Chicken 65 Biryani

Biryani is traditional south Asian cuisine. It's a blend of spiced rice with marinated meat, egg or vegetables, served with raita, shorba or gravy. This dish is rich in flavour and aroma. There are so many ways to serve Biryani. I paired mine with chicken 65, a staple starter in India. It's deep-fried chicken cooked with whole spices and herbs. Briyani isn't just a dish; it's a feast of many individual elements coming together to create a sensational meal.

Serves: 4

Ingredients

Chicken 65

500g Chicken thighs

4 tbsp Curd

2 tbsp Lemon juice

1 tsp Black pepper powder

1 tsp Fenugreek powder

1 tsp Chilli powder

1 tsp chopped Curry leaves

½ tbsp Ginger garlic paste

For Frying

1 egg

3 tbsp Cornflour

2 tbsp Flour

1 cup Oil

Masala

½ tsp Jeera

3 chopped Garlic cloves

1 tsp Garlic ginger paste

2 tsp Curry leaves

1 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder

3 chopped green chilli

Biryani Rice

2 Bay Leaves

4 Cardamom pods

1 Black cardamom

1-inch Cinnamon

4 Cloves

1 Star Anise

1 tsp Jeera

2 cup Basmati Rice

1 chopped Green Chilli

4 cups Water

1 sliced Onion

Salt to taste

½ tsp Chili powder

2 tbsp Ghee

Raita

6 tbsp Ghee

Fried Onion slices

Coriander leaves

Mint leaves

1 cup Fried onion slices

Shorba

https://hebbarskitchen.com/biryani-gravy-recipe-biryani-shorba/

Method

Step 1- Chicken 65

Clean your chicken and cut it into bite-size pieces. Then, add curd, lemon juice, ginger garlic paste, black pepper, fenugreek powder, and curry leaves to a bowl. Mix well, then add your chicken and coat well—refrigerator for 4 hours minimum or overnight.

Step 2

In a pan, add oil and place on high heat. In the chicken, add cornflour, plain flour and lightly beaten egg; coat well. Once the oil is hot, add your chicken and cook until entirely fried.

Step 3

Then in a shallow pan, add 2 tbsp of oil. Once hot, add jeera, garlic clove, green chilli and curry leaves. Once the garlic is golden brown, add garlic ginger paste.

Step 4

Cook till the raw smell of garlic goes away, and then add the fried chicken and cook for 2-3 minutes. Then add Kashmiri red chilli powder, coat the chicken well and take off the heat.

Step 5 - Biryani Rice

Soak rice for 30 minutes. In a cooker, add ghee; once hot, add bay leaves, cardamom pods, black cardamom, cloves, cinnamon stick, star anise and jeera. Cook until aromatic, then add clean rice and mix well.

Step 6

Add water, salt and chilli powder. Stir well. Cook until one whistle, remove the heat and let the pressure release naturally.

Step 7 - Assembly

In a deep bottom pot, add some ghee and shorba. Spread evenly on the surface. Then add ⅓ of your rice and half of your chicken 65, coriander leaves, mint leaves and fried onion slices. Repeat till three layers of rice, and two layers of chicken are assembled.

Step 8

Drizzle some ghee on top. Place the lid and seal the edges of the cover with some dough. Place on low flame and steam for 40 minutes to an hour.

Step 9

Take the Biryani off the heat, open the lid, and serve hot Biryani with some fresh raita and shorba.

Tips

1. Marinating the chicken is crucial; don't skip it; it helps enhance the flavour.

2. To check if the chicken is cooked after frying, cut it into one piece and press a knife against the chicken; the fluids should be clear. Or the internal temperature of the chicken should be 75°C.

3. You can add red food colouring to the chicken 65 for a restaurant-style finish.

4. For best results, use basmati rice.

5. You can cook the rice in a rice cooker with the exact measurements and add the whole spices without pan-roasting them.

6. Dum is an essential step in infusing the Biryani together. Make sure the heat is on low.