Chicken Briyani with Tumeric Basmati Rice

We do have a soft spot for Indian food. Every once in a while when the craving sinks in, we would just go around the corner to where we live and indulge in either banana leave rice or thosai. Although I love Indian food I very seldom cook it as most of the recipes I have seen are pretty intimidating. It calls for a lot of fresh spices which have to be grinded. The fact that I do not have a spice grinder would also be another deterrent. I have toyed with the idea of buying one but have asked myself to hold off as I would most likely be using it on very rare occassions only.

I guess for recipes such as this particular one, the easiest would be to buy ready bottled spices. It's so convenient and handy, half your work is already done for you. Also it's not as if I have problems finding bottled briyani paste in this part of the world. Entirely the opposite! If I was to go to an Indian supermarket (take Mustaff for instance) I would probably find more than a dozen types of bottled briyani paste.



Chicken Briyani
Serves 4 - 5

Ingredients:

1 large chicken cut into about 8 pieces (or smaller as you wish)
2 large onions cut into 1? cube
2 large tomatoes cut into 1? cube
2 green chillies + 2 red chillies, whole
1? ginger, grated
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup yoghurt
3 ? 4 Tbsp briyani paste (I used Mum?s Kitchen label. You can use any others but read the instructions first as the amount of paste used could vary)
1/3 cup chopped coriander leaves
1/3 cup chopped mint leaves
1 tsp chilli powder
¾ cup to 1 cup water
1/3 cup ghee or clarified butter (otherwise use vegetable oil)
Salt to taste
For garnishing: 1 loose cup of mixed coriander and mint leaves

Method:

1) Heat the ghee up in a big pot. Then add the briyani paste and chilli powder and fry until fragrant.

2) Add in the onion and fry for about 2 minutes. Add in the grated ginger and garlic.

3) Then add in the chicken pieces to the paste and stir fry for about 4 minutes. Throw in the tomatoes and stir fry for another 1 minute.

4) Add the water and cover the lid to let it boil. Once it begins to boil, add in the chillies, yoghurt, coriander and mint leaves. Turn the heat to a simmer and let it cook until chicken becomes tender.

5) Add salt to taste. (To thicken the sauce, you can add another 2 ? 3 tablespoons of yoghurt towards the end of your cooking. Let the sauce simmer for another 5 minutes if you are adding this.)

6) Garnish with additional coriander and mint leaves just before serving.



Tumeric Basmati Rice
Serves 4 - 5

Ingredients:

2 cups basmati rice (or any long grain rice)
4 cups water
1 large onion, chopped into 1? cube
3 Tbsp ghee or clarified butter (otherwise use vegetable oil)
1 cinnamon stick
3 cardamon
3 star anise
4 cloves
1" ginger, thinly sliced
2 tsp tumeric powder
½ cup loosely packed mixture of chopped coriander and mint leaves

Method:

1) Wash the rice and place in rice cooker with water.

2) Heat the ghee in a pan. Once hot, fry the spices until fragrant.

3) Then add in the onions and fry until soften. About 3 ? 4 minutes.

4) Add in the sliced ginger and tumeric powder and fry another 1 minute.

5) Throw the mixture into the rice and stir so as to coat the grains. Add the coriander and mint leaves. Cook the rice accordingly to your rice cooker instructions.

6) Serve warm, dish out onto plates and garnish with mint leaves and fried shallots.