Food of the Nawabs - Biryani

Every time I think of Hyderabad, I do not think of its rich culture, its Nawabs or even its more modern day form of a fast growing information technology hub. All I can think of is biryani. I was quite young, not sure how young when I had my taste of Hyderabadi Biryani. And I have been hooked onto biryani since then. Slow cooking with rich ingredients, richer flavors and an even richer history is how I see a biryani. What started a camping food for warring armies, received devotion in the kitchens of awadhi and hyderabadi princes to become what we know of today's biryani. Make no mistake. Cooking a biryani is a slow, tedious process. But the end result is hugely satisfying.

Now I do not have the master chefs cooking for me. So I cannot afford to spend the 4-5 hours need to cook an authentic biryani. But I can cook a mean biryani, in about an hour or so. Again the end result is not authentic but pretty close. Here is a list of stuff you are going to need.

1. Boneless chicken thighs - 1lb
2. Large onion finely chopped- 1
3. Large onion sliced - 1
4. Large tomatoes finely chopped - 3
5. Shan bombay biryani masala - 4 tsp
6. Red chili powder -2 tsp
7. Garam masala - 2 tsp
8. Coriander powder - 1 tbsp
9. Jeera/Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
10. Jeera/Cumin powder -1/2 tsp
11. Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp each
12. Curd/yogurt - 1.5 cup
13. Turmeric - 1 tsp
14. Oil - 1/2 cup
15. Butter - 1 stick
16. Coriander leaves finely chopped - 1/2 cup
17. Bunch of mint leaves
18. Cashew nuts -1/4 cup
19. Resins -1/4 cup
20. Green chillies -2-3 (slitted)
21. Long grain Basmati rice - 2 Cups
22. Cloves -4-5
23. Star Anise Seeds - 2 tsp
24. Bay leaves - 3-4

Marinate the chicken

1. Combine 1/2 cup curd, 1 tbsp oil, jeera powder, 1 tbsp red chili powder, 1tbsp garam masala, 1 tbsp corriander powder, salt and half of ginger garlic paste.
2. Mix well.
3. Add chicken and rub the marinade all over the chicken.
4. Marinate the chicken for 2 hours or overnight for best results.

Soak the rice

1. Wash and rinse the rice in cold water. Remove water and the leave the rice alone for 30-45 minutes.

Fry onions & cashew nuts

1. In a pan take 1/4 cup of oil
2. Fry cashews till golden on medium heat.
3. Spread out the sliced onion on paper and let dry for some time.
4. Sprinkle little rice flour or all purpose flour. (Optional)
5. Fry these till brown, crispy and caramelized.
6. Keep in cool and dry place.
7. Use the same oil for making biryani curry.

Gravy for the biryani

1. Put 1/4 cup oil (remained after frying onions and cashews) in a thick bottom pan.
2. Add jeera and let it crackle.
3. Fry onions and chillies till the onions are slightly pink and cooked.
4. Add remaining ginger garlic paste and fry for some time.
5. Add 1tsp turmeric and fry for some time.
6. Add Shan biryani masala, chili powder and coriander powder and mix well.
7. As soon as the onions flavor up add tomatoes.
8. Cook the tomatoes till the oil starts leaving edges. This is very important as it removes the raw flavour of tomatoes.
9. Then add curd and again fry till the oil leaves the edges.
10. Chop up half of the mint leaves and add them to the gravy.
11. Add chicken and salt and cook covered on medium flame till it is about 90% done.

Cook the rice

1. Fill a large soup pan with water.
2. Bring it to a boil.
3. Add salt, 1 tsp oil, remaining jeera, cloves, bay leaves and Staranise.
4. Let it boil for another 2 minutes then add the soaked rice.
5. Let the rice cook uncovered till it is 80% done. To check this, press a grain of rice in your index finger and thumb. If you feel a hard tiny semolina/sooji size grain into the rice, its done.
6. Drain the rice. If you feel it is getting overcooked, immediately pour cold water over the drained rice.

Now its time to layer the biryani

1. Grease a thick bottom pan with 1 tbsp of oil and butter.
2. Layer 1/2 of the gravy with 1/2 of the chicken pieces.
3. Uniformly Layer 1/2 of the rice.
4. Spread some fried onion, cashews and mint leaves.
5. Again layer gravy with the remaining chicken pieces. Keep some gravy for last layer.
6. Spread remaining rice.
7. Uniformly pour remaining gravy over the rice.
8. Spread all the cashews, fried onion and mint leaves.
   

Cook(Dum) biryani

1. No water is added to cook biryani. So it is very important to cook it in a very thick bottom pan. If you don't have it, layer the biryani in a wide pan and put the pan over a thick griddle.
2. Cover the pan using thick aluminium foil and then put the lid. This will ensure that the vapour is trapped inside and is used to cook the biryani.
3. Cook it over medium (not very low) flame for 7-10 minutes.
4. Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani is ready to serve.
5. Use boiled eggs, coriander and lemon for garnishing.