Chicken Biryani

the ultimate rice dish

In preparation for the event I am partaking in for a Pakistani food week in Prague, I’ve been recipe-testing iconic Pakistani dishes. I had to get biryani down to a T, and this recipe is SO good. Biryani is a layered rice dish with tons of spices and curry to become a super fragrant and delicious dish. The rice is cooked twice, once by par-boiling and once by steaming- which can make it a bit tricky but with some practice, it works perfectly!

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken broken down (or 2 chicken breasts, 2 thighs, and 2 drumsticks)

biryani masala

1 tbsp coriander seeds

7 cloves

1/2 tbsp black peppercorns

1 bay leaf

1/2 tbsp fennel seeds

4 green cardamom pods

1/2 a cinnamon stick

1 tbsp cumin seeds

2 tsp red chili flakes or 1 dried red chili

1 tsp mace

chicken marinade

4 tbsp plain yogurt

1 tbsp of the biryani masala

1 tsp salt

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tbsp paprika or 2 tsp Kashmiri chili powder

300 grams good quality extra-long grain basmati rice

1 tbsp lemon juice

2 tsp salt

If you are nervous about overcooking the rice, I’ve heard that Sella rice is hard to overcook and produces great results. But the better quality the rice is, the better your biryani will be.

Cooking spices and veggies

2 bay leaves

3 green cardamon pods

1/2 a stick cinnamon

10 black peppercorns

2 tsp cumin seeds

6 cloves

2 onions sliced thinly

1.5 inches ginger & 5 cloves of garlic blitzed or crushed together

2 tomatoes diced

1 green chili sliced in 1/2

garnishes

1 lemon sliced thinly into rounds

bunch of cilantro

mint leaves

3-4 saffron threads + few tbsp of milk OR orange food coloring

fried onions (optional)

Method:

Make your biryani masala by grinding it in a spice grinder or crushing in a mortar and pestle. You want it to be as fine as possible. Store-bought biryani masala also works great- you would just use a little less as they are usually stronger.

Cut your chicken into large chunks. I cut them slightly bigger than I want to eat them since they lose size when they cook.

Marinate it in the ingredients listed and refrigerate overnight or at least 30 minutes.

Rinse and drain your rice until the water becomes as clear as possible. This gets rid of excess starch and allows your rice to stay separate and fluffy. Cover with cold water and let soak for 30 minutes.

Thinly slice your onions. Either finely chop or blitz your ginger and garlic. Measure out the spices listed.

In a pan over medium heat, put in 1 tbsp oil and let heat up.

Then, add in your sliced onion and cook until softened and browned. You want a nice color on them so this will take about 15 minutes.

When the onions are nicely brown, deglaze the pan with a splash of water. You want to lift the browned bits on the pan to add flavor. Then, add in your spices and let cook for 2-3 minutes.

This is called blooming the spices and it allows the flavors to become a lot more fragrant.

Then, add in your ginger and garlic and cook out for another 2-3 minutes. Once they are cooked, add in your chicken.

Once the outside of the chicken is slightly cooked and then opaque, add in your tomatoes and green chili.

Stir to combine everything, and then add enough water to come half-way up the chicken.

Cover with a lid and let simmer and cook through for about 30 minutes.

During this time, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add in the water and salt. Drain your rice and add it to the water. As soon as the water comes back up to a boil, put a timer on for 4 minutes. You are par-boiling the rice, so you want it to be about 75% cooked. An easy way to see this is if you break a kernel open, you should still see a tiny dot of white in the middle.

As soon as the timer is done or the rice is parboiled to your liking (the timing can depend on rice brands), immediately drain the rice to prevent overcooking. Shake it around to make sure there’s no water stuck in it, but try not to break it too much.

Also, you can warm the milk up and steep your saffron threads in it so that the milk turns yellow.

Now, your chicken should be cooked. Take the lid off and turn up the heat. You want to reduce the liquid down into a nice thick saucy consistency. It should be able to coat the back of a spoon.

When you are happy with the consistency, turn the heat off.

In a large pot, put 1 tbsp of oil and coat the bottom. Then, put 1/2 the rice at the bottom. Layer the chicken curry and all the sauce on top. Top with fresh mint and coriander leaves. Then, add the rest of the rice on top. Top with fresh cilantro and drizzle with the yellow milk and saffron threads.

Cover with a tea towel and lid. Make sure the tea towel is secure so that no steam escapes.

Turn the heat on medium for 3-4 minutes to allow steam to build up, then turn it to very low and let steam for 20-30 minutes. Then, turn the heat off and let it rest for another 10 minutes.

Take the lid off and check if the rice is steamed to your liking. If not, you can sprinkle a bit of water on top and repeat the steaming process.

The cilantro will be brown, so I like replacing it with fresh cilantro, mint, and lemon slices.

Mix the biryani carefully, taking care not to break the rice.

Enjoy with some fried onions and more herbs!