Quinoa Chicken Biryani
 
 
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Ingredients
To grind
  • Ginger, chopped- 3 inch slice
  • Garlic, chopped- 5 cloves
  • Green chilies- 2
For combining with chicken
  • Chicken breasts, boneless, cut small- 3 breasts
  • Onion, large chopped- 3
  • Ground ginger, garlic and green chili paste
  • Chili powder- 1 tsp
  • Turmeric powder- ¼ tsp
  • Fennel powder- 2 tsp
  • Coriander powder- 1½ tsp
  • Garam masala- 1 tsp
  • Yogurt, not sour- 4 tbsp
  • Lemon juice- 2 tbsp
  • Salt- 1½ tsp
  • Cilantro, chopped- 2 handful
For cooking quinoa
  • Quinoa- 1½ cups
  • Water- 3 cups
  • Garam masala- 1 tsp
  • Ghee- 2 tbsp
  • Salt- 1 tsp
While layering
  • Fried onion- ½ cup (optional)
  • Cilantro, chopped- 2 handful
  • Mint leaves, chopped- 2 stalks or 8 leaves
  • Cashews, roasted in ½ tbsp ghee- ¼ cup
  • Raisins, roasted in ½ tbsp ghee- 3 tbsp
  • Saffron strands, soaked in 1 tbsp water- 2 pinches
  • Ghee- 2 tbsp
Instructions
  1. In a blender, grind the ginger, garlic and green chilies to a coarse paste.
  2. In a large non-stick cooking pan, combine chicken with all the above mentioned ingredients for combining with the chicken.
  3. Don't add any water while cooking chicken.
  4. Cook covered over medium heat, till the chicken has cooked well and there is very less water in the mixture.
  5. The chicken mixture shouldn't be too dry, there should be some moisture in it as we will be doing a final cooking after layering the chicken with quinoa.
  6. Have a taste, adjust the salt and spice level accordingly.
Cooking quinoa
  1. Rinse quinoa taken in a sieve under running water, this will help to remove the natural bitterness of quinoa's outer coating.
  2. Place a large pan over medium heat, add water and let it come to a boil.
  3. Add the rinsed quinoa along with garam masala, ghee and salt.
  4. Cook till quinoa turns tender and the water has dried off, it takes around 15 to 20 minutes.
  5. Keep aside the cooked quinoa.
Final preparations
  1. If adding fried onion: fry 1 onion sliced in ghee or oil till golden brown.
  2. Roast the cashew nuts and raisins together in 1 tbsp ghee.
  3. Soak the saffron strands in water.
  4. In the pan used to cook chicken, spread the chicken evenly as the bottom layer.
  5. Spread the cooked quinoa evenly over the cooked chicken.
  6. Sprinkle the saffron water over the quinoa.
  7. Top the quinoa layer with fried onion, roasted cashew nuts, raisins, cilantro and mint.
  8. Drizzle with ghee.
  9. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and close with its lid.
  10. Place over low heat and cook (dum) for 15 minutes.
  11. Remove from the heat and keep aside for another 15 minutes.
  12. Serve quinoa biryani along with pickle, raita, chutney etc.
Notes
You could use bone-in chicken, but the cooking time will be more.
You could try with beef or lamb as well.
Quinoa by itself is not flavorful, so add garam masala and ghee while cooking it, feel free to add your favorite spices.
Adding saffron, roasted cashew nuts, raisins, mint, cilantro and ghee enhances the taste of this biryani greatly.
Recipe by Cooking with Thas - Wholesome Homemade Recipes at https://thasneen.com/cooking/quinoa-chicken-biryani/