Muslim Biriyani

Ingredients (25)

• basmathi rice0.5 kg
• chicken0.5 kg
• salt
• green chilly6
• red onion100 g
• tomato100 g
• lemon
• ghee0.25 cup
• oil2 tbsp
• rose water2 tbsp
• (or a drop of rose essence)
• milk0.25 cup
• saffron
• cashew15
• raisin10
• cilantro10
• mint leaf4 stick
• green chilly4
• ginger2
• garlic10
• fennel seed1 tbsp
• cinnamon1
• cardamom4
• black pepper1 tbsp
• a small bark of cinnamon

Method

1. 1

   First wash and clean the rice. Soak it in water for 10 minutes , drain water and let it remain for 1/2 an hour.

2. 2

   Next, clean the chicken and cut it in to big pieces. Wash and Keep aside.

3. 3

   Rub a tsp of salt + juice of 1/2 lemon and leave it for an hour.

4. 4

   First wash and clean the rice. Soak it in water for 10 minutes , drain water and let it remain for 1/2 an hour.

5. 5

   Next, clean the chicken and cut it in to big pieces. Wash and Keep aside.

6. 6

   Rub a tsp of salt + juice of 1/2 lemon, 1 cup curd and leave it for an hour.

7. 7

   (overnight marination inside fridge yields very tasty juicy chicken pieces in biryani).

8. 8

   Chop the onion in lengthwise.

9. 9

   Chop Tomato into small cubes.

10. 10

    Keep the green chillies as full, don't cut it.

11. 11

    Dry roast and powder the items given.

12. 12

    Grind ginger and garlic together to a fine paste.

13. 13

    Grind cilantro, mint, green chilli to a very fine paste.

14. 14

    Heat oil + ghee in a thick bottom vessel.

15. 15

    Toss in a small bark of cinnamon, 1 star aniseed, cashews , 2 rose bud, 1 tsp Sea weed (kalpaasi), a small chip of jathikkai .

16. 16

    Immediately add the chopped onion + little salt and fry till it becomes golden brown.

17. 17

    Add the ginger garlic paste and stir well till the raw smell vanishes.

18. 18

    Now add the finely chopped tomato and cilantro paste (paste 1). Saute till the tomato gets mashed and oil starts showing off.

19. 19

    Now put the chicken pieces along with some more salt, a cup of water , powdered masala and cook it covered.

20. 20

    Cook till all the water gets absorbed by the chicken and the chicken is almost cooked .

21. 21

    Now add the soaked rice without any water and fry in that gravy for some time till the rice gets swollen.

22. 22

    Now add water just enough to immerse the rice and meat completely. Water should stand 1/2 inch above that rice.

23. 23

    (No need to measure the water. Literally it is not possible to measure the amount water if biryani is prepared in large quantities. ).

24. 24

    Before water starts to boil, check for salt by tasting the water:)

25. 25

    Put some freshly chopped mint, cilantro leaves and uncut green chillies.

26. 26

    As soon as the water starts boiling, we can see some holes start appearing on rice. close the vessel with a tight lid and let the rice absorb all the water. Now the rice will be 70 % cooked. Switch off the flame.

27. 27

    I simplified the above process with a home adopted dhum process.

28. 28

    Home adopted dhum process:

29. 29

    Start heating a thick dosa tawa . (Dont't use your regular dosa tawa. Because you may spoil the dosa tawa while doing so. So I use my chapathi tawa)

30. 30

    Place the biryani vessel over the hot tawa.

31. 31

    Now mix the milk , rose water and saffron and sprinkle it all over the rice. (This generates enough steam to slow cook the rice).

32. 32

    Spread the raisins all over the rice.

33. 33

    Reduce the heat to minimum. Close the vessel tightly using a flat lid / plate.

34. 34

    Using a wet chapathi dough, cover the lid's edge to seal completely.

35. 35

    Before hand bring 2 liters of water to boil in a vessel. close it with lid.

36. 36

    Place it above the biryani vessel and lid.

37. 37

    Let the setup remain for nearly 2 hours. (2 hours is enough for a smaller batch , less than 2 kg rice).

38. 38

    After that we need not stir the biryani.

39. 39

    After 2 hours we can get a good biryani smell filling the house.

40. 40

    Take it out and enjoy.

41. 41

    TamilNadu Muslim style Biryani is ready !

42. 42

    Mostly in TamilNadu Muslim marriages they Serve it hot with Thakkali thithippu (a kind of Tomato jam) , onion - carrot raitha , any spicy non veg curry , of course a semiya javvarisi payasam and a special dish called dhalsa (a thick dhal curry made with some mutton).

43. 43

    The above said quantity would be enough to serve 4 adults.

44. 44

    Jeeraga samba rice (Jeera rice) will give more flavorful Tamilnadu biryani than the basmati.

45. 45

    Hope I tempted you enough by describing a TamilNadu Muslim marriage feast:)