Quarantine (and Ramadan) mein biryani nahi khaaya, tho kya khaaya?
No matter how much or what you cook, your quarantine cooking adventure will be ek dum incomplete without Hyderabadi Dum Biryani. And no, we don't want you to mess this up, so here's a fail-proof recipe to make restaurant-style biryani at home, well..close enough.
Ingredients:
500 gms chicken
Four cups Basmati rice
Three onions, thin slices
Four tomatoes, finely chopped
Four green chillies
Three tbsp ginger-garlic paste
2 tbsp red chilli powder
2 tbsp coriander powder
1 tbsp garam masala powder
1/2 cup coriander leaves, finely chopped
1/2 cup mint leaves, finely chopped
3 tbsp oil
1 tbsp ghee
salt to taste
To marinate:
2 tsp curd
1 tbsp red chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp salt
Procedure:
We're going to cook the rice separately! Soak the basmati rice in water for about 10 minutes and rinse gently. We're washing our hands and our rice.
Once that's done, pour four litres of water in a big-enough vessel, and bring it to boil. After a minute, add some salt and cooking oil. Finally, add the washed rice to the water and cook it for five-six minutes. Keep an eye on it, because some basmati rice brands cook faster. After six minutes, drain the water and spread the rice on a plate.
Now it's time to marinate the meat. Wash the chicken with plain water once and again with a pinch of salt in the water (this removes the smell). Marinate the chicken with all the marinating ingredients for at least 30 minutes. Don't be in a hurry, good food takes time.
Next, take a deep bottomed pan and heat it up with oil and add one onion, all sliced up. Fry it till it turns golden brown. Remove the onions and keep it aside. We're using this to garnish our dish. To the same pan, add the remaining onions, ginger garlic paste and saute for about two-three minutes. Then, add green chilies and tomatoes and saute it till it all turns into a mush. Now add all the masalas (chili powder, coriander powder, garam masala powder, and salt). Saute for two minutes.
Now we add the meat. Add the marinated chicken to this mix along with three tbsp of both coriander and mint leaves and mix. Cook until the chicken is done (cook it enough that it shreds apart from the bone when you pull it). Don't add any water at this point, because the onion tomato gravy and the chicken marination will release enough water. Once all this cooked, notice if there is excess water, strain it, and keep the mix aside.
Next, take a pan and coat the bottom with ghee. Light it on low flame and spread two tablespoons of the chicken gravy on the bottom. Place some rice on the gravy, spread it evenly with a spoon, and repeat the layering till you finish the rice and gravy. On the top layer, sprinkle some coriander, mint leaves, onions (the ones that you made in the beginning), and cover it with a lid. Place something heavy on the lid, to trap all the steam and make sure the flame is low. Cook this for about 15-20 minutes (if it's not up to your liking, leave it on for additional 10 minutes but not more than that).
Phew! The process is worth it, you guys. Scoop out the biryani from the edges, serve hot with raita, and feast on!