Chicken Biryani & my first MEME

....when i was newly wed i had small sheets of paper where i had written recipes for sambar, moru curry, cabbage thoran etc, from my mom. Along with all that i also had this Chicken Biryani recipe which i made quite often during those early of marriage 'cos there were very few things that i knew then..

For this you need :

1. chicken - 800 gms (cleaned & cut into big pieces)
2. onion (thinly sliced) - 4 med sized
3. oil - 4 tbsp
4. ginger - 2 inch piece
5. garlic - 10 cloves
6. green chillies - 5 -6
7. mint , coriander leaves - a handful each
8. poppy seeds - 1/4 cup (soaked in very little quantity of warm water)

Dry masalas:

1. coriander seeds - 2 tbsp
2. cardamom - 3 pods
3. cinnamon - 1 inch stick
4. cloves - 8
5. pepper corns - 10
6. fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp
7. 1/2 of one nutmeg
8. mace

For Rice:

1. Basmati rice - 3 cups
2. water - 6 cups
3. ghee - 2 tbsp
4. cardamom - 3
5. cinnamon - 1 small stick
6. cloves - 3-4
7. bay leaf - 1
8. cashewnuts - 10
9. kishmish - 10

Method:
For rice:

• wash rice & drain. Heat ghee & fry cashewnuts till brown & keep aside. Fry kishmish & keep aside.


• In the same ghee throw in the whole spices .When they sizzle add drained rice & fry for some time till oil is well coated.


• Transfer to a microproof dish add 6 cups of water & salt. Cook till the rice is done.


• Fluff up the rice with a fork.

For chicken:

• Heat 2 tbsp oil. Fry onions till golden brown. keep aside.


• Powder all the dry masalas & keep aside.


• make a paste of ginger, garlic, green chillies & a separate paste of poppy seeds with water & keep them aside.


• Also make a paste of mint & coriander.


• Heat remaining 2 tbsp oil. Add ginger-garlic-green chillies paste .Fry for sometime .


• Add mint-coriander paste. Fry again.


• Add powdered dry masalas. fry again. do not let it burn.


• Now add chicken pieces & mix well. Also at this stage add poppy seeds paste & salt.


• Mix well . do not add water. let the chicken cook on med flame.


• Once cooked increase flame let the liquid evaporate though not completely. we need a thick gravy consistency.

For the biryani:

• In a large pot layer the bottom with half of cooked rice. sprinkle some fried onions. then half of the chicken.


• Repeat again. keep some rice to finish on top.


• Finally add the remaining fried onions on top of rice along with fried cashews & kishmish.


• Leave the pot closed until serving time.


• Before serving mix the biryani slowly so that rice is not broken .