This is one extremely frustrating dish to make.
A tiny mistake and 3 hours of work tastes forgettable.
I used to make really good ones.. that too the 'kacchi' type.
Then suddenly I found that the touch was lost.. a bit like the form of Vinod Kambli.
Whatever you do, the triple centuries never come back.
I dont have a knack to keep things in memory, especially recipes.
Always prefer to look up on my scribblings saved txt with Notepad.
The losing of 'touch' was mostly due to a lapse of not writing down what I was doing.
Anyways.. what is gone is gone and I still dont remember what I used to do to make it smell, look and taste decent.
Many attempts (disasters) followed which were based on one or the other of hundreds of Biryani recipes floating around waiting to be BINGed.
Today I was too tired to refer to yet another recipe, and needed to do something quickly & get back to work. Had to rely on instincts.. although I admit I did refer to the list of spices.
(Please note that 'quick' and 'biryani' is generally not used in the same sentence)
The surprising thing was that this 'quickie biryani' came out way better than the previous attempts based on 'authentic' recipes. I think it also has less minefields to negotiate.
So without adding further to the prologue, here is my suggested way to make a relatively tasty biryani.
//Biryani Recipe for Two//
Decide -> Chicken or Mutton?
Lamb can be used although the frozen ones from NewZealand doesnt taste as good as mutton and is NOT close to the taste of a goat in Kerala.
Fish biryani, Beef biryani are jokes.
For the recipe here, I am using Chicken. Ctrl+F and replace Chicken with Mutton for mutton biryani.
-
>Always for Biryani buy a big whole chicken - with skin. Not assorted pieces of chicken.
> Pull out the skin and keep aside
> Cut 2 big pieces = 2 x (thigh+leg of each side). A good chicken will have some fat sticking to these pieces. More fat the better.
> Use the breast as large cubes if you want to, else use it & the rest of chicken for some other recipe.
> Take a large heavy bottomed pan and boil about 3 cups of water
> Add plenty of salt, say about 5 tsp
> Once water boils, put the chicken skin in the water along with spices
- Cumin Seeds 1 tsp
- Cinammon (use the Indian juicy variety) about a finger length broken into chewable pieces
- 4 cardamom pods
- 1 Bay leaf
- 1/2 tsp mace
- 2 Star Anise broken up
- 1/2 tsp whole cloves
- 1/2 tsp sliced ginger
Keep boiling till skin curls up and water becomes fatty
> Put the chicken pieces in and boil for about 5 mins till half done and the outside is white everywhere
> Retain water. Remove chicken pieces and keep aside. Discard the skin.
Make sure the water is still salty. Else add salt.
Salt will single handedly screw up the biryani if not in the right amount.
> Take some good quality Basmati rice and put into the water.
(Disregard all the crap you read about soaking for half an hour etc)
> Add some fresh mint leaves and fresh coriander leaves if available
> The water has to be enough so that the rice gets cooked fully, but doesnt remain soggy. This usually comes from experience.
The water cannot be more than required, else you will end up with pudding instead of biryani.
Better to have the water less. You can always add bit as the rice cooks and absorbs the water.
Parallely
> Heat oil or butter in Pan#2. Fry the half cooked chicken pieces along with the usual suspects of 'Indian'(misnomer) cuisine.
- Ginger sliced
- Garlic
- Green chillies sliced
- Turmeric
- Coriander powder
- Bits of each of the spices above that were used in boiling
- Salt if needed
> Once Chicken is dry, stop cooking Pan#2
> By this time the rice in the Pan#1 should be nearly dry and slightly glazing with chicken fat
>Lower the flame to least least possible. The rest of cooking should be done in the mildest of direct heat. The other option is to stop flame cooking at this point and use baking tray and oven.
I am here continuing with flame cooking..
> Add whole cashews, raisins into the rice and mix
> Separate the rice in the centre and bury the chicken inside it fully and spread the top evenly
> Put some salted butter pieces on top
> Cover Pan#1 with a lid tightly. A glass lid is better if you have it.
> In Pan#2, add butter and heat.
> Take an Onion and slice it wafer thin longitudinally
> Fry till brown adding a bit of sugar in between and take off heat
> The slices become crispy when they cool
> Take 1/4 cup hot water in a cup and add some saffron strands to it. Retain for 2 mins till water takes the colour
> Open pan#1. Spread the onions on top.
> Sprinkle saffron water over the rice
> Put lid back and cook (in lowest heat as was being done) for 5 mins more.
> Let it rest for 10 mins before serving
Biryani is DONE
Checklist
-Rice should be fluffy and not over cooked. Else disastru
-Rice should be having right amount of salt. Else disastru + waste of time.
-Rice should not be sticking at the bottom. Else use thicker pan next time, or else bake instead of slow cooking
-Bottom layer should be reddish with the spices & oil of the fried chicken and top layer should be white. When you serve, both layers should be given in a plate.
