Perfect Chicken Biryani
BIRYANI INGREDIENTS
1.5-2lbs chicken drumsticks
3 1/2 cups washed aged basmati rice (soaked 30 mins)
2-3 red onions (medium), thinly sliced
3-4 tomatoes, diced
2 yellow potatoes, diced
2 Tbs garlic paste
2 Tbs ginger paste
2 Tbs Biryani masala
1 cup plain yogurt
1 lemon
3 1/2 Tbs milk
1/2 tsp saffron strands
1 cup oil
Salt and pepper to taste
RAITA (Yogurt Sauce) INGREDIENTS
½ cup seedless English cucumber, coarsely grated
¾ cup plain yogurt
2 tablespoons roughly chopped cilantro leaves
½ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon ground coriander
2 tablespoons grated red onion
Lemon juice, to taste
Salt, to taste
The Breakdown:
Thinly slice your red onions either on a mandolin or as thin as you can with your knife and fry your onions, on medium-medium low heat. Keep a close eye on it at this point as it’ll go from looking under cooked to burnt in an instant. Make sure reserve the now onion infused oil
Marinate chicken your chicken with the yogurt, ginger, garlic, biryani masala of your choice, juice of 1 lemon, and about a handful of your fried onion, and some of that onion infused oil. Marinate for at least 25 mins, but overnight in your fridge for peak flavour.
TIME SKIP: Only begin the following steps AFTER MARINATING
For the rice: Start by washing and rinsing the rice three times or until the water runs clear. After the rice is rinsed, soak it in cold water for 30 minutes. Drain the rice and set aside on a try to cool.
In a medium pot, add about 7-8 cups of water, another tablespoon of your biryani masala, salt and oil and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Add in the soaked rice and cook until the rice is about 75% cooked through, it should still have a bite to it, about 2-4 minutes. Drain the rice and set aside.
I like to parboil my potatoes in advance. So after peeling and digging your potatoes let them boil in salted water for about 10 minutes or until just shy of fork tender. Pro tip: I add a stock cube instead of salt for extra ✨pizazz✨
Warm up your milk (microwave is fine or on stove top until simmering) and add in your saffron and allow to bloom. If you’ve got the cheap stuff and your milk doesn’t become a nice deep yellow - add a little turmeric (I won’t tell). Set to the side and let this do it’s thing.
Begin preheating your oven to 350F
In a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven, add enough oil to coat the bottom of the pot. On medium high heat, add all of the chicken and marinade to the pot, your diced tomatoes and allow the chicken to cook until ~75% of the way through. This should take about 10-12 minutes, storing occasionally but allowing some browning to occur on your chicken, followed by three quarters of the chopped cilantro and mint and 2 tablespoons of melted ghee or more onion oil, and your parboiled potatoes. Top that with about another quarter of the remaining fried onions and stir to evenly combine everything. Season with more salt, if necessary.
At this stage you can remove the majority of your chicken and it’s sauce, and place in a separate boil.
Assembly: in the same pot we cooked our chicken, and a small layer of the chicken and gravy. Top the mixture with half of the drained rice, half of the remaining cilantro, mint and fried onions, sprinkle of masala powder, and lemon juice. Repeat and treat this like a lasagna intertwining layers of rice, chicken and gravy, fried onion, cilantro and mint - making sure you finish with a layer of toppings, not rice.
Pour over your saffron/milk mixture
Cover the pot with foil and then a tight fitting lid. Toss into your preheated oven and cook for 30-45 mins.
FOR THE RAITA
In a small bowl, add the grated cucumber and a generous pinch of salt. Stir to combine. Let sit for 2-3 minutes and then squeeze the cucumber to remove any excess water. I also grate my red onion and set aside.
In another small bowl, stir together the yogurt, cilantro, cumin, coriander and squeezed cucumber.
Fold in the red onion and season to taste with salt and lemon juice. Use immediately or store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
