Easy Style Chicken Biriyani

This is an easy version of Chicken biriyani. Typical Biriyani made in Kerala is posted among Kerala cuisines. This is amethod in which you don not have to stand and cook at the stove. Just mix everything and keep in a deep vessel and cook till done thats it, no ccoking skill is needed for this version. For those who are busy working or too lazy to cook can easily try this version of preparing delicious biriyani which tastes the same as the typical biriyani.

Ingredients

1. Chicken 1/2 kg (6-7 pieces)

2. Green chillies 3 chopped

3. ginger garlic paste 2 tsp

4. Pepper Powder 2 tsp

5. Ani seeds/ Fennel seeds (Perinjeerakam) 1/2 tsp

6. Chilly Powder 1 1/2 tbsp

7. Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp

8. Cumin powder 1/2 tsp

9. Salt

10. Coriander powder 1 tsp

11. Garam masala 1 tsp

12. Yogurt (curd) 3 tbsp

13. Onion sliced 2 1/2

14. Rice(Basmati) 1 cup

15. Oil

16. Whole garam masala pieces 2 each from cloves, cinnamon and cardamom.

(patta, gramb,elakka,)

17. Cashew nuts and raisins

18. Ghee 2 tbsp

1. Wash and soak rice in normal water for 3o minutes.

2. Boil 3 cups of water and add a drop of oil, salt and the whole garam masala pieces.

3. Once its well boiled, add the soaked rice after draining the water.

4. Cook till half done. remove immediately from flame and drain.

5. Mix all the other ingredients together except half the onion,ghee and cashews/raisins and keep aside.

6. in a heavy bottom deep vessel,pour 2 tsp oil and add the chicken mixed with all the ingredients and level it properly flat into the vessel.

7. On the top, spread the half-cooked rice evenly.

8. In a pan, add the ghee and fry the kept-aside onion, finally add the cashews and raisins.

9. Pour this on to the top of the rice.

10. Cover it very tightly so that no steam/moisture escapes from the vessel.

11. Cook for 30 minutes,5 minutes in high flame, 15 minutes in medium flame and 10 minutes in very low flame.

12. By the time, u open the vessel after 30 minutes the spicy delicious biriyani will be ready. it will start smelling nicely by 25 minutes of cooking and you will know the biriyani is almost done.

13. Mix the rice evenly with chicken after transferring this into a wide mouthed pan, otherwise the rice will get mashed up.

14. Serve hot with raita, pappad and lime pickle.

Tips and Tricks:

At the first stage, do not over cook rice, stop cooking while rice starts becoming larger and gets broken while rubbed with your fingers. While rubbing if its too much cooked, it will get mashed like cooked potatoes.

Use a very heavy bottom pan, other wise it will get burned at the bottom which will spoil the whole biriyani. If are not confident enough about the pan, you can keep another heavy bottom wide-mouthed pan below it and keep this cooking vessel over it, after the first 5 minutes.

Donot use a wide open pan. It must be deep enough to seat the chicken gravy and rice and small mouthed vessel helps keep the moisture inside than a wide one.

Do not allow any moisture to escape from the vessel. Most of the lids will have a hole for the steam to escape. To make sure that there is no moisture lost, keep a kitchen towel, cotton or any kind of cloth in between the lid and the vessel. On top of the vessel this must be spread so that the whole vessel-top is covered like a lid and then on top of this, keep the lid. No steam will be escaping at this point and moisture will be retained and you will get well-cooked chicken and biriyani.

Courtesy:vahrevah.com