Chicken biryani
Try something a little different and make this traditional Malay biryani in a potjie over the coals.
Did you know?
Chicken biryani is a much-loved Indian and Malay dish traditionally served on holidays and special occasions. The dish consists of layers of lentils, rice, meat (chicken or lamb – even fish) and onions slowly stewed in a suitable pot until cooked and bursting with flavour. Although traditional biryani is made with bone-in chicken portions (drumsticks or thighs), deboned chicken thighs give the juiciest end result. And since biryani can sometimes be dry, serve it with raita.
Serves 6–8 (generous portions) Preparation: 1 hour
Cooking time: 1 hour
• 500ml uncooked basmati rice
• 10ml turmeric
• 500ml uncooked lentils
• 60ml butter
• 4 onions, finely chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 10 cardamom pods, seeds removed
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 2ml cayenne pepper
• 4 large garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 x 2cm fresh ginger, grated
• 60ml mild curry powder
• oil
• 24 deboned chicken thighs or 14 skinless chicken pieces
• 250ml chicken stock
• fresh coriander
• 250ml toasted almonds, chopped
• 100ml sultanas
• 4 hard-boiled eggs (optional)
RAITA
• 500ml Greek yoghurt
• 5ml ground cumin
• half a cucumber, coarsely grated (sprinkle with a little salt and leave to drain in a colander)
• 1–2 garlic cloves, crushed
• black pepper, to taste 1 Add the turmeric to the basmati rice; boil the rice and lentils separately, according to the instructions on the packet. Drain and set aside.
2 Place the potjie on medium coals.
Melt the butter and fry the onion, bay leaves, cardamom, cinnamon sticks and cayenne pepper until the onions are soft. Add the garlic and ginger and stir-fry for a minute or two. Add the curry powder and stir-fry for another minute or two; remove and set aside.
3 Pour a little oil into the potjie and fry the chicken thighs or pieces until goldenbrown all over. Season with salt and pepper. 4 Add the fried onions and chicken stock, bring to the boil and cover with the lid. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 10–15 minutes.
5 Remove the lid and sprinkle the cooked rice over the chicken. Now add a layer of lentils over the rice and replace the lid. Simmer for 25–30 minutes (if you use bigger chicken pieces, increase your cooking time to 1 hour). Remove the potjie from the coals and let it rest for 15 minutes before lifting the lid. Prepare the raita by mixing together all the ingredients.
To serve
Sprinkle fresh coriander, almonds, sultanas and sliced boiled egg (optional) over the biryani. You can also garnish the biryani with fried onion rings. Serve with the raita.