Utopian Recipes|Recipe Collection

For the Rice:

For the Marinade

For the Masala:

For the Garnish:

Method

I. Marinate the chicken

1. Soak the poppy seeds and aniseed in a little water for 15 minutes.
2. Grind the green chillies, ginger, garlic, coriander leaves, poppy seeds, aniseed, turmeric powder and red chilli powder.
3. Mix the ground paste with the curd.
4. Apply 2/3rd of the marinade to the chicken and allow to marinate for 1 hour.

II. Prepare the rice

1. Wash and soak the rice in cold water for half an hour.
2. Heat the ghee in a heavy-bottomed pan.
3. Add the cloves, cinnamon, peppercorns and bay leaves and fry for a minute.
4. Add the onions and sauté on a medium heat until translucent.
5. Drain the water from the rice, add it to the pan and fry for a minute. Take care not to break the rice grains.
6. Add the warm water and salt and bring to a boil.
7. Cover the pan and let it cook on a low flame for 10 minutes or until all the water has evaporated.

III. Cook the chicken

1. Heat the Ghee in a pan.
2. Add the sliced onions and fry until lightly browned.
3. Add the cloves, peppercorns, cinnamon, bay leaves, cardamom powder and star anise; saute for 2 minutes.
4. Add the tomatoes and the marinade that was kept aside; fry until you get a thick gravy.
5. Add the chicken along with the marinade and cook for 20 minutes.

IV. Assemble the biryani.

1. Pour 3 tbsps of Ghee into a deep, thick bottomed dish.
2. Arrange the potato layer so that they cover the bottom of this dish.
3. Evenly spread a 1-inch layer of rice, followed by a layer of the chicken along with the gravy.
4. Spread some of the fried cashewnuts, raisins and onions. Repeat the layers, finishing off with a layer of rice at the top.
5. Spread the remaining cashewnuts, raisins and onions over the layer of rice.
6. Cover the dish and cook on a medium flame for half an hour.

Serve hot with plain curd or raita.