Showing posts with label Chicken biryani. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chicken biryani. Show all posts

Sunday, 25 October 2015

Lamb Biryani / Mutton Biryani !

" Biryani " ♔ ♨ doesn't require any introduction, whether it is a veg or non - veg biryani..we equally appreciate & enjoy  ♥The Biryani♥ !! Don't we ?!! Earlier, I posted Chicken & Mixed vegetable biryani recipes here and now it's time and space for The Mutton Biryani !!

Lamb Biryani

Ingredients :

Lamb / Mutton - 1 lb
Sliced Tomatoes - 1 cup (Approx 2 small sized tomatoes)
Chopped Onions - 1 cup
Diced Potatoes - 1 cup (OPTIONAL)
Green chills - 3 to 4 (slitted)
Red chili powder - 1 tbl spoon
Ginger & Garlic paste - 1 tbl spoon
Turmeric powder - 1 tea spoon
Dhaniya / Coriander powder - 1 tbl spoon
Cumin powder / Jeera - 1 tea spoon
Chopped Coriander leaves - 1/2 cup 
Chopped Mint leaves - 1/2 cup
Saffron strands -  soaked in 1/4 cup warm milk
Lemon juice - 2 table spoons
Oil - 2 tbl spoons
Ghee  - 2 tbl spoons
Water - 3/4th to 1 cup
Salt - 1 to 2 tbl spoons / as per the taste

For Rice :

Rice - 2 cups ( I used basmati rice)
Water - 3 cups
Salt - 1/2 tbl spoon
Ghee / Oil - 1 tbl spoon

Whole Garam masala Ingredients :

Bay Leaf - 1 to 2
Cinnamon - 1
Cloves - 4 to 5
Green / black cardamom - 2
Anis flower - 2 to 3
Nutmeg - small piece

Preparation:

- Wash the rice thoroughly & add water, salt, ghee & all the whole garam masala ingredients to the rice and cook the rice. 

- Once done, keep the rice aside, while preparing the mutton for biryani. 

Mutton Biryani
- It is best to use a thick, wide & even bottomed utensil for cooking biryani..and I am using the pressure cooker.
- Wash the mutton / lamb pieces thoroughly with water and remove any excess fat.
- Heat the oil in the pan / cooker (whichever you have chosen to use) add the chopped onions and fry until they turn translucent & then add the tomatoes and let them cook until turn softer.

Lamb Biryani
- Add the Diced potatoes which is totally optional, if you are not using potatoes you can totally avoid this step.

- Add the meat to the pan and stir well and start adding the red chili powder, coriander powder, ginger & garlic paste, cumin powder, turmeric and the salt. Stir well & add about 3/4th cup of water, stir thoroughly and cover the pan with a lid and let the meat be well cooked under low to medium heat.
(May take approximately 10 to 12 minutes).

- Meanwhile warm a 1/4 cup of milk & add the saffron strands and keep it aside.

- Once the meat is cooked (gravy will be thickened), turn off the heat and let it sit for 5 minutes.

- Now, place half of the earlier cooked rice with whole garam masala ingredients on top of the meat, add chopped coriander, mint leaves, milk with saffron strands, slitted green chili, ghee & lemon juice.

Mutton Biryani
- And repeat the same for the second layer until the rice is finished.
- Turn on the heat, keep it low, cover the pan with the lid and place some weight on top of the lid so that steam stays inside the pan allowing biryani to be steam cooked (dhum).
- If you are using a pressure cooker, close the cooker with the lid & DO NOT PLACE THE WEIGHT / WHISTLE on.

Mutton Biryani
- Let the biryani steam cook for about 7 to 10 minutes under low heat & once done, turn off the heat, open the lid and gently run the spatula through the biryani to mix the meat with the rice while serving.

There it is.. Spicy & Smoking hot Mutton / Lamb Biryani… complement The Mutton Biryani with Korma, Raita & some onion and lemon wedges on the side !!!

Lamb Biryani











Wednesday, 25 February 2015

Chicken Biryani !

