Chicken Biryani...finally!

Did i mention its cold and snowing and unbelievably sluggish weather? Well its been that way for the past one week and boy i must say I'm enjoying it..well if i don't have to go outside that is! I even end up buying grocery online, can you beat that?

Woke up this morning, well noon rather, and was so totally in the mood for a biryani. The fact that i had almost everything for a full fledged chicken biriyani kinda surprised me. Ro wanted to make his usual one, which never never comes out well for some strange reason, and i decided i do not want to try that but something new instead. So he said i could search online for exactly 10 minutes within which time he said he would clean the chicken. Challenge undertaken, but nope not one easy recipe to be found (i wonder what my definition of an easy biryani would be like though, cos they are never easy!). My biryani's never never come out well in spite of trying out so many different types. Ro has the same question each time. 'er is that biryani sadam? No baby its not, its more like a porridge....do you wanna sleep on the couch today?

So yeah, just when i was about to settle for our old boring recipe, i found this dum biryani recipeonline. Altered it a bit here and there to suit my laziness, but i still give full credit to he/she who posted it online. Here is my version.

Chicken- 800 gms (I know!!!! it sounds weird..i kinda only had so much left. 1 kg should be fine)

Onions- 2, thinly sliced

Tomatoes- 2, chopped

Ginger garlic paste- 2 tbsp

Oil- 2 tbs

For marinade:

Yogurt- 3/4 cup

Coriander leaves- a handful, chopped finely

Mint leaves- a handful, chopped finely

Chilli pwd- 2 tbsp (I used Kashmiri chilli pwd since we are not so brave)

Garam masala- 2 tbsp

Turmeric pwd- 1/4 tsp

Lime juice- 4 tbsp

Salt- as required

For the rice:

Rice- 2 cups, wash and soak in water for about 15 minutes

Cardamom- 4 pods

Cinnamon- 1 inch stick

Cloves- 3

Nutmeg- a pinch

Black Peppercorns-4

Cumin seeds- 3/4 tsp

Water- 3 cups

Oil- 1 tbsp

Ghee- 1tbs

While the water is kept to boil, heat the oil and ghee in another bigger container. Splutter the rest of the ingredients (spices) till nice and aromatic. To this add the rice (drained and dry by now) and roast for a few minutes, just enough to infuse the flavours. Pour the boiled water into this and cook the rice on low fire for about 5 mins (closed) or just when its about to boil again. Remove and drain the rice immediately. Keep aside. Make sure you don't over cook it.

Heat oil in a large container and add the onions. Once golden brown add the ginger garlic paste and mix well till the raw smell goes. The tomatoes go in next and needs to be cooked till the oil separates. At this point add the chicken marinade and mix well. Cook covered on medium flame. Open the lid and give it a stir once in a while. After about 3 to 4 mins, open the lid and cook on high flame for a further 4 mins or till some of the water from the chicken evaporates. Layer the rice on top of the chicken curry and cook covered for about 20 mins. When you are ready to serve, mix the chicken at the bottom with the rice gently and serve with raita, pickle and pappad.

Notes: We completely ignored the painstaking parts as we were hungry and somehow wanted it on our table. I'm sure it would have paid off well if we had some more patience. Maybe next time!

It got a wee bit burnt at the bottom, which i think is because our heat was a bit on the higher side. Damn the electric hobs!

I didn't do the 'dum' bit the way its supposed to be, but I'm incredibly impressed with the way it turned out.