Bingeing ON BIRYANI
HYDERABADI BIRYANI MAY BE WORLD FAMOUS, BUT THERE ARE OTHER EQUALLY DELICIOUS VARIANTS TOO
Nawabi Chicken Biryani (An interesting take on the delicious Awadhi biryani, which has its roots in the northern part of the country)
INGREDIENTS
500 gm chicken 1 cup basmati rice 4 tbsp ghee 3 large onions 2” ginger 6 to 8 garlic cloves ½ tsp black peppercorns 3 black cardamoms 1 tsp saunf 2 mace 2” stick cinnamon Salt to taste 1 bay leaf 6 green cardamoms ½ tsp shahi jeera 6 cloves Few strands of saffron 3 tbsp milk 15 to 20 pistachios 1 cup cashewnuts, halved Silver vark, to garnish A little kneaded dough to cover the lid for cooking
for masala ½ tsp cumin seeds ¼ tsp nutmeg powder 5 cloves 6 green cardamoms 2 black cardamoms
METHOD
Clean and wash the chicken and set it aside. Wash rice twice and soak in two cups of water for half an hour. Peel, wash and chop onions, ginger and garlic. Tie up some chopped onion, ginger and garlic with peppercorns, black cardamoms, saunf, mace and cinnamon in a muslin cloth. Put this bundle with chicken, salt and three cups of water and let it cook, till it is three-fourths done. Take out the chicken pieces and retain the stock to cook the rice. For the masala, grind the remaining onions, ginger and garlic with cumin seeds, nutmeg, cloves, green cardamoms and black cardamoms. Heat some ghee and sauté the ground masala till the fat begins to separate. Add semi cooked chicken pieces and salt and sauté for a while. Take it off the heat and keep aside. In another pan, heat ghee, add bay leaf, green cardamoms, shahi jeera and cloves. Add the rice and sauté for a while. Add double the quantity of reserved chicken stock and salt. When it comes to a boil, add cashewnuts, cover and let it cook till it is three-fourths done. Now in a handi, put a layer of cooked rice, then a layer of chicken and repeat the layering process. Add deep fried onions, ghee and a little saffron induced milk over it. Cover the handi with the lid and weigh it down with something heavy or seal with dough. Keep the vessel on a hot tawa on a low flame and cook for half an hour. Transfer to a serving dish, garnish with pistachios and silver vark and serve hot.