Ingredients
For chicken masala
3 kg chicken, cut to medium pieces
12 medium onions
20 green chillies
3 ½ tbsp ginger-garlic paste (a blend made using equal portions of ginger and garlic)
8 medium-sized tomatoes, ripe
1 cup mint leaves, chopped
1 ½ cup coriander leaves
3 tsp garam masala
3 to 4 tbsp yoghurt
2 lime
Salt to taste
2 cups oil
For rice
800 gms jeerakashala rice (4 cups approximately)
3 bay leaves
2 to 3 cardamom
2 pieces of 2-inch cinnamon piece
3 to 4 cloves
2 ½ tbsp ghee or clarified butter
1 cup oil
Salt to taste
For garnish
2 onions, thinly sliced
1 cup sultana raisins
1 cup cashew nuts
2 strands saffron
½ cup rose water
For garam masala
2 tbsp fennel seeds
2 tbsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp cardamoms (an equal mix of green and black)
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp black pepper
¼ piece of nutmeg or jathika
1 strand mace or jathi pathri
¼ piece of star anise
1 bay leaf dry
Method
1. For the garam masala, combine and roast the ingredients for two minutes and grind to a fine powder.
2. Add coriander leaves, mint leaves, lemon, ginger-garlic paste, green chillies and salt to the chicken.
3. Mix well until the chicken pieces are coated in the marinade. Keep aside.
4. Wash and soak four cups of rice in water. The rice should be soaked for at least an hour.
5. For the biryani masala, start by thinly slicing the onions.
6. Heat a cup of oil in a large pan. Once the oil is hot, lower the flame, and add the sliced onions to fry. Stir occasionally.
7. Slow-cook the onions until brown, and add tomatoes.
8. Cook the tomatoes until they blend into the mix.
9. Now add the marinated chicken pieces, two tablespoons of yoghurt, and salt to the pan. Mix gently to evenly coat the chicken pieces with the spiced onions.
10. Close with a lid, and cook until the chicken is tender.
11. Open the lid, add the garam masala to the cooked chicken, mix well, and cook for another three minutes.
12. Turn the flame off. This completes the first part of the biriyani – the chicken masala. Make sure that the chicken masala is moist enough so that biriyani won't go dry when rice is added later.
13. In another pan heat a cup oil and three tablespoons of ghee or clarified butter on a medium flame. Fry two sliced onions, raisins, and cashew nuts until the onions are brown.
14. Lower the flame. Scoop them out, and leave them on a paper towel to soak up the extra oil.
15. Add the whole spices to the same pan and give them a quick fry.
16. Strain the water from the rice, and add it to the pan. Stir gently, and lightly it so that the rice gets a crispy texture.
17. Add boiling water to the pan to cook the rice. Add salt to taste, and mix well.
18. Switch the flame off once the rice is cooked well.
19. Serve hot and enjoy!
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