A tiny mistake and 3 hours of work tastes forgettable.
I used to make really good ones.. that too the 'kacchi' type.
Then suddenly I found that the touch was lost.. a bit like the form of Vinod Kambli.
Whatever you do, the triple centuries never come back.
I dont have a knack to keep things in memory, especially recipes.
Always prefer to look up on my scribblings saved txt with Notepad.
The losing of 'touch' was mostly due to a lapse of not writing down what I was doing.
Anyways.. what is gone is gone and I still dont remember what I used to do to make it smell, look and taste decent.
Many attempts (disasters) followed which were based on one or the other of hundreds of Biryani recipes floating around waiting to be BINGed.
Today I was too tired to refer to yet another recipe, and needed to do something quickly & get back to work. Had to rely on instincts.. although I admit I did refer to the list of spices.
(Please note that 'quick' and 'biryani' is generally not used in the same sentence)
The surprising thing was that this 'quickie biryani' came out way better than the previous attempts based on 'authentic' recipes. I think it also has less minefields to negotiate.
So without adding further to the prologue, here is my suggested way to make a relatively tasty biryani.
//Biryani Recipe for Two//
Decide -> Chicken or Mutton?
Lamb can be used although the frozen ones from NewZealand doesnt taste as good as mutton and is NOT close to the taste of a goat in Kerala.
Fish biryani, Beef biryani are jokes.
For the recipe here, I am using Chicken. Ctrl+F and replace Chicken with Mutton for mutton biryani.
-
>Always for Biryani buy a big whole chicken - with skin. Not assorted pieces of chicken.
> Pull out the skin and keep aside
> Cut 2 big pieces = 2 x (thigh+leg of each side). A good chicken will have some fat sticking to these pieces. More fat the better.
> Use the breast as large cubes if you want to, else use it & the rest of chicken for some other recipe.
> Take a large heavy bottomed pan and boil about 3 cups of water
> Add plenty of salt, say about 5 tsp
> Once water boils, put the chicken skin in the water along with spices
- Cumin Seeds 1 tsp
- Cinammon (use the Indian juicy variety) about a finger length broken into chewable pieces
- 4 cardamom pods
- 1 Bay leaf
- 1/2 tsp mace
- 2 Star Anise broken up
- 1/2 tsp whole cloves
- 1/2 tsp sliced ginger
Keep boiling till skin curls up and water becomes fatty
> Put the chicken pieces in and boil for about 5 mins till half done and the outside is white everywhere
> Retain water. Remove chicken pieces and keep aside. Discard the skin.
Make sure the water is still salty. Else add salt.
Salt will single handedly screw up the biryani if not in the right amount.
> Take some good quality Basmati rice and put into the water.
(Disregard all the crap you read about soaking for half an hour etc)
> Add some fresh mint leaves and fresh coriander leaves if available
> The water has to be enough so that the rice gets cooked fully, but doesnt remain soggy. This usually comes from experience.
The water cannot be more than required, else you will end up with pudding instead of biryani.
Better to have the water less. You can always add bit as the rice cooks and absorbs the water.
Parallely
> Heat oil or butter in Pan#2. Fry the half cooked chicken pieces along with the usual suspects of 'Indian'(misnomer) cuisine.
- Ginger sliced
- Garlic
- Green chillies sliced
- Turmeric
- Coriander powder
- Bits of each of the spices above that were used in boiling
- Salt if needed
> Once Chicken is dry, stop cooking Pan#2
> By this time the rice in the Pan#1 should be nearly dry and slightly glazing with chicken fat
>Lower the flame to least least possible. The rest of cooking should be done in the mildest of direct heat. The other option is to stop flame cooking at this point and use baking tray and oven.
I am here continuing with flame cooking..
> Add whole cashews, raisins into the rice and mix
> Separate the rice in the centre and bury the chicken inside it fully and spread the top evenly
> Put some salted butter pieces on top
> Cover Pan#1 with a lid tightly. A glass lid is better if you have it.
> In Pan#2, add butter and heat.
> Take an Onion and slice it wafer thin longitudinally
> Fry till brown adding a bit of sugar in between and take off heat
> The slices become crispy when they cool
> Take 1/4 cup hot water in a cup and add some saffron strands to it. Retain for 2 mins till water takes the colour
> Open pan#1. Spread the onions on top.
> Sprinkle saffron water over the rice
> Put lid back and cook (in lowest heat as was being done) for 5 mins more.
> Let it rest for 10 mins before serving
Biryani is DONE
Checklist
-Rice should be fluffy and not over cooked. Else disastru
-Rice should be having right amount of salt. Else disastru + waste of time.
-Rice should not be sticking at the bottom. Else use thicker pan next time, or else bake instead of slow cooking
-Bottom layer should be reddish with the spices & oil of the fried chicken and top layer should be white. When you serve, both layers should be given in a plate.
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