There is no sincerer love than the love of food.
~ George Bernard Shaw

 

Ah! … Couldn’t have said it better!

 

For me personally, Good Food = Good Mood… and one of the things that makes me a very very happy girl is Chicken Biryani <3

 

I mean, what is there not to love… the aromatic spices, tender chicken and fluffy, fragrant rice….yum yum yummmmm!

 

So today I thought of sharing with you my easy-peasy, delicious, Home-made Chicken Biryani Recipe….let’s get cooking!

 

There are 3 Stages in this recipe, so I’ll break down each one as we go to make it easy for you to follow along.

 

 

Stage 1

Marination Process

 

I start off by Marinating the Chicken, so here’s what you need:

• 500 gms Chicken
  (You can use with bone or boneless – I would recommend using with bone for extra flavour)
• 1 onion, Golden Fried
• 1 tablespoon Ginger-Garlic Paste
• 1 cup Curd (Dahi)
• 1/2 teaspoon Turmeric (Haldi)
• 1 teaspoon Red Chilli Powder (Lal Mirch)
• 1 Tomato, Finely Chopped
• Salt, to taste

 

How to Marinate

• Wash the chicken nicely and make small cuts in the chicken pieces, so the marinade can seep into the meat.
• Add all the ingredients together, mix well and make sure all the chicken pieces are coated thoroughly with the masalas.
• Cover the bowl and keep in the refrigerator for atleast 2 hours. (Leaving overnight will give you the BEST taste!)

 

 

Stage 2

Cooking Process

 

-For Chicken

 

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon Ghee
• 2 tablespoons Oil
• 3-4 Cloves (Laung) 
• 2 Green Cardamoms (Hari Elaichi) 
• 1 Black Cardamom (Badi Elaichi) 
• 4-5 Black Pepper Corns (Kali Mirch)
• 1 inch Cinnamon Stick (Dalchini)
• 1 Bay Leaf (Tej Patta) 
• 2 Potatoes, peeled and cut in halves

 

Cooking the Chicken – Method

• Heat the ghee and oil together in a pan.
• Throw in the garam masalas and stir till you can smell the aroma from the masalas.
• Add in the peeled and diced potatoes. Cook until they turn a golden brown colour.
• Next add in the marinated chicken. Mix well and cook on medium flame for about 5  minutes.
• Add in a little water and cover with a lid. Cook on a medium flame for another 15 minutes or till it looks done. (If you’re using boneless chicken, it won’t take more than 5-8 minutes for the chicken to cook, so keep an eye).

 

 

-For Rice

 

Ingredients

• 200 grams of Basmati Rice (It usually gives me 4 good-sized servings)
  Soak 30 minutes before you start cooking

• 2 litres of Water
• Salt, to taste
• 1 tablespoon Ghee
• 1 Green Cardamom (Hari Elaichi)
• 1 Bay Leaf (Tej Patta)
• 2-3 Cloves (Laung)
• 1 Black Cardamom (Badi Elaichi)
• 4-6 Black Pepper Corns (Kali Mirch) 
• 1/2 inch Cinnamon Stick (Dalchini) 

 

Cooking the Rice – Method

• Add ghee in a pan and throw in the garam masalas. Cook for 30 seconds on low flame till you can smell the aroma of the masala.
• Add water and salt to the pan and let it come to a roll boil.
• Once the water is boiling, lower the flame and carefully add in the soaked rice. Cook on high flame until the rice is about 3/4th cooked.
• Drain the rice and keep aside.

 

**Also, boil 2 eggs and keep aside at this stage.**

 

 

Stage 3

Putting it all Together

 

• At this stage your chicken is almost cooked and your rice is cooked 3/4th of the way.
• Place the boiled eggs into the chicken curry.
• Now take the rice and carefully start placing it over the pan in which you are still cooking the chicken.
• Make sure you don’t press the rice while layering, rather move the rice around using the edge of the spatula or spoon.
• Cover the pan with a lid and cook on high flame for about 3-4 minutes and then on low flame for another 1 minute.
• Your biryani should now be ready to serve!
• Garnish with some chopped dry-fruits, fresh cilantro and leftover fried onions!

 

Here’s how the biryani will come along step by step!