Chettinadu Chicken Biryani
Author: 
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Indian
 
Ingredients
  • • Grind:
  • • • Lime juice - 1 tbsp
  • • • • Khus khus (white poppy seeds) – ½ tbsp.
  • • • Cumin seeds/ jeera – ½ tbsp.
  • • • Green chillies - 2
  • • • Fennel seeds – ½ tbsp.
  • • • Garlic – 4 pods
  • • • Ginger – 1 inch
  • • • Mint – ½ cup, chopped finely
  • • • Coriander leaves – ½ cup, chopped finely.
  • • • Pepper powder – 1 Tsp
  • • • Salt – 1 tbsp
  • • • Biryani masala – 1 tbsp
  • • • Red chilli powder – 1 Tsp
  • • • Yoghurt – 2 tbsp
  • • • Oil – 1 tbsp • For garnish:
  • • • Ghee – 2 tbsp
  • • • Lime - small cube or 1 Tsp
  • • • Mint – 2 tbsp finely chopped
  • • • Coriander leaves – 1 tbsp, chopped finely For chicken gravy:
  • • • Oil – 2 Tsp
  • • • Ghee – 1 Tsp
  • • • Bay leaf – ½
  • • • Cinnamon – 1 thin piece
  • • • Cloves – 3
  • • • Cardamom pods -2
  • • • Green chilli – 1, slit
  • • • Onion – 1, large, sliced
  • • • Tomato - 1, small, chopped
  • • • Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
  • • • Chicken – 600 gms For rice:
  • • • Basmati rice – 2.5 cups
Instructions
  1. Grind everything together under the “to grind” ingredients.
  2. Marinate chicken with the blended masala. Keep it aside for 30 minutes minimum of 12 hours. Keep it aside.
  3. Heat 2 tsp of oil with 1 tsp of ghee in a heavy bottomed pan, add the sliced onions, salt and sauté well over medium heat till they become slight golden colour. Then add the sliced tomatoes with little turmeric and sauté well for 2 minutes till they become mushy.
  4. Add the marinated chicken and sauté for a minute till all the chicken gets coated with onions and tomatoes.
  5. Add the 2.5 cups of rice and mix well. Add 4 cups of water to it with salt.
  6. Cover the entire pan with foil and cover with a plate. Place a weight on it and let it cook on medium flame for 7 minutes and reduce the flame to medium to one speed lower. Keep a dosa/crepe pan below your biryani pan and now cook for 20 minutes on the very low flame. Switch off.
  7. Now remove the weight and foil and fluff the rice carefully. Add the chopped coriander and some lime juice to garnish.
Notes
1. Don’t soak the rice or maybe just for 5 minutes, and then it will not give you that biryani texture in the rice.
2. Gently mix the rice at the end, don’t break the rice.
3. Don’t compromise on the quality of the rice. Use basmati rice and not long grained rice.
4. Marinating chicken is a must. Marinate at least for 30 minutes, I soaked overnight.
5. Don’t overcook the rice, and then the rice will be mushy.
6. Cover the dish and bake in a 350f oven for 15 minutes.
7. If it is spicy in the end, squeeze some lemon, it will reduce the heat and enhance the flavours also
Recipe by Relish The Bite at https://www.relishthebite.com/chettinadu-chicken-biryani/