Ingredients
Total Time: 2 Hours
Chicken & Chicken Marinade Ingredients
2lbs chicken breast cut into medium-large bite size chunks
2 Tbsp Indian ginger garlic paste
2 Tbsp tikka masala powder
2 tsp maida
2 tsp corn flour
3 Tbsp lemon juice
20 – 30 curry leaves
2 sliced Indian green chilies (or Serrano peppers)
2 – 4 Tbsp plain yogurt
Biryani Masala Ingredients
1 red onion (large)
1 tomato (large)
2 Tbsp Indian ginger garlic paste
large handful of mint leaves (chopped)
large handful of coriander leaves (chopped)
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red Indian chili powder
1 tsp Kashmiri chili powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 – 2 tsp salt
3 tsp garam masala powder
1 large Indian bay leaf
1 cinnamon stick
5 green cardamom pods
4 whole cloves
Biryani Rice Ingredients
4 cups Basmati rice
1 large Indian bay leaf
1 cinnamon stick
4 green cardamom pods
4 whole cloves
1.5 tsp shahjeera (or caraway seeds)
1 Tbsp ghee
2 – 3 tsp salt
Other Ingredients
5 or 6 hard boiled eggs
Extra handful of both coriander and mint leaves
2Tbsp ghee
Fried onions
Procedure
Start by cutting the chicken into bite sized chunks, and mixing in a large bowl with the tikka masala powder, maida, corn flour, lemon juice, and ginger garlic paste. Let this mixture marinade for at least 3 hours, but overnight if possible.
Next, take 4 cups of basmati rice in a large bowl, and rinse / wash under cool running water, gently mixing the rice and dumping the water until the water runs clear and no longer has much starch. Fill the container with fresh cool water, and let the rice soak for about 30 minutes. While the rice is soaking, heat a large pot of water on the stove to a boil, and add the bay leaf, cinnamon stick, cardamom pods, cloves, shahjeera or caraway seeds, and 1Tbsp ghee to the pot.
Once the chicken is marinated, heat an inch or so of oil in a deep pot or wok (not the same pot that you will use for the biryani) until the oil reaches about 350F. Once the oil is hot, deep fry the marinated chicken in batches until golden brown and about 80% cooked. Set each batch aside and continue frying until all the chicken is cooked. Once all the chicken is cooked, pour some of the remaining oil into the pot that you will use to make the biryani to be used when cooking the biryani masala. Reserve about 1Tbsp or so of oil in the wok, and turn the heat to medium. Add the curry leaves, and split chili peppers to the wok, and fry for a minute or two. Add all the chicken back to the wok, and stir evenly so the chili peppers and curry leaves are evenly mixed. Continue cooking for a couple of minutes, then add 2 – 4 Tbsp plain yogurt, and mix evenly. Continue cooking until the mixture thickens up and excess water is cooked off. Turn off the heat, and set the chicken aside covered for use later.
In the pot you plan on making biryani (that you added oil to from the wok), turn the heat to medium. Once to temperature, add the bay leaf, cinnamon stick, cardamom pods, and cloves, and saute for a couple of minutes until aromatic. Add the chopped onion, and saute for about 3 minutes, until the onions start to sweat and turn translucent. Add the ginger garlic paste, and saute for another minute or so. Add the chopped tomato, and a handful of mint leaves, and saute for another few minutes. Add the turmeric powder, red chili powder, Kashmiri chili powder, coriander powder, salt, and garam masala powder evenly, and mix / saute for another few minutes. Add the handful of coriander leaves, and saute for another minute or two. At this point, the biryani masala should be a thick paste, without much water or liquid – about the consistency of ketchup.
At this point the rice should have been soaking for about 30 minutes or so, and the pot of water should be boiling away. Add all the rice to the pot of water, and set the timer for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, the rice should be about half cooked. Drain the rice into a colander, and add a layer over the biryani masala that’s in the pot. Next, sprinkle some fresh mint leaves, coriander leaves, and fried onions over the rice, and then layer the chicken. Add another layer of rice, fried onion, mint and coriander leaves, then arrange 5 hard boiled eggs evenly on top of the rice. Add one final layer of rice over the eggs, and finish off with another sprinkling of mint leaves, coriander leaves, and fried onion. Drip 2 – 3 Tbsp ghee over all the rice, and cover the pot with foil, then place a heavy lid on the pot. Turn the heat to low, and let sit for 20 minutes.
When serving the biryani, start in one area, and be careful when scooping the rice not to smash or break the rice. The rice should be nice and fluffy, with individual grains separated and not stuck together. Scoop from the top, down through the middle, and on to the bottom, getting each layer evenly per portion.
Serve with fresh raita.