Biriyani has been satiating the appetites of the masses for centuries. In fact, you can find it in almost every corner of this big, beautiful wide world. No wonder this mouth-watering, aromatic and spice-enhanced dish has endless legends associated with its origins.
For example, did you know that the word ‘Biriyani’ is derived from the Persian word ‘Birian’, which means ‘fried before cooking’? The reason why many historians believe that Biriyani first originated in Persia and was then brought to India by the Mughals who cooked and developed it further in their royal kitchens.
Another story tells the tale of Turk-Mongol conqueror Taimur, who brought biriyani to India in the 1390s.
Then there is the one of how Mumtaz Mahal, wife of Shah Jahan, while visiting the army barracks, saw the army soldiers looking weak and undernourished. She immediately ordered her royal chefs to cook them a balanced meal of meat and rice. The chefs happily complied by cooking a fulfilling meal on wood fires, which integrated a variety of spices and saffron.
Of course, there are the fabled stories of the Hyderabad Nizams and the Lucknow Nawabs whose appreciation for this dish made it popular across the land. From the famous Hyderabadi Biriyani (whose star of the dish is the aromatic Saffron) to the ‘Pukki’ style Lucknow Biriyani (where the meat and rice are cooked separately and then layered in a copper vessel to complete the cooking process).
Yet, no matter how many varieties or styles of preparation this dish has, one of the most flavourful ones to me still remains the ‘Dum’ style of cooking.
Traditionally known as ‘dum phukt’, this ancient art of cooking commonly associated with Mughlai cuisine, uses a heavy bottomed pot to infuse all the aromatic spices, meat and rice together in a form of slow cooking, where the vessel is sealed with dough or a cloth. The trapped steam lovingly weaves its magic over the ingredients in the enclosed pot by heightening the herbs and spices to make the meat unbelievably tender and the rice majestically aromatic. This is done for hours and in some cases even overnight.
Of course, in this day and age, most of us neither have the time to wait for that long, nor do we have the old-fashioned wood fires to cook over… So we improvise, mostly by doing 80% of the preparation and cooking beforehand and then sealing and letting the final stage of cooking be done over a very, very low gas or electric flame! Just like what I have done here ;)
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Ingredients:
Main:
1 kg chicken drumsticks
4 tbsp biriyani masala
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp chilli powder
2 tbsp ginger & garlic, crushed
1 cup yoghurt
2 large potatoes, big pieces
Salt to taste
Juice of ½ a lemon
½ cup coriander leaves, chopped
½ cup mint leaves, chopped
8 small green chillies
8 small onions, fried
2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp ghee
1 tbsp rose water
1 tsp red food colouring
Chapatti dough for dum cooking
The Rice:
3 cups basmati rice
1 bay leaf
4 cardamom pods
1-inch cinnamon stick
5 cloves
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vegetable oil
The Dough:
1 cup wheat or all-purpose flour
1 tbsp oil
Water as required
Method:
Two things you should do in advance are the fried onions and the dough for sealing. This way, you don’t have to go running around trying to make it at the last moment.
If you want to make perfect fried, crispy onions, check out my recipe along with the demo video here...
Detailed Recipe - @FriedOnionsRecipe
Demo Video - @PerfectFriedOnions
For the dough, combine the flour, oil and then keep adding the water until the dough forms into a nice soft state. Leave it aside.
In a large pan, add the chicken, ginger & garlic, yogurt, potatoes, green chillies, coriander & mint leaves, biriyani masala, turmeric powder, chilli powder, lemon juice and ½ of the fried onions.
With your hands, mix all the ingredients. It’s best to use your hands, so that you can ensure that the ingredients are all mixed thoroughly and rubbed into the chicken well. If you’re uncomfortable use a pair of gloves to do this.
Now add the salt and mix everything again. You can now leave it to rest while you do the rest of the preparations. Ideally, the chicken mixture should be left to marinate for at least 20 to 30 minutes. If you can do this beforehand, even sealed and stored overnight in the fridge, the results would be much better.
For the rice, make sure to wash it until the water runs clear. Then it is important that you soak the rice for at least 30 minutes. Don’t skip this step because it is essential for the rice to cook properly and the grains to be nice and tender.
For 3 cups of rice, add about 6 cups of water along with the drained rice into a pan. Throw in the bay leaf, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon. If you don’t have a bay leaf, you can substitute with one star anise.
Now put in the salt and oil and stir well to incorporate everything together.
Place the pan on a high flame and cook until the rice is about 90% done. If you test a grain, it should have a bit of a bite to it.
Take it off the stove, drain and leave aside.
Heat the oil in a large pan. You can use vegetable oil like Sunflower or Canola. I used coconut oil because I just love the flavour it adds to the dish! The Sri Lankan girl in me, I guess!
Once the oil is heated, add the chopped tomatoes to the pan and sauté until they’re soft.
To this add the marinated chicken and combine well.
Cover and cook for 15 minutes on med-high heat.
Open and stir well, then cover once again and cook for another 15 minutes, still on a med-high flame. If it’s getting stuck to the pain, try opening in between and stirring a bit.
Now it’s time to layer the biriyani. Ideally, this step should be done in a heavy-bottom pan. A Dutch Oven would be a great choice here, if you have one.
First place the chicken mixture in the bottom of the pan and spread it evenly.
Then spread 90% of the balance fried onions.
Spread the rice evenly.
Mix the rose water and food colouring and pour it over the rice.
Finally, spread the ghee and sprinkle the remaining fried onions.
Cover and seal with the dough. Don’t forget to seal the little hole in the cover, which lets out steam during cooking. We want ALL the steam trapped inside the pan remember!
Now cook the biriyani on a very low flame for about 20 to 25 minutes. Of course, if your pan doesn’t have a heavy bottom, place a tawa first on the stove first and then the pan on top of it. This will act as a barrier between the flame and the pan.
Once done, remove from the heat and carefully cut the dough to unseal the cover.
Remember to open the cover with care so as to allow the hot steam to seep out.
Gently mix the biriyani to infuse all the aromatic ingredients together.
Enjoy with boiled eggs. Raita, salad, pappads and pickle also make delicious accompaniments.
XOXO, Jovanka
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