Chicken Biriyani/ Malabar Chicken Dum Biriyani

[ingredients title=”Ingredients”]

• Biriyani rice – 1 kg
• Chicken, cut to pieces – 1 kg
• Oil – ½ cup
• Onions, chopped – 5-6
• Ginger, crushed – 1 ½ tbspn
• Garlic, crushed – 1 ½ tbspn
• Green chillies, crushed – 6-10
• Tomatoes, chopped – 2 large
• Turmeric powder – ½ tspn
• Garam masala – 2 tspn
• Coriander leaves, finely chopped – 3 tbspn
• Curd     – 3 to 4 tbspn
• Lemon juice – 2 tbspn
• Ghee  – ½ cup
• Cashew nuts, cut in pieces – 6
• Raisins – 1 tbspn
• Cardamom – 2
• Cinnamon  – 1 ” piece
• Cloves – 3
• Hot water  – double the measurement (volume) of rice
• Mint leaves, chopped – 1 tbspn
• Salt – to taste

[/ingredients]

[directions title=”Directions”]

1. Wash the rice and drain through a sieve. Keep aside.
2. Add one tablespoon oil to a pressure cooker and saute the onion with salt, after keeping aside the pieces of two onions for a later use. Add the ginger, garlic, green chillies and tomato and saute for two more minutes.
3. Add also the turmeric powder and salt followed by two tablespoon coriander leaves and chicken pieces.
4. When the chicken is done, add half the quantity of garam masala and coriander leaves along with one and half table spoon lemon juice. You can reduce the amount of lemon juice if you so desire. Continue to cook till the water is absorbed. Switch off the flame and add curd to the chicken gravy and mix well.
5. Heat the ghee and the remaining oil in another thick bottomed pan. Fry the kept-aside onion pieces in it followed by cashew nuts and raisins. Remove them from the pan and keep aside.
6. Add the rice to the remaining oil in the pan followed by cardamom, cinnamon and cloves and fry for three minutes. Add the hot water and as it starts boiling, add the salt. Reduce the fire and turn the rice over from time to time to get the rice cooked evenly. When all the water in the rice is absorbed, remove from flame.
7. Arrange half the quantity of the cooked rice as a layer over the masala in a non-stick vessel.
8. Mix the remaining portions of the garam masala and coriander leaves with the fried pieces of onion. Sprinkle half portion of the mix over the rice. Arrange the remaining rice over it.
9. Cover the vessel tightly with a heavy lid and cook over a low fire for a few minutes. Keep it aside for few minutes.
10. Uncover the vessel and transfer the rice to the serving dish. Spread out the chicken masala over the rice and garnish with the remaining portion of the fried onion-garam masala coriander leaf mix. Serve hot with onion curd salad and coconut coriander leaves chammanthi.

[/directions]