Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani

Today i am presenting to you one of the easy and popular biryani recipe i.e. “Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani “. Biryani is one of the popular Indian Main Course. The 1st Biryani that i had cooked was the quick and easy cooker biryani. 😉 And after that i learned and mastered making my mil’s Dum Biryani, and since then there have been no other Biryani that could stand against its flavours. Definitely your hard work pays in there. But i am always in search of Biryani recipes which ain’t too time consuming and are easy to make and yet delicious. Something that can be made soon to satisfy our sudden urge for biryanis. haha 🙂

 

 

I came across this authentic biryani recipe a long time back, while watching one of the show in NDTV- Good Food. And over the years i have done a few changes in the recipe. From the little i can remember, this dish was cooked by an old muslim hyderabadi man, who cooks and offers this briyani to under privileged children every week on Fridays.

 

 

The hyderabadi birayani can be made in two ways i.e. raw meat method or pre-cooked method. The original recipe was made in the raw meat way, where the marinated raw meat is layered with the half cooked basmati rice, then sealed and cooked on low flame for an hour. But since i wasn’t confident the 1st time i made this, i went with the fully cooked method. Where the semi or fully cooked chicken is layered with par boiled rice. And as the result were awesome i have always sticked with this method of cooking while making hyderabadi biryani.

 

 

 

Ingredients:

For the Marinade:

• 1 kg Chicken (cut into medium size pieces)
• 3 tbsp Ginger and Garlic Paste
• 2 tbsp Raw Papaya Paste
• 2 tsp Coriander Powder
• 3 tsp Red Chili Powder
• 1 tsp Turmeric Powder
• 1 1/2 cup Yogurt
• 1 Tomato Pureed (optional)
• 1 tsp Rose Water
• 1 tsp Kewra Water
• 1 Lemon Juice
• 4 Big Onions, sliced and fried till crisp and brown (save 1/3rd for garnish)
• 1/2 cup Coriander leaves, chopped (save 1/3rd for garnish)
• 1 cup Mint leaves, chopped (save 1/3rd for garnish)
• 1 cup Oil
• 4 tbsp Ghee, melted
• Salt to Taste
• Garam Masala, coarsely crushed
  • 1″ Cinnamon Stick
  • 4-6 Cloves
  • 2 small Cardamon
  • 1/2 tsp Black Cumin
  • 6-8 Peppercorns

For the Rice:

• 4 cup Basmati Rice (soaked for 30 mins)
• 1 tbsp Oil
• 3-4 Small Cardamon
• 2 Big Cardamon
• 1 tsp Black Cumin/Shahi Jeera
• 1″ Cinnamon Stick
• 6-8 Cloves
• 2 Bay Leaves
• Salt to Taste

For Garnish:

• Mint and Coriander leaves chopped
• Fried Onions
• 3 Green Chili, chopped
• 1/4 cup Raisins
• 8-10 Cashew
• 1 tbsp Ghee

 

Instruction:

1. Coarsely grind the garam masalas under marinade and keep aside.
2. Deep fry or shallow fry the sliced onions on medium flame, until they are crisp and lightly brown. Keep it aside.
3. Clean and cut the chicken into medium size pieces. Drain out any excess water and keep aside.
4. Now take a large bowl and mix all the ingredients under marinade, except for oil and ghee. Do a taste check now, the masala should be little stronger.
5. Add in the chicken pieces and mix well. Let it rest for an hour or two in the fridge.
6. In a big saucepan or pot, add all the whole garam masalas, salt, oil and bring the water to boil.
7. Now add the soaked rice to the boiling water and let it cook for 5-6 minutes or until the rice is half cooked. Always take good care while boiling rice, as its a very important step while making biryani. Do not cook the rice completely.
8. Remove the par boiled rice from the fire. Strain it and keep aside.
9. Now take a big saucepan to make biryani. Add a cup of oil and let it heat on medium flame.
10. Add the marinated chicken into the hot oil and give a stir. Cook for 5 mins until the meat is partially cooked.
11. Meanwhile, in a small pan heat a tbsp of ghee and fry cashew and raisins until mildly browned.
12. Now once the chicken is partially cooked, add all the par cooked basmati rice on top of this chicken gravy. Give a dab and push the rice downwards with your palm gently.
13. Spread 4 tbsp ghee evenly in the rice. You can add saffron milk now if desired.
14. Garnish with the chopped mint and coriander leaves, green chilies, fried onions and some cashews and raisins.
15. Cover the saucepan with a foil and then the lid to seal it completely, so the steam does not escape. You can also place an heavy object on the top or use the aata dough to seal completely.
16. Cook the Biryani on High flame for the first 5-6 minutes, i.e. until the sides and top of the saucepan is little warm. Then Lower the flame and cook for further 15-20 minutes.
17. Let the biryani sit for another 15 minutes before serving it.
18. Serve the biryani hot with some raita.