AMMU’S CHICKEN BIRYANI

(Serves 6)

INGREDIENTS: 200g plain flour; 500g good-quality basmati rice; 5tbsp salt; ½tsp saffron strands; 80ml full-fat milk; 8tbsp ghee or vegetable oil (mixing both also works well); 2 white onions, halved and thinly sliced; 1kg skinless chicken thighs, on the bone; 3 garlic cloves, crushed; 5-6cm piece of fresh ginger, grated; 2tbsp full-fat Greek-style yoghurt; ½tsp chilli powder; 2 green cardamom pods; 1cm piece of cinnamon stick; 2 cloves; 1cm piece of mace, crushed; ¼tsp sugar; ¼tsp grated nutmeg; juice of half a lemon

METHOD:

1. Mix the flour with enough water to make a firm dough, cover and leave to rest.

2. Wash the rice in a bowl of cold water, stirring gently by hand in a circular motion. Repeat until the water remains clear.

3. Next, soak the rice for at least two hours. There should be 15-20cm of water in the bowl above the rice level. Add 6tsp of the salt; this keeps rice grains long and separate.

4. Warm the milk to tepid, then pour over the saffron in a bowl and leave to infuse.

5. Heat the ghee or oil in a pan over a medium-high heat and fry the onions until caramelised. Remove the onions – leaving as much of the oil in the pan as possible –and spread them across a plate to cool.

6. Remove half the oil from the pan and set aside. Then cook the chicken over a medium-high heat until golden brown. Add the garlic, ginger, yoghurt, chilli powder and 2tsp of the salt and cook until the garlic and ginger have lost their raw smell and the yoghurt has reduced. Add half the caramelised onions, then warm water to cover the chicken. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for about 25 minutes. The chicken will finish cooking with the rice.

7. Drain the soaked rice and place in a pan of boiling water with 6tsp of salt, until the three-quarters cooked (about five minutes). To test, remove one grain and squeeze – there should still be a hard core. When ready, drain and spread on a tray to prevent further cooking. 8. To assemble the biryani you will need a heavy-based pan with a tight-fitting lid. Remove the chicken from its cooking liquid and place in the pan. Strain the cooking liquid and pour over the chicken. Try to squeeze as much as you can from the onion/ginger/garlic residue, so the stock is nice and thick. It should just about cover the chicken pieces. Next, add the cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, mace and nutmeg, half the saffron milk, the sugar and lemon juice. Then add the rice, ensuring it covers the chicken. Put the remaining caramelised onions, the remaining saffron milk and the reserved oil on top.

9. Put the pan on a high heat until it steams. Let the steam come through for one minute. Meanwhile, roll the dough into tubes and use it to seal the pan lid. Put the pan on an iron frying pan or tawa over a mediumhigh heat to diffuse the heat. If you have neither, put the biryani in an oven at 190°C for 10 minutes then turn the oven to 150°C and leave for 20 minutes. If you are using a tawa on the hob, reduce the heat to low, cover the top of the pan with a folded clean kitchen cloth for 20 minutes.

10. When ready to serve, unseal the lid. Using a large spoon and starting from one side, gently lift the chicken up and mix with the rice. You need to gently merge the wet rice with the dry rice on top, so each grain is perfectly moist.