How to make Chicken Biryani

I remember the first time I ate Biryani like yesterday. It wasn't Chicken Biryani but Mutton Biryani. My sister’s dowry was being paid and in an aim to impress the in-laws my sister hired an Indian Lady to make Biryani for us. The Biryani was brought into the house in a large Sufuria and it was promptly put into the chafing dishes.

In the tense excitement of haggling for dowry and the different payments my sister’s in-laws had to pay to my father, uncles and aunties I completely ignored the food. Between oscillating to the room where my sister was confined and going to where my aunties were I was caught up in the excitement of the days events. It is only after the guests had left that I remembered I had not eaten.

I went to the chafing dish and most of the Chicken has been eaten, so my only other option was the Biryani. When I ate my first bite I concluded that it was the best rice I had ever eaten. I must have had three helpings of the rice and it seems that the general consensus was that the rice was amazing because after the more familiar food has been eaten everyone landed on the Biryani which was the highlight dish of the day. Ever since I have wanted to learn how to make Biryani but I wasn't able to get a recipe.

Finally last week they served Chicken Biryani where I work. It was equally as tasty as my first encounter. I promptly requested to see the Chef who obliged and gave me the recipe which I will share with you today. This mix is specifically for Chicken Biryani, however I think it can be tailored to suit other types of meat. It is a very simple recipe to make if you have all the ingredients readily available. There are many variations of this recipe, however this is the simplest I have encountered so far and that is why I share it with you. As the cook of this recipe told me the secret to this recipe is the sauce.

I hope you enjoy cooking and eating this recipe as much as I did!

Serves 5

Ingredients

1 whole chicken

8 cloves of garlic crushed
2 large onions finely chopped
1 teaspoon Coriander Powder
1 teaspoon Cumin Seeds
1 teaspoon Garam Masala
2 teaspoon Tumeric
3 tomatoes chopped into cubes
2 tablespoon tomato paste
2 ½ cups of rice
Oil 5 tablespoons oil
Salt to taste

Method

-Put the Chicken in a sufuria put enough water to boil it add 2 teaspoons of garlic and salt to taste. Boil the chicken until well cooked. If you have an oven put the chicken on the backing tray sprinkle and massage the garlic and salt into it. Place it in the oven at 150⁰C and let it bake until ready. This should take roughly 20-30 minutes. Put the chicken aside while keeping it warm
-Cook the Rice plain i.e Boil water add salt and oil and put in the rice and let it cook under a low flame until ready. As always remember to measure the water to rice on a 2:1 ratio.
-As the chef who shared this recipe with me told me the secret to this recipe is the sauce which you will mix with the rice and add in the chicken.
-First roast the cumin seeds under low heat until aromatic. This should take 5 minutes (optional)
-In a sufuria put 4 tablespoons oil, onions, crushed garlic, coriander powder (optional) and garam masala (optional), cook until the onions are transparent.
-Add the cumin seeds and let them cook for 2 minutes
-Add tomatoes and  cook until tender, then add tomato paste. Let it stew for around 5 minutes.
-Add turmeric and salt to taste.
-Pour in the sauce into the rice and add the chicken and mix generously.
-Serve the Chicken Biryani hot with stewed veggies on a cold day or a fresh salad on a warm day!