Chicken Biryani

Ingredients:

For biryani masala:
1 tsp- Cumin seeds
2-3 stars- Anise
1 tsp- Stone flower
4-5 Cloves
4-5 Peppercorns
1 Mace
1 piece of Cinnamon
1 Black cardamon
2 Green cardamon
1-2 Bay leaves

For Cooking rice:
1-2 Bay leaves
1 Mace
2 Stars anise
2 Green cardamon
1 tsp- Cumin seeds
A little Cinnamon
3-4 Peppercorns
1 & 1/2 cup- Long grain basmati rice

For marination of vegetables:

Chicken cleaned
1/2 cup- Curd
Finely chopped coriander leaves
Few mint leaves
1 tsp- Red chilli powder (Bedgi mirch powder)
1 tsp- Coriander powder
1-2 tsp- Biryani Masala (the one we made)
1 tsp- Ginger garlic paste
Salt to taste
2 slit- Green chillies

For making biryani:
Finely chopped Onion
Ghee
Finely chopped Tomato
1/4 cup- Fried Onion
Finely chopped Coriander leaves
Few mint leaves
1 tsp- Red chilli powder
1 tsp- Coriander powder
1/2 tsp- Turmeric powder
1 tsp- Ginger garlic paste
Salt to taste
Few saffron strands
Oil

Method:

For Garnishing:

Finely chopped coriander, Mint leaves and fried onion.

For fried onion take some oil in a pan and fry the onion till it becomes golden brown and crispy.

For Biryani Masala:

Put bay leaves into a blender jar.
Add cinnamon, stone flower, cloves, peppercorns, cloves, mace, star anise, green cardamon, black cardamon, cumin seeds to it and blend it into a coarse powder.

You can roast the spices on low flame before grinding or you can directly grind it.
Biryani masala is ready.
You can also store it for a long time.

For marination of Chicken:
Take the curd into a bowl.
Add red chilli powder, coriander powder, ginger-garlic paste, salt and mix it all well together.
To it, add 1 tsp biryani masala, few hand crushed mint leaves, green chilli and coriander leaves and mix it well.
Add chicken and mix well.
Coat the chicken well with the marinate.
Cover it and let it rest for atleast 2 hours.

For Making Rice:
Wash the rice really good for 2-3 times with water.
Now soak the rice in enough water for about 30 minutes.
Boil some water.
Add 1 tsp salt, mace, bay leaves, star anise, green cardamon, cinnamon, cumin seeds, cloves, peppercorns, 2 tsp ghee.
Add the soaked rice to this.
Ghee gives a nice flavor to the biryani and also the rice doesn't become sticky.
Cook the rice 80%. Do not cook the rice completely.

For Making Biryani:

Heat oil in a pan.
Add onion and fry until it gets nice golden color.

Add tomato to it and fry it for 4-5 minutes until it mashes well with the onion.
Add ginger-garlic paste, coriander powder, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, a little salt, 1 tsp biryani masala, coriander leaves, hand crushed mint leaves. Mix and saute it well.

Cook the masala well till it starts leaving oil from sides.
If required add 2-3 tbsp water to masala.

Once Masala is cooked add marinated chicken to it and mix it well with masala. It should get nice coating of masala.

Cover this and cook on medium flame for about 10 minutes.

Drain the water from the rice and give a layer of rice on the chicken.
After layering the rice, add saffron water.
Saffron gives a nice color to the rice.
Add a lot of ghee, fried onions, finely chopped coriander leaves and few mint leaves.

Also add 1/2 cup of water in which we cooked the rice in the biryani so it gets enough moisture.
Cover and cook the biryani on low-medium heat for about 15 to 20 minutes.
Biryani is ready. You can also garnish it with few cashew nuts and raisins if you want.
Serve it with raita. Enjoy!