Easy To Make Kashmiri Chicken Biryani

Eid is just around the corner and I wanted to share this special biryani of Kashmir…

Eid celebration is literally incomplete without biryani. Biryani has always been the main attraction of Eid in my family. When I was with my mom, on almost all Eid I used to wake up to the aroma of Biryani. Now, this is the one thing that I miss terribly: waking up to the pleasant seducing aroma of biryani.

On Eid I usually end up making my mom’s special biryani. However, for this Eid I decided to try something different and my search finally ended when I got the biryani recipe all the way from Kashmir. Kashmir, one of the beautiful states in India which has earned the sobriquet of being the “paradise on earth”.

I came across this recipe on a cooking channel, I noted down the recipe and tweaked quite a bit. This recipe was in deed a different one compared to my usual biryani recipe. In Kashmiri biryani, they add fruits, nuts and milk to make it rich and divine. I was truly blown away by the taste of this biryani, it had a very mild flavor yet scrumptious.

Happy Eid to all my readers!

Kashmiri Biryani

Ingredients

Cooking Chicken:

• Chicken, bone in or use legs- 12 pieces
• Chili powder- 1tsp
• Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
• Fennel powder- 1 tsp
• Salt- 1 tsp

Other Ingredients

• Oil- 1/4 cup
• Onion, thinly sliced- 4
• Whole cloves- 3
• Cardamom- 3
• Cinnamon stick- 2-inch slice
• Whole black peppercorns- 8
• Ginger- garlic paste- 1 tbsp
• Fennel seeds- 2 tbsp
• Coriander seeds- 3 tbsp
• Yogurt, not sour- 3/4 cup
• Milk- 1/4 cup
• Apple, red delicious chopped- 1/2 cup or 1/2 apple
• Raisins- 2 tbsp
• Water- 1 1/2 cups (or liquid after cooking the chicken)
• Basmati rice, rinsed- 1 3/4 cups
• Salt- 1 1/2 tsp

For final cooking:

• Yogurt, not sour- 1/4 cup
• Milk- 5 tbsp
• Saffron strands- 10 strands

Garnishing:

• Fried onions in oil- 1/2 cup
• Roasted almonds in ghee- 1/4 cup
• Roasted cashew nuts in ghee- 1/4 cup
• Roasted raisins in ghee- 2 tbsp

Instruction

• Take the chicken in a bowl & add chili powder, turmeric powder, fennel powder, and salt. Combine well & let marinate for an hour.
• I used chicken legs, you could use any bone-in pieces.
• Soak the basmati rice in water for 15 minutes, after that rinse the rice well.

• Cook the chicken in a pressure cooker along with 1/4 cup of water until 1 whistle. We are only cooking the chicken partially.

• Don’t overcook the chicken, we will be further cooking the chicken with the rice.
• Save the liquid that’s left in the cooker after pressure cooking the chicken.
• Place a large non-stick cooking pot over medium heat.
• Add oil, add the whole cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, and whole peppercorns to the oil. Saute for a minute.
• Add the onions, season with  1/2 tsp salt, saute till onions turn light golden in color.

• Add ginger-garlic paste and saute for a few minutes.
• Add the cooked chicken, combine well.
• Add the fennel seeds and coriander seeds.
• Add yogurt and milk, and combine everything well.
• Now, add the chopped apples to it.
• Add the raisins, and combine well.

• Add 1 1/2 cups water and let come to a boil. Or add the liquid that’s left in the cooker after cooking the chicken, add additional water & make it to 1 1/2 cups.
• Add the soaked & rinsed basmati rice.
• Cover the pan with its lid and let the rice cook for about 15 minutes.
• Check frequently whether the rice has been cooked, as the cooking time might vary with different kinds of basmati rice. Do not overcook the rice.
• After all the water has dried off and the rice has cooked through, gently combine the rice and chicken together.

For garnishing

• Fry the onions in oil until golden brown in color.
• Fry the cashew nuts, almonds, and raisins in ghee till they turn golden in color.

Final cooking:

• In a bowl, combine 1/4 cup yogurt, 5 tbsp milk, and saffron.
• Spread this mixture over the cooked rice to form a layer.

• Spread the fried onions, nuts, and raisins over it.
• Cover the pot with its lid. You could even cover it with aluminum foil.
• Lower the heat and let simmer for 10 minutes.
• After 10 minutes, remove the pot from the heat and let rest for 15 minutes.

• Serve this Kashmiri Biryani along with raita, pickle, etc.

Tips:

• You could use Goat or Lamb instead of chicken.
• Leftover biryani can be refrigerated and will taste delicious the next day.