chicken biryani

Soak basmati rice in water for half an hour. After half an hour wash rice & cook it in cooker with 3 cups of water by giving 1 whistle. Then keep it aside till the pressure releases on its own. Rice will be half cooked while removing from cooker. Drain out excess water from rice.

Next keep big kadai on gas & pour oil in it & saute the finely cut onions for a minute, add ginger-garlic paste & saute again till onion changes its colour. Next add finely cut tomato paste to it & saute . Also add salt, turmeric powder & chilly powder & saute again till oil separates.

Add curd & chicken biryani masala & saute again . Now all this together will look like a thick gravy. Switch off the gas & keep it aside.

While all these masalas are getting sauted & cooked you can side by side wash & cut the chicken into medium size pieces. Then you can put the chicken into the masala kept aside & marinate for half an hour. After half an hour keep the kadai on gas to start cooking it with a closed lid. Add 2 cups of water. Remaining 1 cup of water to be added as per requirement. It will take 45 minutes for the chicken to cook well. Then switch off the gas. The chicken gravy should be thick gray.

Now take a thick bottomed vessel & put 1 tsp out of the 2 tbsp of ghee into it & apply evenly on all the sides inside the vessel. Then put half of the half cooked basmati rice into it & spread it evenly, then add the cooked chicken into it as a 2nd layer, again spread it evenly, now spread the remaining cooked rice evenly over it.

Also add the remaining ghee on the top & sides of the layered rice & chicken gravy. Also pour milk over it & cook for 15 minutes on slow fire with a lid over it.

Chicken biryani is ready. Serve it hot alongwith raita or salad.