Dindugul Chicken Biryani

By this time you should have atleast got an idea of our love for biryanis and how our Sundays are never complete without a plate of warm chicken biryani. A plate of homemade chicken biryani and a 1-hour nap is what the huss calls a perfect Sunday and a perfect start to the week. I like trying different biryani recipes and when I left to the US my MIL gave me a booklet which had recipes of different types of biryanis. Ya, I know, my MIL is sweet... so sweet that she had xeroxed a special side edition of a famous magazine on biryanis page by page, stapled it into a booklet and handed it over to me on the night of packing.

The book(let) is a treasure, it has all sorts of biryani varieties from thalapakatti to mughalai to dum. This recipe is from the book, ofcourse (duh!!!). The highlight of this biryani is that it uses no tomatoes and gets its richness from thick coconut milk. BTW, I read somewhere that an authentic biryani recipe uses no tomatoes and gets its flavor from the freshly ground spices. That's so true. You have to try this, its rich, its yummy and the freshly ground spices makes your house smell b-i-r-y-a-n-i.

Prep Time: 15 mins; Cooking time: 1 hour; Serves - 3-4 ~*What U Need*~ Basmati Rice - 1 1/2 cup Onion - 1, sliced Green chilli - 2 Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp Chilli powder - 1 tsp Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup, chopped Mint leaves - 1/4 cup chopped Ghee - 1 tbsp Oil - 3 tbsp Thick Coconut milk - 1 cup Water - 1 cup Broken cashews - 3 tbsp Raisins - 2 tbsp Salt For Marination: Chicken - 500 gms, with bone Thick Curd - 1/2 cup Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp Salt - a big pinch For Briyani Masala Powder: Fennel Seeds - 1 tbsp Cinnamon - 1" Cardamom - 2 Star anise - 1/2 Cloves - 2 How I Made it: Marinate chicken with the given ingredients for atleast 30 mins. Grind the ingredients under biryani masala to a fine powder. Wash and soak the basmati rice for 20 mins. Heat oil and ghee in a pressure cooker and fry the cashews and raisins. Add in onions, green chilli and saute till golden. Add the ginger garlic paste and saute till the raw smell goes off. Add in turmeric, chilli powder and the ground masala and fry for 2-3 mins. Now add in the chicken mix. Mix well and cover and cook for 15 mins. In another kadai, add a tsp of ghee and fry the soaked and drained rice for 5 mins. Once it is coated well with the ghee and is free from moisture, add it into the pressure cooker. Add in coriander leaves and mint leaves, coconut milk and water. Season with salt. Cover and cook for 2 whistles. When the pressure has released open and fluff the rice with a fork.

Serve with raita and boiled egg!!!

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

Signs off!!!