RR

The Biryani is a national dish of Indian cuisine. It is prepared to celebrate an event, a wedding or, more simply, for large family meals or special guests to be honored.

There are all kinds of biryanis, based on vegetables, meat, shrimp, fish, chicken. The only one, the real one is the one prepared with the sheep meat and which contains layers of rice, lentils, meat ... Everyone has his method to prepare it even if the ingredients are often the same. The one I offer you today is chicken based.

 

When we speak of biryani, I admit a certain nostalgia for a taste that I never found anywhere: that of the dish prepared in the town of my childhood, Tamatave, by excellent people who cooked meals for meals from the community. That, too, that our cook, Michel, made to my parents, incomparable.He had his hand, as they say. No one has ever managed to prepare him like him. And I've been trying for over 60 years! kacchi biryani recipe

 

 

Ingredients 

 

• 1 chicken cut into pieces to which you can optionally add 1 thigh cut in 2 if you wish;

• 500 g basmati rice

• 200 g of lentils

• 1.2 kg of chopped shallots

• 5 potatoes cut into thick slices

• 5 or 6 tomatoes (depending on size) peeled and crushed

• 4 to 6 hard-boiled eggs

• 250 g of melted and clarified butter

• 3 pots of yoghurt brewed

• Spices (to your liking) *

• The juice of a pressed lemon or 1 ts of tamarind in paste or concentrate (Indian grocery stores)

• Some saffron pistils (or the equivalent of ground saffron)

• 1 tsp full of milk or water

• 1 cinnamon stick

• 3 to 4 cloves

• 4 to 5 cardamom pods (crush them to open them)

• For Chicken Marinade

• Approx. 1 tbsp fresh grated ginger

• Approx. 3 to 4 cloves of pressed garlic.

• Approx. 1 bowl of curry

• 1 tbsp soy sauce

• 1 red or green pepper seeded and cut into thin slices.

 

* For spices, I use turmeric, chilli powder and garam massala. I also add 2 bay leaves (Kari Patta). The measurements are to your taste, according to the quantity of biryani you prepare. You can also use the spice blends for biryani, in sachets or jars, found in Indian grocery stores.

 

 

The day before, cut the chicken into large pieces. Marinate with the garlic and ginger crushed together and mixed with the lemon juice (keep it a little for the rest), soy, curry and chilli to form a paste whose coats are coated. Keep it overnight or in the morning if you are preparing for the evening.

 

 

Sauté the shallots and fry them in oil. Book. Keep the oil and add it if necessary, to fry the potato slices seasoned with a little turmeric (or cumin or paprika, according to your taste) and salt. Book.

 

 

Prepare the hard-boiled eggs and grind them.

 

Wash the rice and dip it in boiling salted water. As soon as it begins to take the form of a cooked rice, after a few broths, drain it and pass it under cold water. Cook the "al dente" lentils (not in soup).

 

 

In a salad bowl, put the yogurt and whisk it to liquefy it a little. Add a little saffron, half the fried onions. At the same time, infuse a little saffron in milk or warm water (a little less than a quarter cup).

 

 

In an oiled frying pan, brown the marinated chicken. Remove from heat after the pieces are golden brown.

 

 

In the frying pan onions and potatoes, add a little clarified butter and oil (1-2 cups), then add the crushed tomatoes and garam massala.

 

 

After a few broths, remove from the heat and set aside.

 

We will move on to the constitution of the layers.

 

In a large pot. Pour a little oil and ghee. First sprinkle a layer of rice and a layer of lentils in the bottom.

 

 

Then put the pieces of chicken then some potatoes, part of the yoghurt preparation, half the crushed tomatoes, a little brewed saffron.

 

Add a layer of rice and lentils,

 

 

Place the rest of yoghurt and tomatoes, the hard boiled eggs, and a good ladle of clarified butter or ghee (do not skimp on the ghee, that's what makes the beauty of a Biryanian giving it its brilliance and Sweetened ... and you will always be able to make a diet the next day) as well as the chicken, if any, the potatoes, if any left and the saffron infused.

 

Finish with a layer of rice on which you will pour about 1 cc or more of lemon juice, sprinkle the remaining fried onions.

 

 

Then simmer the pot over medium heat.

 

 

Watch out from time to time and when you see steam coming from above, put the pot in the preheated oven at between 120 and 135 ° C.

 

 

 

Let cook between ½ h and ¾ hour (sometimes it is necessary to count more, according to the degree of cooking of the chicken).

 

 

 

Check the cooking time, until the dish looks well cooked.

 

 

I would like to give you a more precise cooking time, but it is a little judged according to the degree of cooking of the different parts.

 

 

When serving, be sure to balance the rice and the massala by taking the different layers. It is also the secret of a good biryani.

 

 

Note: we often serve a soup called palidou with the biryani. I will give you the recipe soon. One can accompany it with a raita of cucumber, cachumbar (the recipe will also soon be available) or lemon bacon.

 

And we serve as a lassi salty drink, which goes very well with this dish.