Fried Chicken Biriyani


Ramadan 29... the day when the moon plays peekaboo and the whole Muslim Ummah waits to see it it will be Shawwal 1 tomorrow or the day after, which marks our first Eid, Eid-ul-Fitr. This time, Eid is tinged with some sadness. On a personal level, it's the last Eid we spend with my parents here... InShaAllah, if they are able to come later on visit is a different case but for now, it is their last... On a global level, the attacks on Gaza this Ramadan has been heart breaking. The number of children being killed is way beyond our normal sense of apprehension - I mean, which man with a normal functioning heart would be able to kill children that are just days, weeks, months old in the name of terrorism? I found this status by Sheikh Yasir Qadhi very apt, so sharing it...

The videos circulating around the net about the massacres and genocide that the Israeli army and air force is committing against occupied Gaza are too painful for me to watch. I must confess that my heart cannot bear to see the fathers and mothers crying over the corpses of their children, or the rubbled and demolished structures from which bodies are being pulled out, or the gory and wounded victims at overcrowded and under equipped clinics.

At times like this, the weak heart asks, "For how long, O Allah?!" And the knowledgeable heart can only answer with what Allah has told us in the Quran, "Did you think that you would enter Jannah, while the trials of those before you have not reached you? They were afflicted with suffering and hardship, and were shaken to the core, so much so that even the prophet and those who believed with him cried out, 'Where is the help of Allah?!' Verily, realize that the help of Allah is ever-close." [2"214]. 


O Allah! We do not understand Your wisdom in this prolonged suffering of our Palestinian brothers and sisters, but we trust You and believe in You and know that Your promise is true. And so we say only that which pleases You, even as our hearts are weary with grief. 



O Allah! You are the Lord of the weak and oppressed. You might delay the execution of justice, but You never cancel and avert it. And when You take charge of the tyrants and oppressors, then surely You deal with them in the manner of an all-powerful, mighty, unconquerable God - for you are al-Aziz, al-Qawiy, al-Jabbar. O Allah! We ask you with every name that You have, and with every attribute that is Yours, to send Your Anger and Retribution on those accursed tyrants whose arrogant hearts have been sealed from guidance and mercy - those who themselves were tortured and persecuted by others, yet instead of learning compassion, have now become torturers and persecutors themselves. 


O Allah! You are the al-Rahman, the al-Raheem! Have mercy and compassion and pity on the people of Gaza, who have suffered for two generations under the tyranny of a Pharonic apartheid regime. Send upon our brothers and sisters Your peace and blessings, and fortify them with faith and perseverance, and accept their martyrs, and console their grieved ones.



O Allah! You do not place a burden on any soul more than it can bear. We ask for your forgiveness for our own inability to do more than dua and some meager donations. Do not call us to task for what we cannot do, and forgive us for what we could have done but did not do, for you are the al-Ghafoor, al-Ra'oof, al-Tawwab.

Ameen ya Rabb al-Alameen!


Albiet a heavy heart, as we go on to celebrate Eid in our little way.... Eid without biriyani is not complete, isn't it? A couple of days ago, I shared a quick fix semiya payasam and also gave a short list of all the delights that we make on this day. Today, I am sharing with you this delectable, delightful biriyani that has fried chicken in it... I am so sorry for the quality of the picture... seriously I am not happy with it, but then it was a night picture plus I was in a lousy mood when I had cooked this biriyani. Thankfully, that stupid mood of mine did not reflect in the biriyani, Alhamdulillah... and I was happy about how it got wiped out completely without any trace. Even the kids loved it. The list may look exhaustive but unlike the list, the procedure is pretty simple. Off to the way I made it...

Fried Chicken Biriyani
Serves 4


Ingredients:

For the chicken:
800 gm chicken, cleaned and cut
2 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tbsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp fennel powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp garam masala powder
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp garlic paste
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp vinegar
Oil for frying

For masala:
2 tbsp ghee
3 cloves
1 bay leaf
1 small pc cinnamon
2 cardamom
5-6 peppercorns
1 star anise
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
4 green chillies, slit
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp garlic paste
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tbsp coriander powder
1/4 cup yogurt, whisked
Salt to taste

For rice:
2 cups basmati, washed and drained
3 cups hot water

For dum:
1/2 bunch coriander leaves, chopped
1/2 bunch mint leaves, chopped
2 tbsp garam masala powder
2 tbsp rose water

Method:

Make a paste out of the ingredients from Kashmiri red chilli powder to vinegar in a bowl. Nicely coat on the chicken. Marinate overnight (preferred) or at-least for one hour. Fry the chicken till browned on both sides, not necessarily completely cooked. Drain and set aside.

In a deep saucepan, heat ghee. Fry the whole masalas for a minute. Add the onions and green chillies and saute till soft. Add the ginger and garlic pastes and cook till raw smell is gone. Now add the tomatoes, along with the powders and cook till the tomatoes get mashed and the masala is nicely cooked. Add the whisked yogurt and give a nice mix. Adjust the salt. Add the fried chicken pieces, along with the oil used for frying and cook on simmer for five minutes.

Meanwhile, heat water in another saucepan till boiling. Add the rice and allow to boil again. Simmer and close the lid. Cook the rice till the water is drained. The rice will still have a bite but it is OK.

Now on top of the chicken masala, sprinkle half the coriander leaves, mint leaves and garam masala powder. Layer all the rice on top. Sprinkle the remaining dum ingredients and then sprinkle in the rose water. Close lid tight and leave on simmer for 20-25 minutes. Want to know how to put the dum? Refer to this post!

Switch off, give a nice mix and serve warm with raita, pickle and pappadam!

Notes:

1. There is no need to deep fry, just shallow fry the chicken on meduim-high heat till browned.
2. Adding the oil used to fry the chicken gives the biriyani a lovely flavor. Since we use very limited ghee, the biriyani is not overloaded. If you are worried about the calorie content, you can skip adding the fried oil.

Off from blogging till the Eid holidays are done... wishing each and every of my Muslim brothers and sisters a happy Eid... May Allah Ta'alah accept all our deeds of Ramadan and keep us close to Him throughout our life, Aameen...


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