cup chopped coriander leaves
¼ cup chopped mint leaves
15 whole cashew nuts
5-10 almonds
1tbsp poppy seeds (I omitted this)
For grinding the Biryani Masala Powder
10 cloves
8 cardamom pods
3-4 small 1” inch long Cinnamon sticks
½ tsp Shajeera
1 tsp fennel seeds
6 mace
For layering & garnishing:
½ cup raisins
¼ - ½ cup cashew nuts
1 medium size big onion, thinly sliced
3tbsp + 2 -3 tbsp ghee + more ghee/ oil for frying onions
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh coriander leaves.
A pinch of saffron
2tbsp warm milk
Aromatic masala Powder
2-3 cloves
2 cardamom pods
3-4 small ½ “inch long cinnamon sticks
2 tbsp ghee
Heat 2tbsp ghee and fry the whole spices and grind these into a fine powder.
Directions
Grind garlic, ginger and green chili to a fine paste. Soak the nuts (Cashews, almonds and poppy seeds) in water for 20 mins and then grind to a fine paste. Marinate chicken with turmeric powder, red chili powder, Garam masala and salt for 30 mins. Shallow fry the chicken in oil for 2mins each on both sides. ( You don’t have to cook the chicken fully as this is just to keep the chicken pieces firm). In a wok, heat 2 tbsp ghee and sauté thinly sliced onions, until golden in colour. Add ginger garlic paste sauté till they turn a nice brown colour. At this stage, add tomatoes and sauté. Add chopped coriander leaves and mint leaves and combine well. Also add the ground masala powder, chili powder, coriander powder and turmeric powder and mix well with all the ingredients and sauté, until the raw smell of the spices is gone. Once the raw smell is gone ,add the shallow fried chicken and cook covered in medium heat.When the chicken is half-done, add the yoghurt and cook covered and when it is almost done, just before turning off the stove, add the nutty paste and mix well.
Cooking rice
Boil water in a heavy bottomed pan. When it starts boiling, add 2 tbsp ghee, whole spices and herbs , washed rice , lemon juice and cook the rice uncovered. When the rice is cooked (do not overcook), drain the excess water immediately and spread it on a tray.
Garnish
Fry raisins and nuts separately in ghee till they turn golden brown. Add more ghee or oil to the same pan, to fry the thinly sliced onions till they become golden brown and let them drain on paper towels. Heat 2 tbsp milk and mix a pinch of saffron (or yellow colour) and keep it aside.
Layering and Dum
Grease your pan with some ghee. Randomly place some chicken pieces along with gravy in the bottom of the dish; then spread some cooked rice, sprinkle a pinch of ground aromatic masala powder, some fried nuts, fried raisins, fried onions and finely chopped coriander leaves, sprinkle some spice flavored leftover ghee (the one used for frying the spices for making the masala) and also a few drops of saffron milk. Repeat this layering process for the remaining rice.Place lid and and seal the edges with wheat dough. Place the dish on the hot iron tawa for 2mins and then reduce and cook for 20mins. Turn off heat and keep it aside for 15 mins before serving.
Conventional Oven Method:
Preheat the oven to 350F. Close the oven safe dish with aluminum foil and bake for 20-30 minutes.
Transfer directly to the serving plate. (Do not mix the gravy and rice). Garnish with fried onions, nuts and raisins. Serve with Salad and pickle.
Recipe Source: Mishmash
Note:
Change the amount of green chili according to your taste.
Soak the rice for 15mins before cooking.
Instead of water add curd to grind GGG (ginger, garlic and green chili) (only if needed).
Generally khaima rice is used in malabar chicken Biryani.
