Chicken Dum Biriyani

Authentic and elegant delicacy --
biriyani turns an ordinary day into an extraordinary day.

It is perhaps the best complete meal in the world that is the contribution from Mughals to India.
I am not fond of rice or rice related any recipe.
After marriage my husband prepared this recipe on the eve of New year and made me to taste it.
I tasted it for the first time. It was delicious mouth watering recipe full of aroma.
I found something unique about it but I was not good at cooking those days except for making chapathis ;)
He is adept at making many kinds of exotic recipes. I user to be silent spectator most of the time when he cooks anything.
I wanted to make for so long and on his birthday I presented Chicken DUM BIRIYANI with a small twist.

Surprisingly it came out so good and perfect, my husband liked it to the core
rich in flavours and tasted so luscious, lip smackingly yum that just one serving wasn't going to be enough.. The rice grains were fluffy, cooked well and separate. 

This biryani is one of the popular biryanis in India. The preparation method is quite different from the other kinds.  

Dum Pukht is a technique of cooking in steam by not allowing the steam to pass. The Basmati rice cooked with layers of marinated chicken or meat is kept in a sealed container – usually clay pots which are sealed tightly with wheat flour dough. This does not allow the steam to pass. The food gets cooked in its own steam and infuses the nutrients, flavors and aroma of its own herbs and spices in the food.  You can feel it when taking each and every bite. You won't miss out individual taste of any single element. Every element is shown star in this recipe which is I believe a best word of complement of it.

Ingredients:

250 gms Basmati Rice
1 Star Anise
500 gms Chicken with bone (boneless if you want)
1/4 cup Oil
2 large Onion, sliced thinly
Salt to taste

For Marination:

1/2 cup coriander leaves, chopped finely
1/2 cup Mint leaves, chopped finely
1/2 cup Curd 
4 Green Chilies, chopped 
3 tbsp Ginger Garlic Paste
1 tbsp Special Garam Masala Powder
2 tbsp Chili Powder
3 tbsp Coriander Powder
Salt to taste

For Special Garam Masala Powder:

10 Cloves
10 Cardamom
1 cm piece Mace
2 Bay Leaf 
5 cm piece Cinnamon
1 tbsp Cumin Seeds
1 tbsp Fennel Seeds

For Finishing:

Saffron a pinch
1/4 cup Lukewarm Milk
1/4 cup Coriander leaves, finely chopped
1/4 cup Mint Leaves, finely chopped
3 tbsp Ghee
50 grams Cashews
50 grams Raisins 
Rose Essence few drops

Method:

1. Marinate the chicken with all the ingredients. Let it marinate for minimum 2 hours but if you can keep it for overnight, it is great.
2. Wash and soak basmati rice for an hour.
3. Dry roast elements for special garam masala powder and blend them to a powder.
4. Take 2 glass of water in a pot and bring water to a boil. Once it boils, add in the drained rice and drop one star anise.
5. Add a tbsp of butter or oil to the boiling water while cooking rice. Cook it till it is 80 percent done. 
6. Drain it and set aside.
7. Heat oil in a pan. Shallow fry the onions till crisp, drain and set aside.
8. In same pot, add chicken and cook it in high flame, saute in between to avoid it from burning.
9. Cook it till the chicken is 90 percent done. Pre-heat the oven to 175 degrees C. 
10. Place chicken in a roasting pan. Bake uncovered 10-15 minutes in the preheated oven.
11. Get it out of oven and allow to rest.
12. Soak saffron in some warm milk.
13. Heat ghee in a pan and fry cashews and raisins till golden.

Layering biryani :

1. Take 1 ltr water in a pot and heat it.
2. On the top of this water pot, take a big pot where you want to cook biriyani so that the steam from water pot will provide heat to it. In this way, the base of biriyani will not get burnt while cooking.
3. Add 2 tbsp ghee. Spread over with the help of spatula.
4. Now a 1 inch layer of the rice over it, top with fried onions, chopped herbs, saffron milk, fried nuts and rose essence. Sprinkle 1 tsp of garam masala on it.
5. Place cooked chicken layer on it.
6. Repeat 2-3 steps.
7. Make a flour dough, stick on the lid and cover the entire pot or cover the entire pot with foil and cover with a plate. 
8. Place a weight over it and let it cook on a very very low flame for 20-25 mins.
9. Now remove the weight and foil and serve carefully.