As a Briyani lover, I have been trying out few styles of briyani and this is my latest try “Hyderabadi-style chicken briyani”. Here I have cooked both the rice and chicken gravy separately and then layered them together and cooked on a very low flame in an airtight pot, so the rice absorbs the flavors of the chicken and comes out well. Let us move on to the recipe…

Chicken Briyani – Hyderabadi style

Ingredients:

• Chicken – ¾ kg
• Long grain /Basmathi rice – 2 ½ cup
• Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
• Coriander and mint leaves – 20 gm
• Green chilies – 2 nos
• Yogurt / Curd – 1 ½ tbsp
• Garam masala – 1 tsp
• Chilli powder – 1 tsp
• Salt to taste
• Ginger-garlic paste – 1 ½ tsp
• Onions – 200 gm
• Ghee/Clarified butter – 1 tbsp
• Oil – 2 tbsp
• Bay leaf- 2 nos
• Cloves – 4 no
• Cardamom – 2 nos
• Cinnamon – 1” inch stick
• Star Anise – 2 nos
• Shahi jeera / Caraway seeds – 1 tsp
• Almonds – 10 pieces
• Saffron – few threads
• Lemon juice – 2 tsp

Ingredients to marinate

Chicken under marination

Water with spices for boiling rice

Boiled rice

Fried onions

Fried Almonds

Marinated chicken getting cooked

Chicken getting done with a cup of water

Chicken almost done

Rice bed over the chicken gravy also with green leaves

Layered with fried onions

Layered with saffron rice

Getting cooked in a tightly covered vessel

Briyani is done

Chicken Briyani – Hyderabadi style

Preparation:

• Peel and finely slice the onions. Finely chop the green chilies, coriander and mint leaves. Blanch and half the almonds.
• In a mixing bowl, take ginger-garlic, yogurt/curd, lemon juice, chili powder, garam masala, finely chopped green chilies, half of the coriander and mint leaves, turmeric powder, and salt. Mix them all together. Add in the chicken and combine them with this mixture and marinade them for half an hour.
• Soak saffron in a bowl with 2 tsp of warm water and set aside.
• Heat ghee and oil in a large, tight fitting vessel. Add onions and cook for 15 mins, till they are browned. Remove them in a plate and keep it aside.
• Add the blanched and halved almonds, cook till turn golden brown. Remove them in a plate and keep it aside.
• Add in the marinated chicken pieces along with the marinade paste and cook in low flame till the chicken is half done. Pour in a cup of water and again cook till the chicken is almost done.
• Take 5 cups of water in a heavy bottomed kadai and add bay leaf, cardamom, cinnamon, star anise and shahi jeera/caraway seeds and bring them to boil.
• Clean and wash the rice. Add the rice to the boiling water, cover and cook till the rice is 90% done.
• When the rice is almost cooked, drain the water and keep the rice aside.
• When the chicken is almost done, spread half of the rice over the chicken gravy and then sprinkle some coriander and mint leaves followed with fried onions and almonds. Cover tightly with the lid and cook in low flame for 10 mins.
• Meanwhile mix the saffron water with the rest of the rice and stir them well, so that the rice would turn to yellow colour.
• Now open the lid and sprinkle this coloured rice and cover with the tight fitting lid and cook for 5 mins.
• Remove the cover, when cooked and serve hot by garnishing with the leftover fried onions and almonds.

Serve hot.

Note: If you don’t have a tight fitting lid, cover the vessel with the lid and place a weight over the lid, so that the vessel would be fitted tightly and the flavor remains inside the vessel.