Who doesn’t love some chicken biriyani packed with loads of flavours? I’m a big fan of Indian food. And biriyani is top of among all. Most of the time when I don’t have time for fancy food for party table I do my one pot biriyani with whatever I have in the kitchen. But you know what’s the best, the most delicious one? Cooking with pre cooked rice, milk and saffron mix on top with loads of freshly chopped herbs and fried onion on top, fried cashews, raisins and melted ghee. This takes little more time than one pot biriyani but taste is amazing. 

You need some long grain rice for biriyani. basmati is the best. It looks perfect for your biriyani. And remember to wash your rice until you comes with the clean water. Know why, when you wash your raw rice several times the starch of the rice will wash away. It helps to rice not stick each other when you cook it. and always remember to soak your rice around 20-30 minutes after washed. Then bring the pot of water to boil and cook the rice for just 5 minutes. And we gonna cook the rest with the curry.

If possible marinate your chicken overnight. It gives more flavours to your biriyani. But here I did about an hour and even 10 minutes also works. And always try to get chicken with bones, any part with bones. Because using only meaty part such as chicken breast will makes your meat dry. And use small chicken pieces for the curry. So you won’t cook them longer. 

At the beginning I used normal plain yoghurt for my biriyani. And I had too much of gravy so sometimes my rice went overcooked. It took some periods to figure out my mistakes. So always try to use curd. if don’t have, use greek yoghurt  that works perfectly. Now I always use greek yoghurt for my biriyani. 

Already shared some images of the process on my instagram story highlights. Check those on my instagram @the_dancing_kitchen 

1.first thing first. cut 350g skinless chicken with bones into small chunks. Wash well and leave in a colander to leave the excess water about 10 minutes. Transfer it into a bowl and add 1/2tsp of each coriander and cumin powder, 1/4tsp turmeric powder, 1tsp chilli powder and 4-5tbs greek yoghurt or curd. Mix well and leave it to marinate at least 1 hour. 

2.meantime wash 300g basmati rice in a cold running water. Wash at least 3-4 times or until water is clear. Soak the washed basmati rice in a clean bowl about 20-30 minutes.

3.heat a pot with water and bring it to boil to cook the rice. Add 1 bay leaf, 1 star anise, 3 cloves, 3 cardamom pods and small cinnamon piece. When the water starts to boil add the 20 minutes soaked and water drained basmati rice to it. Cook 5 minutes and drain. Leave the rice in the colander to release the excess water.

4.heat a pan with oil for deep fry. First deep fry 100g cashews and 50g rosins until golden colour. Place those on a plate prepared with paper towel to absorb the excess oil. Now deep fry finely sliced 1 large onion until brown in colour and transfer to the same plate with cashews and raisins.  And done with DEEP FRYING. 

5.heat a large pan with wide bottom or pot that suitable for cook  biriyani. Add 3tbs ghee to it and let it heat first. Add finely sliced 2 medium onion and and cook until soft. 

6.add cinnamon piece, 1 bay leaf, 3 cardamom pods, sliced 3 green chillies and 2tbs ginger garlic paste. Here I grind 3 garlic cloves and 2 inch size ginger piece for the paste. Fry with onion and let the aromatic flavour release. 

7.add handful of chopped parsley/coriander. And handful of chopped mint leaves, diced 1 large tomato (here I used 6 cherry tomatoes) 1tbs tomato concentrate to the pan and cook with aromas about 2 minutes in low heat. Here I used parsley due to two reasons. I really can’t handle the smell of colander leaves so I keep myself away from coriander leaves and the second point is where I live its too hard to find coriander leaves. So I always use parsley. 

8.add the marinated chicken to the aromas and cook about 3-5 minutes while mixing. And then sprinkle 1tsp of garam masala powder to it and cook more 2 minutes while mixing in medium heat. 

9.then cover with a lid and let the chicken cook about 15 minutes or until chicken is done. at this point you’ll see the curry with less gravy. Mix in every 2 minutes and after pass 12-13 minutes if you feel chicken needs more time to cook and no more gravy left add just a little bit of water  and cook the chicken. 

10.half of the biriyani is done now. Spread the par boiled rice over the chicken curry. Layer evenly and sprinkle 1/4tsp garam masala over the rice. 

11.bring the deep fried ingredients to garnish the top. Spread deep fried onion, raisins and cashews over the rice. 

12.sprinkle freshly chopped handful of parsley/coriander and mint leaves over the rice. 

13.mix 1g of saffron with 3-4tbs hot milk and drizzle over the rice and melt 2-3tbs of ghee and drizzle it too.  Until this point keep the heat ON in medium heat. Then cook 1 minute in high heat and fire OFF. 

14.cover with a lid and let the rice cook in steam about 5-7 minutes. 

15.then carefully mix the top with bottom and serve with your favourite side dishes. With some raita, boiled eggs or any kind of sambol you prefer.