Bengali Chicken Biryani

INGREDIENTS

1kg chicken pieces and some cubed breast pieces or 1 big chicken disjointed into curry pieces
2 tbs ginger and garlic paste
2 green chillies (slit)
1 tbs garam masala powder
3 tbs kashmiri red chili powder or madras mixed masala
1 tsp ground cardamom powder
1 tsp ground jeera
1 tsp ground fennel
2 tsp salt or to taste
1 tsp turmeric powder
juice from a big lemon
1 cup fried brown onion
1/4 cup freshly chopped coriander
2 tbs fresh mint chopped
1 cup full fat Greek yoghurt
2 tbs tomato paste
3 tbs ghee (melted)

For the rice:

3 cups basmati rice
3 tsp salt
1/2 tsp jeera seeds
2-3 cardomom pods
1/2 tsp white vinegar

For the potatoes:

4 potatoes (peeled and quartered)
olive oil or vegetable oil for frying or roasting
Salt to taste
2 tsp chicken spice

For the tomato makhni:

2 star anise
2 cinnamon sticks
1 tsp crushed black pepper
4 whole cardamoms
3 bay leaves
3 tbs ghee
2 green chillies (slit)
3 tomatoes (puréed)
2 tbs tomato paste
1/2 cup fresh cream

For layering rice:

1 tsp cardamom powder
1/2 cup freshly chopped coriander
1/4 cup freshly chopped mint
1 cup fried brown onion
1 tbs rose water
a few strands saffron
1/4 cup milk
3/4 cup boiled brown lentils (masoor dhal)

For Raita:

2 cups Greek Yoghurt
1/2 large English cucumber grated and drained
1/2 small red onion finely chopped
1/3 cup fresh mint finely chopped (large handful)
1 tsp ground jeera
salt to taste

METHOD

Preparing the onions: Use 4 large onions and slice them thinly. Heat 1/4 cup vegetable or olive oil. Fry onions in hot oil until golden brown.

Place fried onions onto a paper towel, spread them out to air dry. Reserve 1 cup fried onion for marinade and 1 cup for rice layering.

Preparing the coriander and mint:

Chop up fresh coriander and mint and extra mint for raita.

Making your own ginger garlic paste:

If you do not have ginger garlic paste (store bought), make your own using a large thumb size piece of fresh ginger (peeled), 4-5 big garlic cloves (skins removed) and 4 green chillies. Place ginger, garlic and chillies in a blender. Add a little water and blitz in a blender to make a smooth paste of ginger and garlic. Use as required. Store leftovers in the fridge.

Marinating the chicken

Mix all the ingredients for the marinade well and keep in the fridge for a few hours or preferably overnight.

Roasting the chicken: Preheat oven at 180 degrees Celsius. Grease a large baking pan with cooking spray and spread marinated chicken onto tray. Do not overlap. Keep remaining marinade aside. Allow chicken to roast until tender for 20-25 minutes turning halfway through cooking.

Cooking and preparing the rice: Soak rice for 30 minutes in cool water. Then boil rice with salt, jeera seeds, cardamom pods and vinegar in a large saucepan filled with boiling water for 10 minutes. Do not cook rice completely. It will cook further in the steaming process. Whilst rice is boiling, mix milk with rose water, ground cardamom, and saffron strands and leave to infuse and develop the saffron colour. Strain rice. Remove the cardamom pods to prevent biting into it when eating the biryani. Stir in the saffron infused milk, boiled masoor and leave aside until needed.

Preparing and cooking the potatoes: Boil potatoes until tender but not soft. It must be able to hold itself during the frying or roasting stage. To roast: place potatoes in a greased oven proof dish. Drizzle oil, salt and chicken spice. Stir carefully to coat and roast until crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. This should take 10-15 minutes.

To fry: heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add batches of potatoes at a time into hot oil and turn to fry on all sides. Do not crowd the pan, otherwise the potatoes will not crisp up.

Cooking the tomato makhni: In a medium saucepan, melt ghee, add whole spices and allow to sauté until an aromatic fragrance is released. Be careful not to burn the ghee. Pour in the tomatoes, tomato paste and 1 cup of water. Stir and leave to cook until the ghee rises to the top. This will take about 10 minutes. Pour in the left over marinade from the chicken and the fresh cream. Simmer for 10 minutes. At this stage, you can carefully remove the whole spices with a slotted spoon to avoid biting into it when eating the biryani. Add in the roasted chicken pieces and stir carefully to combine.

Layering the biryani: Brush the bottom of a large saucepan with 2 tbs melted ghee. Then layer 1/3 of the saffron rice and 1/4 cup fried onions. Layer the chicken pieces over the rice and onion. Reserve half of the tomato makhni. Layer half of the roasted or fried potatoes over the chicken pieces. Mix the reserved tomato makhni with half of the remaining saffron rice, leave the balance of the rice for the last layer.

Layer the tomato makhni rice over the potatoes. Now layer the last of the saffron rice, remaining fried onions and remaining potatoes. Sprinkle the chopped coriander and mint. Lightly sprinkle 1 cup of water over the top of the coriander and mint. Close the lid and place saucepan in the oven at 160 degrees celcius to steam for 30-40 mins. This can also be done on the stove over low heat. Watch the pot carefully to avoid burning the bottom. Serve with raita and pickles.

Preparing the raita:

Grate the cucumber. Press out as much water as you can from the grated cucumber. This prevents the raita from becoming watery and soggy. Chop the mint and red onion finely. Mix all the ingredients together, and season to taste. This can be covered and stored in the fridge until needed and any leftovers for about 3 days.

Image and recipe by Foodies of Cake Walk