Chicken Dum Biryani
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This is my favorite dish for feeding the family and guests as it is all made in one pot which makes for less hassle and washing up. I serve it after the starter and accompanied with raita and salad. It makes my life easier as it is so much simpler than having to make lots of different curry dishes. It very tasty, wholesome and keeps my teenage sons full for a long time. I hope that you enjoy it. Kamini Patel Office Manager |
Ingredients
| 1 kg Chicken, with bone or boneless | For marinating |
| 4 cups Basmati Rice | 1/2 cup Hung Curd (Greek Yogurt) |
| 3 Onions, thinly sliced | 1 tablespoon Red Chilli Powder |
| 4 Tomatoes, finely chopped | 1 teaspoon Turmeric Powder (Haldi) |
| 4 Green Chillies, slit at the centre | Salt, to taste |
| 20 grams Ginger, ground to a paste | |
| 20 grams Garlic, ground to a paste | |
| 2 tablespoon Red Chilli Powder | |
| 2 tablespoon Coriander Powder (Dhania) | |
| 1 tablespoon Garam Masala Powder | |
| 1/2 cup Coriander (Dhania) Leaves, finely chopped | |
| 1/2 cup Mint Leaves (Pudina), finely chopped | |
| Sunflower Oil, as needed | |
| Ghee or butter, as needed | |
| Salt, to taste |
Method
1. To begin making the Chicken Biryani, cook the basmati rice separately first washing and soaking it in water for 20 minutes.
2. Next add about 3 litres of water in a large vessel and bring it to boil.
3. Once the water starts to boil, add about 1 teaspoon of cooking oil and 1 teaspoon of salt. Add the soaked and drained rice, stir gently once and cook for about 3 to 5 minutes.
4. Keep an eye on the rice as some rice cooks very fast and some takes more time. My rice was cooked in 5 minutes. Drain the water immediately and spread the rice out on a large plate.
5. In a deep bottomed pan, heat the oil on a medium flame, add 1 sliced onion and fry it until brown (don’t burn the onions). Remove the browned onion from oil and keep it aside. This will be used for garnishing and to make the layers.
6. The next step is to marinate the chicken for the Chicken Dum Biryani Recipe.
7. Clean and wash the chicken thoroughly.
8. In a mixing bowl, marinate the chicken with the thick curd, red chili powder, turmeric powder and salt.
9. Marinate for at least 30 minutes.
10. In a large pan, add the oil and heat on a medium flame. Add the remaining sliced onions and saute for 3 minutes or until the onions turn translucent. Next add the ginger-garlic paste and saute till the raw smell goes away.
11. Add the slit green chilies and mix for a minute.
12. To this add the chopped tomatoes and saute untill the tomatoes turn slightly mushy.
13. Once the tomatoes are mushy add the red chili powder, coriander powder and salt and saute for about 2 minutes.
14. Add 3 tablespoons of both the coriander and mint leaves and mix.
15. Finally, add the marinated chicken for the biryani and mix well. Cook until the chicken is cooked all the way through.
16. Once the chicken is cooked, if you find there is excess water, increase the flame and thicken the masala. We need the masala just to coat the chicken.
17. Take a large, wide, deep vessel, add ghee and spread it to coat all the bottom and sides of the pan. Reduce the flame to low. Add about 2 full tablespoons of the thick chicken biryani masala and spread it all over the bottom.
18. Next, add the cooked basmati rice over the chicken biryani masala and gently spread the rice to cover the chicken.
19. Use a teaspoon and remove the top oily layer from the masala and drizzle over the rice. This will add flavour to the rice and also give colour.
20. Repeat the layering process until you have used up all of the rice and chicken. Sprinkle the coriander and mint leaves and the browned onions over the top and close with a lid.
21. Ensure that the flame is low and place a heavy weight on top of lid to trap the steam inside to cook the Chicken Dum Biryani. Leave the biryani aside for 10 minutes.
22. The dish can be served with plain yogurt or raita (yogurt with chopped onions and cucumber).