Malabar Chicken Biriyani - My 14th guest post for Priya's Versatile Recipe

Again, back to back guest posts!!! :) :)

I guess at this moment, I should tell all of you that I am on cloud nine. Being a fairly new blogger, when Priya akka, who blogs at Priya's Versatile Recipes started her series “Rendezvous with a Foodie”, I just thought of asking her if I could be a part of it. The humble person that she is, “yes!” came the immediate reply and here I am being featured on her space! I don’t think akka needs any introduction – she is an inspiration to all the foodies, who are in awe with her cooking skills, and more than that, her blogging skills, especially with the ease she publishes her posts every day without missing on any challenge. I have to really say that I really admire her time management skills and envy her family who get to eat such lovely food featured on her blog on a daily basis! 

When it came to deciding a recipe for akka, it was really difficult. Giving a recipe to the food blogging queen is a challenge in itself, isn’t it? After racking my head quite a bit, I decided I will not give her a sweet dish – not doing justice to my blog name! – but something which is so synonymous to the Malabar area – the biriyani! So there you go, I decided I will give my labor of love, the way my umma makes her chicken biriyani. Till she handed over the keys for Friday lunch making to me, every second Friday featured this biriyani onto our tables and how perfectly she used to make it. Even though I got the taste so close to what she does, there is something extra in the food that our mothers serve, isn’t it? So the Malabar Chicken Biriyani, it is for this special guest post of mine…


To read more of this interaction and the recipe, hop over to Priya akka's space here.

Want to know how to put the dum? Refer to this post!

Hope you all enjoy the post and revert back with your lovely comments, as usual!!! :)



Malabar Chicken Biriyani
Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
1 kg chicken, cut into medium pieces
3 cups basmati rice
3 large onions, thinly sliced
4-5 chillies (increase for spiciness)
1 tbsp ginger paste
1 tbsp garlic paste
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 cup yogurt
1 bunch coriander leaves, chopped
1 small bunch mint leaves, chopped
1 small lemon
3 tbsp ghee
5-6 cashews
5-6 raisins
2 tsp rosewater
2 tbsp garam masala powder
4 cloves
6 peppercorns
1 small pc cinnamon
3 cardamoms

Method:

Heat half the ghee in a deep saucepan. Add half of the onions and the green chillies slit and cook till transparent. Add the ginger and garlic paste and cook till the raw smell is gone. Add in the chicken and fry for five minutes. Add the yogurt and salt, cover and cook. When the chicken is half done, add the lime juice, half the mint and coriander leaves and mix well. Now cook till the chicken is tender and the water is absorbed. Set aside. 

Wash and drain the rice. In a large pot, heat up lots of water with salt and the whole masalas (cloves to cardamoms). When the water starts boiling, add the rice and cook till 80% done. Drain immediately and set aside. 

In a frying pan, add in the remaining ghee. Fry the remaining onions, sprinkled with salt till crisp and brown. Drain and set aside. Now fry the cashews and raisins till done. Drain and set aside. 

Heat a chappathi tawa on the stove for dum. In the same saucepan as the chicken is cooked, sprinkle half of the fried onions, cashew and raisins along with 1 tbsp garam masala powder. Layer in the cooked rice over the chicken and level on the top. Sprinkle the remaining chopped coriander and mint leaves, remaining fried onions, cashews and raisins, remaining 1 tbsp garam masala powder, rosewater and finally the ghee in which the onion-cashew-raisins were fried. Wrap the top with aluminum foil and close the lid tight. Keep it on the hot tawa on low flame for around 15-20 minutes for dum. 

Serve warm with pickle, raita and pappadam!!!

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