Chicken Biryani + Raita is a classic combination which is loved by most and makes for perfect weekend lunch. This is my take on a not so spicy version of chicken biryani!
For Chicken Biryani
500gms of curry cut chicken (in-bone)
5 big sized onions thinly sliced
Salt
Sugar
10g each of ginger and 5-6 cloves of garlic
3-4 green chillies
200gms of curd
30gms of chopped coriander
30gms of mint leaves
2tbsps each of turmeric powder and Bengali garam masala powder
3tbsps of ghee
Lemon juice from 1 medium sized lemon
Oil
500gms of Basmati Rice
Whole spices (a few pieces each of green cardamom, bay leaf, cinnamon and clove)
For raita
1 medium sized onion grated
1 cucumber peeled and grated
2tbsps of chaat masala
Salt
Chopped coriander leaves
100gms of curd
Process: I have split the process in different sections as follows:
Chicken marination
1. Take a frying pan, add oil and add the sliced onions. Add some salt and sugar and fry till the onions turn golden brown and soft, then keep side. Once the fried onions have cooled, set aside 1/4th of it and use the rest to make a fine paste in a mixer grinder.
2. Take the garlic, ginger and green chillies, chop them finely and grind to a paste in a grinder mixer and keep aside.
3. Add the onion paste from Step 1 and the ginger-garlic-chilli paste from Step 2 to a bowl with 500gms of chicken (curry cut).
4. Add curd, chopped coriander and mint leaves (majority of the chopped coriander and mint leaves from the quantities mentioned in the ingredients section) into the mixture from step 3. Then add in turmeric powder and home made garam masala, salt, ghee, lemon juice and keep aside for 1-1.5 hours.
Rice
1. In a bowl take 500gm of rice and soak it in water for 1 hour.
Actual cook
1. Take a frying pan, add 2tbsps of ghee and add in the the marinated chicken to the pan once the ghee has heated. Cover the pan with a lid and let the chicken cook. Stir occasionally and splash water if you notice that the chicken is starting to stick to the bottom of the pan.
2. Once the chicken is half done, start cooking the rice simultaneously in a separate pot by first draining the soaked rice and adding it into a fresh pot of boiling water.
3. Add the whole garam masala spices (green cardamom, bay leaf, cinnamon, clove), coriander and mint leaves (use only some of the portion remaining from what was used for the chicken marination) in to the boiling water.
4. Once the rice is half done switch of the gas, drain the water, and remove the whole spices.
5. Check to see if the chicken is cooked completely. Once the chicken is done, take a thick bottomed pot and grease it with ghee. Add some of the chicken to the bottom. Then add some of the rice from step 4, then add in some of the fried onion which had been kept aside. Then again add in the chicken curry on top of the rice. Repeat the process till both the chicken and rice is completely used up. Add the remaining fried onions, coriander and mint (the last of the coriander and mint leaves) as the last layer.
6. Heat a skillet and place the pot (with the biryani mixture) on top of this and cover with a lid which can be seal with dough made of flour. Continue heating in this manner for half an hour.
7. Remove from heat and keep the pot covered for another 15 mins. Then remove the lid and mix the rice and chicken to make an even mixture.
8. Serve hot with raita (Recipe below).
Raita:
In a bowl, mix the grated onions and cucumber with 100gms of curd, chopped coriander leaves and a little water. Add in the chaat masala and salt and mix well (ensure there are no lumps in the curd, beat well). It is ready to serve.