Nawabi Chicken Biriyani

Diwali is around the corner and everyone must be rushing into preparing menu's for the upcoming long weekend. For those who relish non-vegetarian, I am sharing a lip smacking recipe by Renowned Chef Puneet Mehta - Nawabi Chicken Biriyani. 

Ingredients - 

•          500 gms              Chicken (soaked for half an hour)
•          1 Cup                    Best Foods Rice
•          4 tbsp                   Oil
•          3 nos.                   Onions (Large)
•          2”                          Ginger
•          6-8 nos.               Garlic Cloves
•          ½ tsp                   Black peppercorns
•          03 nos.                 Black cardamoms
•          1 tsp                      Fennel seeds (saunf)
•          2 nos.                   Mace
•          2” Stick                Cinnamon
•          01 nos.                 Bay leaf
•          06                         Green cardamoms
•          ½ tsp                   Caraway seeds (shahi jeera)
•          06 nos.                 Cloves
•          Few strands        Saffron (kesar)
•          3 tbsp                   Milk
•          15-20                    Pistachios
•          1 cup                     Cashew Nuts (halved) 

·         Salt to taste and Silver warq to garnish

          

          For masala

•         ½ tsp                      Cumin seeds
•          ¼ tsp                      Nutmeg powder
•          05 nos.                   Cloves
•          06 nos.                   Green cardamoms
•          02 nos.                   Black cardamoms

    Recipe- 

• Clean, wash and cut chicken into one and half inch sized cubes.
• Wash rice twice and soak in two cups of water for fifteen minutes.
• Peel, wash and chop onions, ginger and garlic. Tie up some chopped onion, chopped ginger, chopped garlic with peppercorns, black cardamoms, fennel seeds, mace, cinnamon in a muslin cloth. Put this bundle with chicken, salt and three cups of water and let it cook till three-fourths done. Take out the chicken pieces and retain the stock to cook the rice.
• For the masala grind the remaining onions, ginger and garlic with cumin seeds, nutmeg, cloves, green cardamoms and black cardamoms.
• Heat oil and sauté the ground masala till fat begins to separate. Add semi cooked chicken pieces and salt and sauté for a while. Take it off the heat and keep aside.
• In another pan heat oil, add bay leaf, green cardamoms, caraway seeds and cloves. Sauté and then add the rice and sauté for a while. Add double the quantity of reserved chicken stock and salt. When it comes to a boil,  add cashew nuts, cover and let it cook till it is three fourth done.
• Now in another handi, put a layer of cooked rice, then put a layer of chicken and repeat the layering process. Add deep fried onions, ghee & little saffron induced milk over it. Cover the handi with the lid and weight it down with something heavy or seal with dough. Keep the vessel on hot tawa with low flame and cook for half an hour.
• Transfer to a serving dish, garnish with pistachios and silver warq and serve hot. 

This biriyani is best served with onion and chilli raita. 

Hope you will like it!!

Happy Eating :)