Chicken biryani with Chicken soup

Sunday, November 25, 2012 0 comments

Your Sunday lunch is never complete without biryani and some hot spicy food. And on those days when you don't make them, haven't you felt the aroma of the spices and the flavours of the biryani from your neighbour's place and felt an immediate craving for biryani and some spicy food. Their aroma transfers you to a different mesmerising world. Accept it or not you may envy or feel jealous of your neighbour and may even pinch yourself for having having them that day.

Making biryani is no herculian task. With some basic spices handy and knowing the right method, you too can make amazing flavoursome biryani in the comforts of your own home without having to head out to your nearby restaurant each time you crave them. 

Given below is a simple way of making a South-Indian styled biryani. 

Whenever I make biryani, I make it a point to prepare the soup with the chicken pieces.

Its a great appetiser to be served before lunch which only increases your hunger pangs and makes you want more of your biryani and an ultimately heartful lunch. 

Then laze in your couch with your family to watch a good movie or head out to your nearest favourite hang-out. And your Sunday is made!

Ingredients
500 gm chicken (breast/ thigh/ leg pieces)
1 cup basmati rice
Whole spices (1 ts fennel seed, 3 bay leaf, 3 cloves, 1 star anise)
2 medium sized onion (thinly sliced)
3 medium sized tomato (finely chopped)
2 ts thick yoghurt (optional)
1/2 ts turmeric powder
1 ts coriander powder (optional)
1/2 ts biryani masala (optional)
1 ts ghee

To grind
Ingredients 1
1 inch ginger piece
3 cloves of garlic
6-7 green chillies
Handful of chopped mint leaves

Grind all of these without any water

Ingredients 2
1 ts kasa kasa
4 ts grated coconut
5 cashews

Grind the above with very little water

Ingredients for chicken soup

1 ts jeera
1 ts coarsely ground pepper
1 medium sized onion (finely chopped)
1 médium sized tomato (optional)
1 ts ginger garlic paste
1/4 ts turmeric powder
Few curry leaves
Handful of coriander leaves (optional)

Preparation

Chicken soup

- Cut and wash the chicken pieces in running water. Add them in a pressure cooker along with 5 cups water, enough salt, jeera, pepper, onion, tomato, ginger, garlic, turmeric powder and curry leaves. Allow 4-5 whistles. Open the lid after the air in the cooker is released. 
- Serve the soup in a soup bowl. 
- Add extra salt and pepper if needed. Add few coriander leaves. Also shred few chicken pieces. 
- Reserve extra soup which can be used as a chicken broth for biryani.

Biryani preparation

-  Wash and soak the basmati rice in water for half an hour.
- Meanwhile heat oil in a pan and fry few onions until golden brown. Take them out in a paper towel.  Keep them aside for the final garnishing.
- Heat more oil in the same pan. Once hot temper them with the whole spices mentioned above.
- Immediately afterwards add the sliced onions and fry them until they turn slightly translucent.
- Add the ground paste of ginger, garlic, green chillies and mint leaves. Keep frying them for a minute until the raw smell from them has gone.
- Add turmeric powder and give a good mix.
- Next add the chopped tomatoes and  keep cooking them until they have mashed completely and oil separates from the mixture.
- Now add salt, biryani masala and coriander powder if needed.
- Add yoghurt if you want extra sourness. Mix and keep cooking the mixture until all water from yoghurt has evaporated.
- Now add the ground mix of coconut, kasa kasa and cashews.
- Add the boiled chicken pieces and mix everything well.
- Keep the pan covered and allow the contents to simmer in low flame for about 5 minutes for the chicken pieces to absorb the flavours of the biryani paste. 
- Now is the time to add the soaked basmati rice.
- Add extra salt for the rice. And add 2 cups of chicken stock (for 1 cup basmati rice).
- Allow the contents to boil.
- Then keep the pan covered in simmer.
- When the rice is 3/4th done, add ghee and fried onions and give a good mix.
- The rice may take around 10 minutes to cook perfectly. 
- Let it stand for 15 minutes later for the  flavours to set in.

Serve it with biryani salna, raita and boiled eggs. 

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