Chicken Dum Biryani cooked after watching this recipe in one of the Cooking Channels on Television.  I decided to try this recipe at home.  Simple cooking method and tastes delicious.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

  • Basmati Rice – 750 gms. Good quality Long grain.  Rinse it with water and soak it in water for an hour.
  • Onion – 6 medium to large size.  Sliced in to thin pieces.
  • Fresh Tumeric – 2 inch size.  Roughly chopped.
  • Ginger – 2 inch size.  Roughly chopped.
  • Garlic – 8 to 10 cloves.  Roughly chopped.
  • Green Chilli – 4. Two Roughly chopped.  Two just slit from center.
  • Bay leaves – 2 piece.
  • Lawang (Cloves) – 4 to 6 pieces.
  • Green Cardamom – 3 pieces.
  • Cinamon stick – 2 inch size.
  • Kesar (Saffron) – 1 tbs.  Soaked in half a cup of water.
  • Coriander Leaves – One cup. Finely chopped.
  • Mint Leave – Half a cup.  Finely chopped.
  • Chicken (with bones) – 1 kg.  Clean it with water and keep it aside.
  • Rose water – 1 tsp.
  • Kewra water – 1 tsp.
  • Ghee – as required.
  • Salt to taste.
  • Cashew nuts – Half a cup.
  • Raisins – Half a cup.
  • Curd or Yoghurt – 400 gms.
  • Coriander powder – 2 tbs.
  • Kashmiri red chilli powder – 2 tbs.
  • Hot red chilli powder – 1 tbs.
  • Garam Masala powder – 1 tbs.
  • Cummin seeds – 2 tsp.
  • Cooking Oil – as required for frying sliced onions.
  • Milk – Half a cup.

Method:

  • Take a mortar and pestle.  Add ginger, garlic, fresh tumeric, two chopped green chilli and pinch of salt into the mortar.  Crush them into fine paste.
  • Take a large utensil and fill it up with water.  Heat up the water and allow it to boil properly.  Add Cinamon stick, Bay leaves, Lawang, One tbs of Ghee, One tbs of salt and Green Cardamom to the boiling water.
  • Remove the rice from soaked water and transfer it into the boiling water.  Stir it gently once.  Allow it to boil.  Cook the rice upto 70 percent only.  Turn off the heat. Drain the water from rice using a large mesh.  Keep the rice aside.
  • Take a small Kadai or Deep Frying Pan.  Add cooking oil and heat it up.
  • Add half of the sliced onions into the hot oil and fry it until it turns golden brown. Remove it from the oil and keep it aside.
  • Take the Yoghurt in a mixing bowl and whip it properly.  Add kashmiri red chilli powder, hot red chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala powder, salt to taste and mix them well.
  • Take the Chicken in a large mixing bowl for marination.  Add the remaining half of sliced onions, half of the chopped fresh coriander leaves, half of the chopped fresh mint leaves, two sliced green chilli, two tbs of saffron water, half of the crushed ginger/garlic/green chilli/tummeric mixture, yoghurt mixed with powdered masalas to the chicken.  Mix / Rub them well so the all the ingredients coats properly on the chicken.  Keep it in the fridge for atleast 2 hours.
  • Take a large Kadai.  Add 4 tbs of ghee and heat it up.
  • Add cummin seeds to hot ghee and allow it to crackle.
  • Add the remaining half of the crushed ginger/garlic/green chilli/tummeric mixture into the hot ghee and stir it well for a minute or two.
  • Add cashew nuts and raisins in the hot ghee.  Stir it for a minute.
  • Add the marinated chicken (along with all the marinade) in the hot ghee into the kadai.
  • Mix it well.  Keep stiring.  Initially chicken and yoghurt will release some water while cooking.  Cook it on high flame until water is dried and all masalas are cooking properly.
  • Turn off the heat after water in the kadai is dried and the chicken is cooked.
  • Transfer the chicken into another bowl.
  • Add half of partially cooked rice in the kadai and spread it out evenly.
  • Add cooked chicken and all of its masalas on the rice and spread it out evenly.
  • Sprinkle some garam masala powder on the chicken.
  • Spread out half of the fried brown onions evenly on the chicken.
  • Spread out half of the chopped coriander leaves evenly on the chicken.
  • Spread out half of the chopped mint leave evenly on the chicken.
  • Sprinkle half of the saffron water on the chicken.
  • Sprinkle half of the rose water and kewra water on the chicken.
  • Add another layer of partially cooked remaining rice on this chicken and spread it evenly.
  • Spread remaining fried brown onions on the rice.
  • Spread remaining chopped coriander and mint leaves on the rice.
  • Sprinkle remaining saffron water, rose water, kewra water on the rice.
  • Add milk on the rice.  Sprinkle it on top of the rice.
  • Cover it with a tight shut lid.
  • Take a flat pan or tawa and heat it up.
  • Place this Chicken Biryani on the hot tawa and allow it to cook on Dum on low flame for around 20 to 25 minutes with the lid cover shut properly.  You can even place a weight on the lid cover of kadai to avoid any steam coming out of kadai.  Remember cook it on slow flame.
  • After 25 minutes turn off the heat but donot remove the weight or try to open the lid cover of kadai.  Leave it for another 15 minutes with flame off.
  • Chicken Dum Biryani is ready to be served hot along with raita, lime and sliced onions.
  • Happy Eating.