This is absolutely for those ardent fans of The Chicken Biryani …yes I am one amongst you…..so, here is my version of chicken biryani..totally totally hassle free…& you can make this layered chicken biryani in ……. a pressure cooker..how cool is that ?!!!!


Chicken Biryani

Before we get into the ingredients & recipe.. i want to tell a small tip..if you are planning to make chicken biryani and you planned it well ahead, I suggest you to …marinate the chicken and keep it in the refrigerator for 5 to 6 hours or over night to get the best of it. But nothing to worry, if it is just an hour ago you planned to make chicken biryani..still no problem..just marinate & keep it in the refrigerator for 1 hour which is good enough too !

Preparation :

Part 1:

Ingredients to marinate the chicken :

Chicken - 2 lbs ( 1 kg)
Red chili powder - 2 tbl spoons
Ginger & Garlic paste - 1 table spoon
Turmeric powder - 1 tea spoon
Garam masala powder - 1 tbl spoon
Curd - 2 tbl spoons
Dhaniya / coriander powder - 1 table spoon
Coriander leaves & Green chili paste - 1 table spoon
Salt - 1 to 2 table spoons



Chicken Marination :

- Thoroughly wash the chicken in the running water and take it into a mixing bowl & add all the above ingredients to the chicken &  mix well.


- Cover the bowl with a lid or plastic cling wrap & keep it in the refrigerator for at least 1/2 hr to 1 hour.





Part 2 :

Rice - 3 cups ( I took basmati rice)
Water - 4 cups
Salt - 1 tbl spoon
Ghee - 1 tbl spoon

Whole Garam masala Ingredients :

Bay Leaf - 1 (big) or 2 (small)
Cinnamon / Cassia bark stick - 1
Cloves - 4 to 5
Green / black cardamom - 2
Anis flower - 2 to 3
Cardamom - 1 or 2
Nutmeg - small piece

- Wash the rice thoroughly & add water, salt, ghee & all the whole garam masala ingredients to the rice and cook the rice. In general we add 1: 1.5 - rice : water to cook basmati rice, since we just need half cooked rice we are just cooking rice with 4 cups of water.

- Now half cooked rice with all whole garam masala ingredients and marinated chicken is ready by this time.




Part 3 :

Ingredients :

Chopped coriander leaves - 1 cup 
Chopped mint leaves - 1 cup
Roasted cashews - 1/4 cup
Saffron strands -  soaked in 1/2 cup milk
Lemon juice - 2 table spoons
Oil - 2 to 3 tbl spoons
Ghee / butter - 3 tbl spoons
Fried onions - 1 cup (optional)

Method -

- Add oil to the pressure cooker. Nicely coat the bottom & interior walls of the pressure cooker.
- Place all marinated chicken in the pressure cooker. depending on the size of the cooker, you can arrange one or more layers.




- Now add one layer of half cooked rice over the chicken in the pressure cooker.


- On the each layer of rice, top it with ghee, lemon juice, chopped coriander & mint leaves, milk (saffron soaked), cashews & fried onions..evenly.


- Repeat the these steps until you finsh layering chicken & rice. I used a 7.5 liter pressure cooker, so I just got 2 layers.



- Add any leftover marination mix on top the rice layer..it gives you a great taste to the biryani.

- No need to add any extra water to this, just close the pressure cooker with the lid & DO NOT KEEP THE WHISTLE . Yes, you read it right..we don't keep the weight.

- NOTE : we have to cook the biryani on a SLOW / LOW HEAT and it takes about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Once the chicken is cooked well you can feel the nice aroma coming out of the cooker. Once you feel it is done, turn off the heat & let all the pressure come down. Open the lid & gently mix the layers, so that Rice & chicken will be mixed together.

Now, it is time to enjoy the chicken biryani with any sides like kurma / gravy & raitha !

We enjoyed chicken biryani with Aloo kurma & raitha. Check out the Aloo kurma recipe @ the below link !


Chicken Biryani !