Everybody seems to love Biryani. It is a perfect combination of aromatic rice and spicy chicken put together in one dish.

The word Biryani has been derived from the Persian word “Birian” which means “fried” or “roasted”. Traditionally, leg piece of goat was roasted before assembling it with rice to make Biryani but, now it is made in chicken, beef, fish, prawns and even vegetables.Long grain rice or Basmati rice are used to make biryani for best results. There are as many variations in Biryani as the cooks or regions, everybody seems to have altered it according to their likings. So, which one is your favorite.

• Kachi Biryani
• Sindhi Biryani
• HyderabadiBiryani
• Bombay Biryani

Typically with Iraqi biryani the rice is usually saffron-based with either lamb or chicken being the meat or poultry of choice. Iraqi biryani is usually quite mild in terms of its spicyness when compared to its south-east Asian variants. Some variations include vermicelli or mixed nuts and raisins spread liberally over the rice.

What you need

Chicken———————– 1 kg 18-20 pieces
Garlic paste—————— 1 tsp
Ginger paste—————– 1 tsp
Red chili powder———— 1 tsp
Black pepper powder——- 1 tsp
Salt—————————- 1 tsp
Lemon juice—————— 4 tbsp
Vinegar———————— 3 tbsp
Tandoori color—————- pinch
Garam Masala powder——- 1 tsp

Marinate chicken in all the  above ingredients and then leave it for half an hour for all the flavors to meld.

Onions————————— 2 finely chopped
Tomatoes———————— 2 finely chopped
Oil——————————– 1/2 cup
Rice——————————- 1/2 kg with 1 tsp salt, sabat garam masala
Ginger paste——————— 1 tsp
Garlic paste———————- 1 tsp
Salt——————————– 1 tsp
Red Chili Powder—————- 1 tsp
Dhania powder——————- 1 tsp
Haldi powder——————— 1/2 tsp
Yoghurt—————————- 1 cup
Coriander————————– 3 tbsp finely chopped
Mint leaves———————— 3 tbsp finely chopped
Green chilies———————- 3 -4 finely chopped

How it’s made

1. Take oil in a pan and sauté onions till it’s transparent.
2. Throw in ginger/garlic paste.
3. Now add in tomatoes and start crushing it into a fine paste.
4. Throw in spices and give it a good mix.
5. Now add in marinated chicken and mix well.
6. Later cover it to cook the chicken. Once it’s cooked, remove the lid to dry its extra water from the meat and the tomatoes. As it it drying, pour in yoghurt.
7. Once the chicken is done, give your chicken tikka, the typical tikka aroma with the help of a smoking hot coal. If you don’t know how to smoke your chicken, see my note at the end.
8. To assemble the biryani, take a bigger pot.
9. Throw in your cooked chicken along with some finely chopped coriander, mint leaves and green chilies.
10. Assemble pre-boiled rice on top.
11. Pour 2 -3 three tsp of yellow food color in water over the rice.
12. Cover the lid tightly for dum.
13. Set the flame to low and keep it tightly covered for 3-5 minutes.

Take a small piece of stale roti or the skin of an onion for the base. Put your base in the dish contaning the chicken you want to smoke. Remember that the base should be big enough so that the coal may not touch your food.

Now place your coal directly on flame for 5-10 minutes or untl it’s red hot.

Once it is red hot, carefully lift it from the stove and place it over the base you have created for it and pour a tsp of oil over it, it will start to smoke immediately.

Quickly seal the lid of your pan or use cling wrap to tightly cover the pan and leave it for 5-10 minutes. Your chicken will have that smoky BBQ effect for sure, God willing 😀

Courtesy: Wikipedia