My Mum's Easy Chicken Biriyani

This is one of my go-to recipes time and time again. It's simple, easy to make, delicious and so, so flavourful.

Every time I have it, it takes me right back to my childhood and those special, happy days when my mom would make it to surprise my sister and me. As soon as my son was born I made sure to get the recipe from my mom and I'm happy to say he loves it just as much as I do ;)

You can also check out the demo video on my Youtube Channel at - @MumsBiriyani

Youtube: MyFoodChic

Facebook: @MyFoodyChic

Instagram: @MyFoodyChic

Twitter: @MyFoodyChic

Ingredients:

Main:

1 kg chicken pieces

2 & 1/2 cups basmati rice, washed & soaked for 30 minutes

5 medium onions, sliced

2 sprigs of curry leaves

2 pandan leaf strips

2 tbsp garlic, crushed

1 tbsp ginger, crushed

6 - 8 cloves

2 inch piece of cinnamon

4 whole cardamoms

2 tbsp ghee (for rice)

2 tbsp coconut oil (for chicken)

4 hard boiled eggs

1 tbsp of rose water

A sprinkling of red or orange food colouring

For the Chicken:

4 cups water, 1/2 tsp turmeric powder, salt to taste, 2 chicken or vegetable stock cubes, 1 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp pepper powder

Method:

Step 1

Wash, drain and boil the chicken in about 4 cups of water along with the ingredients listed under For Chicken. Bring to a boil and simmer until chicken is cooked 80%. Once done, drain and leave aside, but make sure to retain the chicken stock because we will use it to cook the rice.

Step 2

In a heavy bottom pan, add the Oil for chicken and heat. Then add the 80% cooked chicken and stir-fry until browned on all sides. Remove from pan and leave aside.

In the same pan add the Ghee for rice. Once it is hot, add the onions and saute them on a medium -low flame until they turn translucent. Then add the ginger and garlic and stir-fry for a few minutes.

Add the curry leaves, pandan leaf strips, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon stick. Stir well for a few minutes until all the flavours are infused.

Add the drained rice along with 2 chicken or vegetable stock cubes. Stir well to combine all the ingredients.

Note: You can straightaway wash and use the rice, but I find it's so much better when you soak it for at least 30 minutes.

Add the chicken stock to the rice. For 2 and a 1/2 cups rice you need 5 cups of stock, so if you don't have enough stock you can substitute with water. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer until almost done.