The biriyani pot |
The biriyani recipe that I am going to share today is easy, delicious and requires less prep time. (This is Calcutta style biriyani and is special in the way it contains boiled eggs and potatoes, something you will never find in biriyanis from other regions.) We finished cooking in an hour time and allowed it to rest for one more hour and there we were! Although the wait seemed really long it was worthwhile in the end. I decided to forgo the dessert and swapped it with another help of biriyani. Perfect choice!
What you will need:
A heavy, thick bottomed pot/ handi/ container with a heavy lid that sit perfectly on it
Basmati rice (800 gm)
Curd (hung in muslin to drain out excess water) (300 gm)
Onion (4 large)
Ginger (100 gm)
Garlic (8 corns)
Lime juice (2 fresh limes)
Eggs (8)
Potato (cut into half from the middle) (optional)
Plum (aloo bokhra) (optional)
Plum (aloo bokhra) (optional)
Oil and Ghee
Salt, sugar
Khoya kheer (dried and thickened whole milk) (50 gm)
Milk (2 cups)
Saffron (5-6 strands)
Rose essence (1 tsp)
Kewra essence (1 tsp)
Cardamom buds (8)
Clove (8)
Mace (3)
Nutmeg (1)
Black peppercorn (8)
Caraway seeds (Shahjeera) (1 tsf)
Dry red chili (2)
Bayleaf (optional)
Fennel (optional)
Star anise (optional)
For the marinade
Curd
Ground masala
Red chili powder
Lime juice
Ginger, garlic paste
For the smoked flavour (dhungar):
Natural charcoal (Kath koyla)
Ghee
Cloves, Cinnamon stick
Cloves, Cinnamon stick
Steel / copper/ bronze bowl
How to prepare the beresta (crispy golden brown onion slices
Deep fry the onion rings in a deep pot till it turns golden brown
How to prepare saffron milk
In a bowl add a few saffron strands, teaspoonful of kewra, teaspoonful of rose water and ghee to 2-3 cups of warm milk. Keep it aside for 30 minutes till the saffron leaves a beautiful yellowish colour.
Saffron milk |
To be able to come up with a decent biriyani you will need a very special masala. Although this is easily available in the market I prefer to prepare it at home the same day. This adds much freshness and flavour to the rice. To prepare the masala you will need to heat the whole spices for a few seconds and then grind them on grinder. Store it in an air tight container to trap the flavour.
Pre soak the basmati rice for 30 minutes. Put a few whole spices
(cardamom, cinnamon, cloves) in water and bring it to boil. You can also tie
the spices in a muslin cloth and drown the potli in the water. Add salt, fresh
lime juice and little white oil before adding the pre soaked rice. Cook it till
it’s done 3/4th. Drain the water and allow it to cool.
How to marinate the chicken
Beat the curd and add ginger, garlic paste, onion juice,
lime juice, the masala and red chili powder and allow the chicken to sit in the marinade for 3-4 hours.
The beresta |
Now, the steps to make chicken biriyani
In a pot/ deep container/ handi deep fry the onion rings till golden brown. Remove from oil and plate
aside.
Fry the previously boiled potatoes cut into half from middle with little salt and keep aside. This step is optional.
Add ghee in the same oil and add the chicken with the marinade. Cook till the gravy thickens and the chicken gets tender. Remove the chicken pieces.
Add more ghee in the gravy and prepare a bed with an evenly spread out semi cooked basmati rice, then put a layer of chicken pieces and fried onions, boiled eggs, potatoes, plums and grated khoya and then a layer of rice again. Continue to make more layers till you use up all the rice. Spread more fried onion rings on the top.
I did not have khoya kheer at home. So I used kheer sandesh (a bengali sweet made from thickened milk).
Pour the saffron milk slowly on the top and close the lid with a heavy lid and make sure the vapour doesn’t escape the pot. You can also seal the sides of the lid and the sides with foil paper. Allow the pot to cook on very slow fire for 20 minutes. You may have to sprinkle more milk/ water to moisten the biriyani. Allow an hour of standing time before serving.
Now, the last bit - adding the smokey, tandoor effect to the biriyani. (You may also decide to skip this altogether.) 'Dhungar' is tricky but quite fun. It infuses the food with a smoked, burnt flavour and adds a uniqueness that we keep trying to figure out after eating tandoori food at restaurants.
For this, burn the natural charcoal (kath koyla) on oven till red hot. Put it on the metal bowl. Add ghee, a few cloves, 2 cinnamon sticks. When you see white smoke coming out remove the lid of the pot and tuck it immediately inside. Remove after 2 minutes. The smoked charcoal can overpower the original biriyani flavour if kept for long. So watch out!
Fry the previously boiled potatoes cut into half from middle with little salt and keep aside. This step is optional.
Add ghee in the same oil and add the chicken with the marinade. Cook till the gravy thickens and the chicken gets tender. Remove the chicken pieces.
Add more ghee in the gravy and prepare a bed with an evenly spread out semi cooked basmati rice, then put a layer of chicken pieces and fried onions, boiled eggs, potatoes, plums and grated khoya and then a layer of rice again. Continue to make more layers till you use up all the rice. Spread more fried onion rings on the top.
I did not have khoya kheer at home. So I used kheer sandesh (a bengali sweet made from thickened milk).
Pour the saffron milk slowly on the top and close the lid with a heavy lid and make sure the vapour doesn’t escape the pot. You can also seal the sides of the lid and the sides with foil paper. Allow the pot to cook on very slow fire for 20 minutes. You may have to sprinkle more milk/ water to moisten the biriyani. Allow an hour of standing time before serving.
The almost done chicken biriyani with eggs |
For this, burn the natural charcoal (kath koyla) on oven till red hot. Put it on the metal bowl. Add ghee, a few cloves, 2 cinnamon sticks. When you see white smoke coming out remove the lid of the pot and tuck it immediately inside. Remove after 2 minutes. The smoked charcoal can overpower the original biriyani flavour if kept for long. So watch out!
To enjoy this delicious Calcutta style chicken biriyani with all its oriental flavours you must eat it hours after you finish cooking. Plate it with a piece of half potato, an egg and a chicken piece. Serve it with raita, onion, tomato salad, fresh lime and green chillis. Eat it guilt free and keep wondering how you managed to pull it off so well!
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Nice thank you for sharing
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