Chicken Biryani

Rinse & cut whole chicken or chicken pieces.

Marinate the chicken with 1 teaspoon ginger & garlic paste, 2-3 sprigs thyme, handful of mint, handful of coriander (dhania), ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder, ½ teaspoon jeera powder, 1 teaspoon dhania powder, 1 teaspoon garam masala, 1 tablespoon chilli powder, ¼ cup vegetable oil, 1 teaspoon salt, sourmilk (maas).

Mix well, cover with cling wrap & allow to marinade for as long as possible. Be sure to remove from the refrigerator half an hour before cooking otherwise the meat will tend to be tough from the shock of the heat.

Add 1 teaspoon turmeric powder, salt to taste, 1 teaspoon vegetable oil, 2 bay leaves & 1 cinnamon stick. Boil for 15-20 minutes, until soft but not mushy or overcooked.

Once the rice has cooked, strain & set aside.

Place the biryani dhall (masoor) in a small pot.

Rinse a few times & then fill the pot with water & 1 teaspoon vegetable oil. Bring the biryani dhall (masoor) to a boil on medium heat until soft.

Once the biryani dhall (masoor) is soft, drain & set aside in a bowl.

Peel onion & divide into half. Sliver both halves & set aside separately.

Dice tomatoes & set aside.

Peel, rinse & cut potatoes into quarters.

Place the potatoes into a microwavable bowl & microwave on high for 4 minutes.

Heat oil in a wide pot & place the potatoes in the hot oil.

When potatoes are cooked, drain off excess oil & set aside.

In the same oil that the potatoes were frying in, drop in one half of the slivered onions. Fry until golden.

Once the onions have browned, remove & set aside.

In a much bigger pot, add in about 2 tablespoons of cooking oil, when oil is slightly hot, drop in the remaining onions. Thereafter, add in the curry leaves, 2 bay leaves, 1 cinnamon stick, elachie (cardamom) pods, star aniseed, cloves, jeera (cumin) seeds & soomph (fennel) seeds.

Mix & allow to braise until onions are translucent.

After that I personally remove most of the whole spices, including the elachie (cardamom), cloves, etc as I do not like to taste it when I eat. This step is optional & as per your preference.

Add the ginger & garlic paste, turmeric powder, jeera powder, dhania powder, garam masala & chilli powder.

Mix & simmer for 30 seconds. Add a little boiled water if necessary.

Add in the tomatoes.

Pour in a little boiled water & mix well.

Thereafter, add in salt to taste & the marinated chicken.

Mix well & allow to cook until chicken is soft.

Thereafter, add ½ teaspoon yellow food colouring to the cooked rice for some colour but this step is completely optional. Mix well.

To the rice, add in the cooked biryani dhall (masoor) & mix together.

Thereafter, drop in the rice to the pot of cooked chicken & mix well. Leave about ½ cup rice aside (do not add it in the curry mixture).

Next, I add the entire pot of rice mixture into a wider pot – this is optional as you may use the same pot. Thereafter place the fried potatoes over.

Cover with the leftover rice.

Garnish with the fried onions.

Thereafter, garnish with the dhania (coriander).

Add dollops of butter over.

Cover pot with lid & place in the oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes.

Once the Chicken Biryani is done in the oven, plate & serve.

Serve Chicken Biryani with pea dhall, curried dhall, carrot salad, carrot sour milk salad or pickles.