Indian Moghul Chicken Biryani Recipes

INDIAN MOGHUL CHICKEN BIRYANI

Steps:

• First you have to make the marinade for the chicken.
• Peel and coarsely chop 3 of the onions.
• Place the chopped onion, garlic, and ginger in an electric blender, along with the cloves, peppercorns, the seeds only from the 8 cardamoms, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, poppy seeds, mace, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and the lemon juice. Blend all of these at high speed until you have a smooth paste. Place this paste in a large bowl. Add the yogurt and mix well.
• Now peel the 3 remaining onions. Slice them into very fine rings, and halve all the rings.
• In a 10 inch heavy bottomed skillet, heat the oil over medium flame. When hot, add the bay leaves and 4 black cardamoms. Fry for about 10 to 15 seconds. Now put in the onions and fry them, stirring, for about 10 minutes or until they get brown and crisp (but not burned). Remove them carefully with a slotted spoon, squeezing out as much of the oil as possible. Reserve all the onion flavored oil, the black cardamoms, and the bay leaves. You will need them later. Mix in 2/3 of the fried onions with the marinade paste. Place the rest on a paper towel to drain. Set aside for garnishing.
• Remove skin from the chicken legs and breasts. Cut the legs into two pieces each (drumstick and thigh), and quarter all the breasts. Pierce the chicken pieces with a fork and place in the bowl with the marinade paste. Mix well. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Turn occasionally.
• After 2 hours (or more), remove the bowl from the refrigerator and place all its contents in a 3 to 4 quart heavy bottomed pot. Bring slowly to a boil, cover, lower heat, and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove only the chicken pieces, place them in a 5 quart casserole dish, and cover. Set aside. On a medium flame, boil down the marinade paste, stirring, until you have about 9 to 10 tablespoons left. Spoon the paste over the chicken. Cover again.
• Preheat oven to 300°F.
• Soak the saffron in 2 tablespoons hot (not boiling) milk.
• Bring about 13 cups of water with 3 teaspoons of salt to a boil in a 4 quart pot, then add the rice. After it has come to a boil again, cook 5 minutes, timing very carefully (the rice must not cook through). DRAIN the rice in a colander, then place it on top of the chicken in the casserole. Pour the saffron milk over the rice, streaking it with orange lines. Spoon out the onion flavored oil from the pan, RESERVING a level tablespoon to fry the raisins if you like. Sprinkle the oil, cardamom, and bay leaves over the rice. Cover the casserole dish with aluminum foil, cut 2 inches wider than the rim of the dish. Now put the lid on and use the protruding foil edges to seal the dish as best you can by crinkling it and pushing it against the sides. Bake 1 hour.
• GARNISHES: There are several garnishes that can be used for biryani; you can use them all, or only what you like, but the fried onions are a must. If you wish to use raisins, you can fry them in a tablespoon of the onion flavored oil just after you have fried the onions.
• TO SERVE: As you lift the cover off your casserole dish you will see beautiful saffron streaks on the white rice. Spoon the rice and chicken out onto a large platter. Sprinkle fried onions and other garnishes of your choice over, and serve hot. With biryani, serve Koftas and some yogurt dish-Yogurt with Tiny dumplings, or Yogurt with Potatoes. If you wish to serve a vegetable, Cauliflower with Ginger and Chinese Parsley would be very good. Serves 6-8.
• Biryani is quite definitely not an everyday dish. It is served at weddings and important dinners. Try serving it at a late supper party. It was, and is, a dish worthy of a king.
• NOTE: This very expensive stigma of the crocus flower is used in Moghlai meat and rice dishes as well as in desserts. Ideally, saffron stigmas or "leaf" saffron should be lightly roasted in a hot skillet, crumbled, and allowed to soak in a tablespoon or so of warm milk for half an hour before being used.
• Madhur Jaffrey An Invitations to Indian Cooking.

