Fried Chicken Biryani

A biryani made on a not-so-special-day which turned the day into a special one…

Biryani and special occasions are inseparable, at least in my home. If there is any special occasion, you are guaranteed to get a plate of biryani from my kitchen. The aroma of the biryani spreads in such a way that forces anyone going through that way to pause and take a deep breath in. However, I don’t always need a special occasion to make biryani. By making biryani on an ordinary day, it will turn that day into a special one.

Last weekend, my husband and I made an impromptu trip to my favorite city Chicago. On the way we had visited my cousin in Madison. My cousin who is an awesome cook had made fried chicken biryani along with many other delicious dishes for us. I must say the best homemade biryani I had in a while. After spending a night at my cousin’s, we drove to Chicago. We went straight to the Chicago Auto Show. My husband has been going to the Auto show for 10 years in a row now and it’s my fifth auto show in a row. After that we visited our best friend and surprised her on her birthday. Hence we had an amazing and fun-filled weekend with our dear and near ones.

Those of you who couldn’t be a part of the Chicago Auto Show this year, here is a collage of pictures I had clicked:

After coming home, my mind was still on the biryani hangover. I couldn’t resist and hence called my cousin right away and took notes about the recipe. In this biryani I fried the chicken marinated with spices and combined it with the biryani masala. You get to enjoy the biryani and also the fried chicken on the same plate.

Fried Chicken Biryani, inspired by my Cousin-Ayesha

Step 1 Making Rice

Ingredients:

• Basmati Rice- 2 cups
• Ginger, minced- 1 tsp
• Garlic, minced- 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
• Garam Masala ( ground cardamom, cloves and cinnamon)- 1tsp
• Ghee- 1 tbsp
• Water- 3 cups
• Salt- to taste

Preparation:

• Place basmati rice on a sieve , wash under running water and drain the water.
• Fill the rice cooker with water and add turmeric powder, ginger, garlic, garam masala salt, ghee and rice.

• Switch on the rice cooker and cook until the rice is done.
• Remove the rice pot from the cooker and keep aside with the lid on.

Step 2: Marinating chicken:

• Chicken, bone in- 12 pieces
• Ginger-Garlic paste- 2 tsp
• Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
• Chilly powder- 2 tsp
• Fennel powder- 2 tsp
• Garam Masala- 1 tsp
• Lemon juice- 2 tsp
• Salt- to taste

Preparation:

• Remove any excess fat from the chicken and thoroughly wash it.

• Drain the water and place in a large bowl.
• Put all the above marinating ingredients over the chicken and combine well.

• Cover the chicken and keep in the refrigerator for at least half an hour or more.
• You could even marinate the chicken overnight.

Step 3: Shallow frying the Chicken:

Ingredients:

• Marinated chicken
• Vegetable oil- enough for frying
• Curry leaves- 1 sprig

Preparation:

• In a frying pan, heat the oil, add the curry leaves and shallow fry the chicken until it turns light golden on both sides.

• Transfer the fried chicken on a paper towel and keep aside.

• Save the oil for frying onions which is used for garnishing the biryani.

Step 4: Making the Masala:

Ingredients:

• Onion, cut lengthwise- 4 large onions
• Ginger-Garlic paste- 2 tsp (if possible use freshly ground ginger-garlic paste)
• Green chilly, cut half- 3, or depending upon your spice level
• Tomatoes, chopped- 2
• Curry leaves- 6 no’s (optional)
• Fried Chicken- 12 pieces
• Garam Masala- 1 tsp
• Fennel powder- 1 tsp
• Salt- to taste
• Yogurt- 3 tbsp
• Lemon juice- 1 tsp
• Coconut oil- 2 tbsp
• Ghee- 2 tbsp

Preparation:

• Heat a wide non-stick pan over medium heat, add coconut oil and ghee.
• Add onions along with salt and green chillies and saute until it turns transparent.

• When the onion turns tender, add ginger-garlic paste and saute for a minute.
• Add tomatoes, curry leaves and saute until tomatoes get mashed.

• When the onion and tomatoes have turned tender, add the garam masala and fennel powder.
• Combine well and add the fried chicken to this.

• Give it a stir, add yogurt, lemon juice and combine well.

• Cover the pan with its lid and cook the chicken along with the onion masala for 15 minutes.
• Keep an eye on the masala, if the masala dries up add little water and continue cooking.
• Combine everything well and remove from the heat.

Step 5: Layering Rice and Chicken

Ingredients:

• Fried onions- 1 onion cut lengthwise and fried in the oil used for frying chicken
• Raisins, roasted in ghee- 2 tbsp
• Cashew nuts, roasted in ghee- 1/2 cup
• Cilantro, chopped- 1/4 cup
• Mint leaves, chopped- 10 leaves (use fresh mint leaves)

How to Layer:

• In a flat baking bowl, first add half of the prepared chicken masala and make a layer.

• Add half of the cooked rice and make a layer on top of the chicken masala.

• Add half of the fried onions and half of the chopped cilantro, half of the chopped mint leaves on top of the rice and layer it.

• Repeat this one more time and on top garnish with fried onions, cilantro, mint, roasted cashews and roasted raisins.

Step 6: Baking

• Preheat the oven to 350 F.
• Cover the bowl layered with rice and chicken masala with aluminum foil and bake for 10 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and let stand covered for half an hour.

Stove top cooking:

• Layer the chicken masala and rice as mentioned above in a large non-stick cooking pot.
• Cover the pot with aluminum foil and close it with its lid.
• Place the pot on stove top,turn on the heat to very low.
• Slow cook it for 15 minutes.
• Remove from heat after 15 minutes and let stand for half an hour covered.

Step 7: Serving

• While serving combine the rice and the chicken masala and serve with your choice side dish or with Raita, Pickle, Pappadum etc.

Tips:

• Use coconut oil for sautéing the onion, this gives a nice aroma to the biryani.
• Use fresh ingredients: ginger, garlic, green chilly, mint and cilantro.
• Fry the onion in the oil used for frying the chicken. Avoid using store bought fried onions.
• Sprinkle fresh mint leaves over the rice layer, the aroma of mint makes the biryani taste a whole lot better.
• For making homemade Fennel powder: Roast the fennel seeds or use roasted fennel seeds and ground it to fine powder. Sieve the powder and store it in an air-tight container.