Ingredients :
For the Marinade
- 1 kilo chicken (use chicken with bones, I generally use leg and thigh pieces, it will help bring out better flavors)
- 400 gm of yoghurt
- 1 1/2 tbsp of ginger garlic paste
- 1 cup of chopped coriander leaves
- 1 cup of chopped mint leaves
- 3-4 green chillies, finely chopped
- 1 – 2 tsp of red chilli powder
- 2 tsp of coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder
- 2 tsp of garam masala powder
- Salt to taste
- Some oil
- Juice of 1 lime
For the rice
- 2 kilo basmati rice (soak for about 30 minutes)
- Whole garam masala ( elaichi both small and large, cloves, pepper, bay leaf, cinnamon)
- Salt
- Some oil
- Kesar (you can use saffron strands soaked in warm milk, or the color powder)
- 2 large onions
- Some mint leaves
- Water for cooking
Method
- Wash the chicken and drain out all excess water.
- Now in a bowl mix all the ingredients of the Marinade, and add the chicken. Leave it in the fridge to marinate overnight.
- Now strain the rice, and put it in a vessel to cook. Always use a large vessel, as this will give space for the rice to open up and spread. Put water in the vessel, the rice and all the whole garam masala (tied in a muslin cloth) and cook. Cook the rice till you get one boil and see the rice is rolling over with the boiling water. Now drain the rice, and run some cold water on it (this will prevent the rice from getting cooked further with the steam). Keep it aside.
- In the meanwhile, chop the large onion into fine slices and fry it till golden brown. I cook it in the microwave, to avoid using too much oil. You can set the microwave to combination mode (grill and micro) and cook it for about 20 min.
- Now place the marinated chicken into a vessel, in which you want to cook the biryani. Pour some oil/butter/ghee over the chicken.
- Now place a layer of the half cooked rice on it. Sprinkle the browned onions, some fresh mint leaves, kesar powder or saffron strands in milk, on the rice. Place some cubes of ghee as well.
- Now add another layer of rice and repeat the above step.
- Cover the vessel with foil paper and place a tight lid on it. Leave to cook on dum.
- First cook the biryani on high flame for 5 mins and then cook for 25 minutes on low flame. Keep turning and shaking the vessel in between to prevent burning at the bottom. Don’t over cook it.