CHICKEN BIRYANI RECIPE

Steps:

• To a bowl, add yogurt, ginger garlic paste, ½ tsp salt, garam masala, turmeric, lemon juice & red chili powder.
• Mix up well and taste the marinade. Add more salt and spice if needed.
• Make slits on the chicken pieces. Add it to the marinade &mix well. Cover and set aside for 1 hour to overnight.
• Rinse basmati rice thrice and soak for 30 mins. Drain to a colander after 30 mins.
• Heat ghee or oil in a pot or pressure cooker.
• Add whole spices - bay leaf, cardamoms, cloves, cinnamon, star anise, shahi jeera & mace. Skip them if you do not have.
• When the spices begin to sizzle, add onions & fry them evenly stirring often until uniformly light brown but not burnt.
• Add chicken & saute until pale for 5 mins on a medium heat.
• Cover & cook on a low flame until the chicken is soft cooked or tender. Saute to evaporate any excess moisture in the pot.
• Taste test and add more salt if needed. I add about ¼ teaspoon salt. Add ¼ cup yogurt (curd), 2 tablespoons chopped mint leaves, 1 slit green chili, ½ to 1 teaspoon red chili powder & 1 teaspoon garam masala.
• Mix everything well and layer chicken evenly at the bottom. (check video)
• Spread drained rice in a layer over the chicken.
• To a separate bowl, pour 3 cups water. If cooking in a pot use 3 ½ cups water.
• Add ½ to ¾ tsp salt and mix. Taste the water. It must be slightly salty.
• Pour 2 cups of this water across the sides of the cooker or pot. Gently pour the rest on top of the rice. (check video)
• Level the rice if needed. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons mint leaves. Optionally add 2 tablespoons fried onions & saffron soaked milk if using.
• Pot method - If cooking in a pot, cover and cook on a low flame until the chicken biryani is done to your liking. If the rice is still under cooked or hard, pour ¼ to ½ cup boiling water and cook further. When done it has to be fully cooked, yet remain grainy.
• Cooker method - Set the flame to medium high. Cover & place the whistle. Cook for 1 whistle. Move the cooker away from the burner to stop cooking further.
• Rest until the pressure settles. Fluff up the chicken biryani with a fork.
• Serve from top to the bottom layer. Each serving gets biryani rice from top and chicken from the bottom layer.
• Enjoy chicken biryani with raita and sliced veggies, papad and shorba (biryani gravy).

CHICKEN BIRYANI

Steps:

• Soak the rice in warm water, then wash in cold until the water runs clear.
• Heat the butter in a saucepan and cook the onions with the bay leaf and other whole spices for 10 minutes. Sprinkle in the turmeric, then add chicken and curry paste; cook till aromatic.
• Stir the rice into the pan with the raisins, then pour over the stock. Place a tight fitting lid on the pan and bring to a hard boil, then lower the heat to a minimum; cook the rice for another 5 minutes. Turn of the heat & leave for 10 minutes. Stir well, mixing through half the coriander.
• To serve scatter over the rest of the coriander and the almonds.

CHICKEN BIRYANI

Steps:

• Soak the rice in warm water, then wash in cold until the water runs clear.
• Heat butter in a saucepan and cook the onions with the bay leaf and other whole spices for 10 minutes.
• Sprinkle in the turmeric, then add chicken and curry paste and cook until aromatic.
• Stir the rice into the pan with the raisins, then pour over the stock.
• Place a tight-fitting lid on the pan and bring to a hard boil, then lower the heat to a minimum and cook the rice for another 5 minutes.
• Turn off the heat and leave for 10 minutes.
• Stir well, mixing through half the coriander.
• To serve, scatter over the rest of the coriander and the almonds.

MURGH MAKHANI - MOGHUL BUTTER CHICKEN

Steps:

• Place the chicken in a bowl with the garlic, ginger, salt, chilli powder and lemon juice. Mix, cover with cling film and chill for 30 minutes. Mix together the yoghurt, garam masala, turmeric and cumin and add to the chicken, making sure that each piece is well coated with the mixture. Cover again and chill for 3-4 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 180°C/Fan 160°C/Gas 4. Put the marinated chicken pieces on a grill rack set on a baking tray and bake for 8-10 minutes. Brush the chicken pieces with a little oil and turn them over. Bake for another 10-12 minutes until just cooked through.
• For the sauce, heat the ghee or butter in a pan and add the garlic and ginger. Fry for a minute or so then add the cardamom, cloves, coriander, garam masala, turmeric, fenugreek and chilli powder. Stir well and fry for 1-2 minutes until they give off a lovely aroma.
• Stir in the tomato puree and lemon juice and cook for another couple of minutes. Add the chicken pieces to the sauce and stir well to coat. Finally, add the butter and cream and stir continuously until the butter has melted and the sauce is smooth.
• Taste and adjust the seasoning. Transfer to a warm bowl and serve hot, garnished with chopped coriander.