Chicken Dum Biryani

Biryani can be made in gazillion ways but back home the most traditional way is cooking it DUM style. The marinated meat and parboiled rice are sealed in pan and cooked by steam on a very low flame. Making biryani this way is a long process but biryani made this way is so flavorful that at end all the effort is well worth it. Making quick biryani might be satisfying but cooking it the dum way is more special and the flavours are really soul satisfying..Give it a try and please keep in mind that sometimes it might take couple of tries to get it right :).

Ingredients

For Fried Onions:

1 big Onions sliced lengthwise
10 to 12 tbsp Oil

For Chicken Marination:

600 grams Chicken
12 Green Chillies Slit lengthwise
Mint Leaves fistful chopped
Coriander Leaves fistful Chopped
4 tsp Ginger Garlic Paste
1/2 tsp Ground Black Pepper
1/2 tsp Black Cumin
1 1/2 tsp Red Chili Powder(adjust for spice level - I used 2 tsp as my family likes it spicy)
1 tsp Kashmiri Chilli Powder(Optional - I add this for color)
1/2 tsp Turmeric
2 1/2 tsp Salt(Adjust per taste)
1/2 tsp Cumin Powder
2 tsp Coriander Powder
4 Bay Leaves
2 Star Anise
Mace few pieces
Nutmeg Powder Couple pinches
6 Cardamom crushed
6 Cloves
2 inch pieces Cinnamon 
1 tsp Chicken Biryani Masala
3/4 tsp Garam Masala
4 tbsp Oil(the oil used to fry the onions can be used here)
Fried Onions handful
400 grams(roughly 1 1/2 cups) Thick Curd
1 big Lemon

For Rice:

3 Rice cooker cups Basmati Rice
2 to 3 tsp Salt(taste the water and adjust)
1 tbsp Oil
2 Cloves
3 Cardamom
1 inch Cinnamon stick
1 Bay Leaf
1/4 tsp Black Cumin
Coriander leaves few sprigs
Mint Leaves few leaves

For Assembly:

4 to 5 tbsp Ghee or Butter
Fried Onions handful
Saffron Couple of Pinches
2 tbsp Milk
Coriander leaves handful
Mint Leaves handful

Procedure:

Step 1: Fried Onions

Heat oil in a pan(Use the same pan you are going to make the biryani in). Add in the onions and shallow fry till golden brown. Drain and set the onions aside. 

Step 2: Chicken Marination

Cut Chicken into big pieces. Wash the chicken and make sure the chicken pieces are dry. Add all the marination ingredients and mix them nicely. Marinate the chicken overnight if possible else make sure the chicken is marinated at least an hour.

Step 3: Rice 

Soak basmati rice in sufficient water for 30 mins. Strain the rice and set it aside.

Take a big vessel with 10 cups of water. To this water add salt, oil, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon stick, bay leaf, black cumin, coriander and mint leaves. Let the water come to a boil. When water is boiling add in the rice and cook for 5 minutes till the rice is 70 to 75% done. Strain the boiled rice and set it aside.

Step 4: Assembling the biryani

Add saffron to warm milk and set aside.
Take a thick bottomed pan with a lid. Grease the pan on all sides with ghee or melted butter. Add the marinated chicken and spread evenly in one layer if possible. 
On the chicken, add first layer of cooked rice(3/4th of the cooked rice) and spread evenly. Sprinkle half the coriander and mint leaves and half the fried onions. Add rest of the rice on the top. Sprinkle half the coriander and mint leaves and left over fried onions. Pour the saffron soaked milk all over. Add the leftover over butter on the top. Now seal the top of the pan with two layers of aluminum foil and make sure it is airtight. Now put the lid on the top. Cook on medium to high flame for 5 to 6 minutes. Then heat a tawa or any flat pan and transfer the layered pan onto the tawa. Cook on medium low flame for 35 minutes. Turn off the heat and let it sit for 10 minutes before opening the lid.
Serve hot with onion pieces and Raitha!! 

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