Chicken Dum Biryani

This is my easy and healthy version of Dum Biryani as the usual process is quite long and has loads of butter and oil. Traditionally in this type of biryani ,they use deep fried onions and after assembling they allow to slow cook on very low flame for 30 minutes to 1 hr. But its faster using the microwave and we don’t have to worry about the burning of the rice or pan during the slow cooking process. I have the recipe here for chicken but you can also use mutton or lamb , but make sure you pressure cook it till its tender. I have also added raisins which gives a very sweet and tangy taste in biryani.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds- Chicken pieces with bones
• 2 cups- Basmati rice
• 2 cups – curd
• 4 - 5 -green chillies(slit in half)
• 1-2 tsp chili powder
• 2-3 tsp ginger garlic paste
• 3-4 – onions thinly sliced(red onions is best)
• ½ tomato- chopped
• 1 tsp-black cumin( kala jeera)
• 1- cardamon
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 5 peppercorn(full)
• salt to taste
• ½ tsp turmeric powder

Spice blend

• 1 -cardamon
• ½ tsp – black jeera
• 1 -star anise
• ½ tsp -fennel seeds
• 1 -cinnamon stick
• ½ tsp- cumin
• 2 cloves

Assembly

• 1 bunch -Mint and coriander leaves chopped
• 1 medium sized onion- thinly sliced( pan or oven fried )
• 10-15 raisins
• 1-2 tsp – ghee
• ½ lemon(optional)
• ¼ tsp food coloring( optional)

Directions

1. Marinate the chicken with curd, 1 tsp ginger garlic paste, chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt and leave it in refrigerator for minimum 4 -24hrs.
2. Now soak the rice for minimum ½ – 1 hr, so that the rice does not break easily when slow cooking.
3. Cut 1 onion into thin slice and spread it on a baking pan , apply some oil to it and slow roast the onions in oven at 300F for about 10-20 minutes stirring now and then till its gets golden brown. If you dont have oven, pan fry the onions on medium flame for about 10-20 mins.
4. In a pan, dry roast all the spice blend and coarsely powder them and keep aside.
5. In another pan, heat some oil and add bay-leaf, cinnamon stick , peppercorns ,chopped green chillis followed by the thinly chopped onions.
6. Make sure the onions are golden brown before you add the marinated chicken with its marinate.
7. Now close the pan and allow the chicken to cook for about 10 minutes and all its juices will be released.
8. Now add the chopped tomatoes and little of chopped mint and coriander leaves along with the spice blend.
9. Allow the gravy to thicken well for another 5-10 mins.
10. In a another pan boil 8-10 glasses water(high flame) and add black cumin(jeera), cardomon and 2-3 tsp oil .Add the soaked rice to the boiling water and cook tills its ¾ done. (cooks within 4-7 minutes).
11. You can drain the excess water through a sieve (jus like how you filter pasta) and spread it on a plate so that tht it cools and does not get overcooked.
12. Toss the rice with remaining oil , so that it does not get sticky and gives its shining look.

Assembly

1. In a huge microwave (glass ) vessel , add a ¼ of chicken gravy , top it with ¼ rice.
2. Sprinkle fried onions , mint-coriander leaves and raisins( in a microwave bowl add ghee , raisins and microwave for 30 secs-1 min to get better taste).
3. Now again follow the steps 1 and 2 till the entire rice and gravy is layered.
4. With a spatula try to press the rice on the top to make sure they are tightly packed and will get a better flavor.
5. Place a microwave plate on top of the vessel so that its fully sealed .
6. Microwave on High for 10-15 mins and give another 5-10 mins standing time before you open the plate to serve.(You can also use the conventional oven -300F for 20-30 mins).
7. Finally with a spatula try the mix the rice , so that the flavor is evenly distributed and sprinkle some food-coloring diluted in a 1-2 tsp milk or water for the hotel look.
8. Its ready to serve with raitha and brinjal gravy.

Related Posts :

Broccoli Lemon Lentil(Dhal)...

10 Golden Rules to stay FIT!!!!...

Pan-fried Cauliflower Manchurian...

Cauliflower Roti Sandwich...