Hyderabadi Murgh Biriyani (Chicken Biriyani)

Well the recipe of "Panna Cotta and Strawberry Coulis" will have to wait for some time because the King of all Rice Dishes..."Biriyani" suddenly agreed to honour my blog page. Now who can say no to a "Biriyani"? :) I was in a mood to make a lavish Chicken Biriyani this weekend so I dedicated my entire Sunday for it in spite of my runny nose and sore throat. Long time back I had posted the recipe of "Prawn Biriyani" and slowly I thought of sharing the recipes of all the types of Biriyani made in various parts of the sub-continent. The Awadhi Mutton Biriyani of Lucknow, My very own native's Malabari Biriyani, Sindhi Biryani, Lahori Biriyani and various other lip-smacking varieties of it. Today I tried one of the delicious and my very confident recipe of "Hyderabadi Murgh Biriyani" straight from the City of the Pearls "Hyderabad".

You will get a ten on ten with this recipe. It has never gone wrong for me even once, only just that you have to stick to the exact measurement of all the spices and other main ingredients. So here's "Hyderabadi Murgh Biriyani" for you, a real Gastronomical delight!!

Ingredients:

600 gm chicken ( with bone, washed & cut into bite size chunks, legs can be included with the pieces)
300 gm basmati or any long grain rice (soaked in water for a minimum of 30 minutes)
3 large red onions (very finely sliced)
3 large tomatoes (finely chopped)
1 cup yoghurt
6-7 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
4 inch of ginger (finely chopped)
5-6 whole cardamom
8-10 cloves
2 bay leaves
2 cinnamon sticks ( 1 inch long each)
1 star anise
1 black cardamom
1 tbsp coriander powder
3 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp garam masala
1 cup fried onions (you get it in any super store or you can make it at home by deep frying 2 finely sized medium onions until golden and crisp)
2 cups freshly chopped coriander leaves & mint leaves
1/2 cup milk
generous pinch of saffron threads
3 tbsp cooking oil
2 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
salt to taste

Method:

Take a big bowl & put the chicken pieces to it. Now add the yoghurt, half of the chopped garlic, half of the chopped ginger, one and a half tsp red chilli powder & 1 tsp salt to the chicken. Mix everything with hands till the yoghurt mixture has completely coated with the chicken pieces.Cover and let it marinate for at least an hour.

While the chicken is marinating, prepare the Biriyani rice. Boil 4 cups of water in a big sauce pan. Add 3 cardamoms, 1 bay leaf, 1 cinnamon stick, 1 star anise, i black cardamom and 5 cloves to the water along with a tsp of salt. Drain the soaked rice and add it to the pan of boiling water. Cook the rice till its 80% done. Drain immediately and set the rice aside in a flat plate which will help the grains not stick to each other.
Heat the oil in a deep based pan.Add the remaining cardamom, cloves, bay leaf and cinnamon to it. Add the chopped onions & saute till its golden brown.
Now add the chopped ginger, chopped garlic, coriander powder, remaining red chilli powder, turmeric powder, garam masala and required amount of salt to the onions. Saute for 30 seconds. Now add the chopped tomatoes and allow it to cook till they release oil on the sides.
After 5 minutes, add the marinated chicken and cook with the tomato gravy for 5 minutes. Add half cup of water(100 ml) to it and let the chicken cook in low heat for another 15 minutes. Make sure the gravy has less water after the chicken is cooked. It shouldn't be too runny. Do not close with a lid.
The chicken will be cooked by now. At this stage add 1 cup of the mint and coriander leaves and stir well. Switch off the heat.
Spread the earlier cooked rice evenly on the chicken. So the bottom layer would be chicken and the top layer would be rice.
Warm the milk in a microwave for 30 seconds with the saffron threads in it.
Sprinkle the warm saffron milk on top of the rice along with the remaining cup of the chopped mint and coriander leaves. Sprinkle the fried onions over the rice and lastly dob some ghee all over it.
Cover the pan with a tight lid so that the steam doesn't escape from the sides. Some people seal the sides with a string of atta dough but if the lid is tight, you can avoid sealing it.
Place a flat tawa or a griddle on a low heat and place the pan on top of the tawa. Cook in a medium heat for 10-12 minutes till the rice is fully cooked.
The Biriyani is ready to be relished. You can either mix the rice and chicken together with a large fork or serve as a layer itself. Anyway, its going to be super delish! A Raita would go very well any Biriyani. Also boil an egg for each person and place it on top of the Biriyani while serving.