Chicken Biriyani from Desified
“To make this dish, you start by cooking juicy pieces of chicken in a spicy marinade, then you layer the chicken between parboiled basmati rice with fried onions and coriander and steam it to perfection. This is a fitting dish for an occasion such as Eid, or if you just fancy cooking up a feast.” – Zaynah Din, author of Desified
Serves 4
1kg (2lb 4oz) boneless chicken, chopped
250g (9oz) plain yogurt
½ tablespoon chilli powder
½ tablespoon garam masala
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons Sindhi biriyani spice mix (a recipe for this can be found on p.28 of Desified)
3 tablespoons ghee
3 large red onions, sliced
6–8 garlic cloves, grated
5cm (2 inches) fresh ginger, grated
200g (7oz) canned chopped tomatoes or 350g (12oz) fresh tomatoes
400g (14oz) rice
1 lemon
a handful of fresh coriander, chopped
First, let’s get our chicken marinating. Put it into a large bowl with the yogurt, chilli powder, garam masala, salt and Sindhi biriyani spice mix. Keep this in the fridge to marinate while you fry the onions. You can also prepare it the night before.
Heat the ghee in a large pot and fry 2 of the onions until completely caramelized. This can take up to 15 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger, and cook for 2 minutes until they become fragrant.
Add the chicken to the pan, allowing it to sear on all sides. Once it has browned, add the tomatoes and 500ml (18fl oz) water, bring to the boil, then cover and cook for 10 minutes.
Parboil the rice for 6–8 minutes only. We’re just going to half cook it, as it will finish steaming once we assemble the biryani.
Once your chicken is fully cooked and is tender, remove the lid and let some of the liquid evaporate. You should be left with quite a thick gravy – it should not be runny, like a curry, but more rich, like a thick masala.
In a large pot, begin layering your biryani. Let’s aim for three layers. I start with rice as my first layer, because I love the crispy (almost burnt) layer of rice you’re left with at the bottom of the pot.
Keep layering rice, then chicken, until you’ve filled up the pot. Finish with a thin layer of rice, cover with lemon slices, then wrap the lid in a tea towel before you put it on the pot and steam on a very low heat for 10 minutes. The cloth absorbs any extra moisture and leaves you with a fluffy biryani.
Serve with a squeeze of lemon, a sprinkle of chopped coriander, and a big scattering of crispy fried red onions.
