Yummy Chicken Biryani (My Ammas Recipe)

Ingredients:-

FOR RICE:-
Biryani Rice - 3 big cups
Cinnamon Stick - 6 nos
Cloves - 8 nos
Cardamom - 12 nos
Ghee/Oil - 3 tbsp
Water - 6 big cups
Salt - To taste
Lemon juice of half a lemon

FOR CHICKEN GRAVY:-
Chicken - 1 kg
Onion - 4 big ones
Ginger paste - 2 tbsp
Garlic paste - 2 tbsp
Green chilli paste- paste of 5 chillies
Coriander powder - 11/2 tsp
Chilli Powder - 1 tsp (kashmiri)
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Fennel seed powder (perumjeerakam)- 1/4 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1 tbsp
Coriander Leaves - 1 cup
Celery - 1/4 cup
Salt - To taste
Ghee/Oil - 2 tbsp
Curd (thick curd) - 1 cup
Water - 1 cup

FOR GARNISHING AND LAYERING:-
Onion - 2 big ones
Cashew nut - 1 cup
Coriander leaves - 1 cup
Celery - 1/2 cup
Mint leaves - 1/2 cup
Ghee/Oil - 1-1/2 tbsp

Method:-

FOR RICE:-
First wash and keep aside the rice to drain for at least 15 minutes. In a vessel, place 6 cups of water and allow it to boil . Heat 3 tbsp of ghee/oil in another pot and add cardamom, cloves, and cinnamon. Once it starts to crack or when you get the aroma of the masala, add our drained rice to it and stir until the rice starts to crack. Now, pour the boiling water into the rice along with the juice of half a lemon and salt to taste. Cover and cook in a low flame until the rice is cooked and the water is dried. Spread it in a tray and keep it aside.

FOR CHICKEN GRAVY:-
First, cut and clean the chicken pieces and keep it aside to drain. Now, in a tawa, add 2 tbsp of ghee/oil and add ginger, garlic, and chilli paste. Saute for around 10 minutes and to this add 4 thinly sliced onions and saute till they turn transparent. To this, add 11/2 tsp of coriander powder, 1 tsp of chilli powder, 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder, 1/4 tsp of fennel seed powder and 1 tbsp of garam masala powder. Cook until the raw smell has gone. Now add 1 cup of thick curd to the masala and mix well. Add 1/2 a cup of water and chicken pieces into this. Add salt to taste. Cover and cook. Once the chicken pieces are cooked and the gravy starts to thicken, add 1 cup of chopped coriander and 1/2 cup of celery, mix well and switch off the flame.

FOR GARNISHING AND LAYERING:-
IN a pan , heat 11/2 tbsp of ghee. To this, add 1 cup  of chopped cashes and fry it until golden brown. Transfer it into a plate and keep it aside. Add 2 big thinly sliced onions into the same pan and fry till it turns dark brown in color. Switch off the flame and remove it into a plate.

In a dish, spread some ghee and start layering with a layer of chicken gravy topped with chopped coriander, chopped celery, chopped mint, fried onions, and fried cashews and on top of it, place a layer of rice. Repeat the process until the masala and rice is finished. The top layer should be of rice topped with chopped coriander leaves, mint leaves, celery, fried onions, and fried cashews. Bake it in an oven at 360 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Serve hot.