Chicken Biryani

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Rice is a main meal in the Middle East, we usually have it for lunch. I have never posted any recipes yet because I usually make white rice, with other side dishes. However I thought of posting one of the methods of making chicken biryani, It is quite simple. I guess every household does it a bit differently, I change it sometimes as well and this is one of the ways.

Ingredients:

1/2 kg chicken (marinade: 5 garlic gloves mashed, 1 tbs ginger mashed, red pepper (or black), salt)

2 cups of basmati rice, washed and soaked for at least one hour

2 garlic gloves mashed

1 tbs ginger mashed

2 medium sized potatoes cut into cubes

2 medium sized tomatoes, diced into small pieces

2 medium sized onion diced

1 tsp cinammon powder

1 tsp cardamom powder (plus seeds, optional)

1/2 tsp cumin powder (plus seeds, optional)

1-2 tbs tomato puree

few coriander leaves, chopped

one small onion for garnishing 

3 cups boiled water

3 tbs oil

deep oil fry for chicken and potatoes

pepper i use

• Marinate your chicken, fry the potatoes in deep oil till golden, remove from heat and fry chicken till fully cooked- set aside

fried chicken and potatoes

• In a deep pan (low heat), add the 3 tbs oil, add onion, fry till soft and add garlic and ginger, fry for few minutes

• Add your spices, cinammon, cardamom, cumin, salt, pepper/chilli and cook for few minutes
• Add the diced tomatoes, and tomato puree, if it seems a bit dry add around 1/4 glass of water and cover for 5-10 minutes

• add the coriander leaves, chicken and potatoes, cover for a couple of minutes

• add boiled water (around three to four cups)
• Add the rice, increase heat but watch continuously so it won't get burnt (you might need to add more water), cook uncovered in moderate to high heat till water is almost dry

• Now decrease heat to the lowest, cover the rice and cook for around 10 minutes
• A tip: if you feel you can't control the water/cooking time, you can cook the rice separately. Boil it in salted water till cooked, sieve and add it to the tomato/chicken sauce and cover in low heat for 10 minutes. 
• Garnish with fried onions.