Chicken Biriyani (Sindhi style)

When we were in Ahmedabad, once a shopkeeper recommended a Pakistani Masala brand named Shan.We took the Sindhi biriyani and a chicken curry masala. The chicken curry masala was not that good, but the Sindhi biriyani masala was AWSOME.It was very different from the usual masalas and its aroma fills in the Masala dabba for weeks It has spices like dry plum seeds, some kind of tamarind and all. Once we shifted to Chennai, we could not find this masala in stores and we  contacted the distributor and ordered some 15 packets of masala.I tried the same recipe for paneer and prawns biriyani with slight changes and it worked amazing.I will post pictures of those soon. I promise 🙂

Basmati rice – 3 Cups (Washed and soaked rice for 30 minutes)

Chicken – 1 Kg

Ghee

Onion – 3 big

Ginger paste– 1 tbsp.

Garlic paste – 1 tbsp.

Green chilly – 4

Tomato –2

Handful of coriander and Mint leaves

Beaten curd–1 cup

Water –2 cup

Salt for taste

Cashew nuts soaked in water – 3-4

Shan Biryani masala  (Best biriyani masala ever!)

Whole masala:

Cardamom ­­­ – 6

Clove – 8-10

Star aniseed – 2

Cinnamon stick – 2-3

Garnish:

1 big onion finely chopped

Handful of cashew nuts, raisins

Coriander and Mint leaves

Few pinches of garam masala powder

¼ cup milk and a pinch of saffron or turmeric powder for that yellowish hue

Marinate chicken in ½ cup curd for 30 minutes. Fry onions, cashew nuts and raisins for garnish in a non-stick pan in low heat until they are golden brown. Once done, spread them in a kitchen towel to drain the excess oil for a  crusty texture.

To the remaining oil add half of whole masala. Once that nice aroma fills in your kitchen, add finely sliced onion and fry in medium heat until golden. To this add the marinated chicken, ginger -garlic-chilly paste and stir-fry for another 10 minutes. Mix in biryani masala, curd and stir-fry for another 5 minutes.

Add 2 cups of water, chopped tomato, coriander and mint leaves. Cover and cook on low heat until chicken is tender. When meat is cooked if the gravy is not enough, add some more water.

In another large pot, fry rest of the whole garam masala and add in soaked rice, salt and give it a nice mix. Pour around 12 glasses of water and cook it until the rice is more than half cooked. Remove and drain.

Spread chicken gravy in a greased pan with rice on top. Sprinkle some milk – turmeric mixture over the rice and top it with some fried onion, nuts, coriander and mint leaves. Repeat the layers until the chicken and rice is over and garnish as mentioned above. Sprinkle some garam masala powder and ghee on top of it to enhance the flavors and cover and seal the lid with any dough mixture.

Cook on high heat for 5 minutes and on low heat for around 20-25 minutes and open the seal only when you want to serve. (Instead of this last step, you can even bake it)Note: PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS NOT AN ADVERTISEMENT OR PROMOTIONAL BLOG FOR ANY PRODUCTS.