Chicken Biryani - (Kolkata Style )
I chose Chicken biryani for my first post because we all love biryani and Kolkata style Chicken biryani recipe is one such recipe which is one of my favorites and signature dishes.
I generally cook this biryani for special occasions and special guests. We have many styles of biryani in India but this one form Kolkata is the only recipe with potatoes. Potatoes to biryani is a lovely combination and it makes it even more juicier. The Kolkata biryani is less spicy yet very aromatic and flavorful biryani. It just melts in your mouth and you keep craving for more.
Actually I learnt this recipe from my aunt who is from Kolkata and whenever I visit her place she cooks this biryani for me and I just feel free to take around three average servings of biryani on my plate.
Well, she being from Kolkata and cooking it since years have mastered it perfectly and I am in the effort to get it perfect like her whenever I cook it.
An important tip for cooking this chicken biryani recipe is that if you could do sme preparations an evening ago, it would save a lot of time.
What I do is that I grind the garam masala powder or biryani masala powder for this biryani an evening ago the day I have panned to cook it. I also grind the cashew to powder beforehand so that I am ready with these two powders when I cook my biryani.
So, let's move on to the ingredients and procedure for this biryani.
Basmati Rice - 1 kg
Chicken cleaned and cut into medium size - 1 kg
1. In a pan add the chicken pieces and add 200 gm of ginger-garlic paste, 2 tsp of red chili powder, 300 gm of curd , and salt to taste. Now let the chicken cook on high-medium flame. The curd will leave its own water, so you don't need to add any water. Remove the chicken from the flame when its half-cooked.
*This is important because the chicken will be again cooked during the dum process or layering of biryani. This should not take more than 15 mins. Also you need to make the water evaporate from the chicken so that you are left with a thick gravy chicken. So after 10 mins, let the water evaporate on high flame for 5 mins or until dry.
2. Repeat the process for potatoes and add the remaining of ginger garlic paste, curd, red chili powder and salt to taste. Similar to step 1, remove the potatoes when half done and let the water evaporate on high flame. This should take 8-10 mins. so after 5 mins yo can let the water evaporate on high flame.
3. By the time your chicken and potatoes are cooking, place a vessel with sufficient amount of water to boil basmati rice and let the water come to full boil.
4. In the meanwhile prepare the bottom layer of chicken and potatoes for the chicken biryani. Take a biryani vessel big enough to accommodate both chicken and rice. Grease the bottom of vessel with some oil.
Spread cooked potatoes and chicken at the bottom. To this add the fried onions or barista, biryani masala, cashew powder, half of milk soaked with saffron or yellow food color, lime juice and rose water mix and half of oil. Keep this vessel aside but ready for adding layer of rice on it.
5. To the boiling water add enough amount of salt and add 10-12 cloves. To this add the soaked rice and let it cook until 70% done .
6. Strain the rice and spread it on top of the chicken and potatoes layer. Sprinkle remaining half of oil and milk mixture. To this add 500 ml of hot water so that it helps your chicken biryani to get tenderly cooked. Covered the vessel with sheet of aluminium foil and then place the lid over it.
7. Place the biryani vessel on a griddle or tawa on high flame for 5-8 mins. After that switch the flame to low and leave the biryani for 40-45 mins.
Open the biryani pot and you can see evenly cooked fluffy grains of basmati rice separated from each other. Just dig the chicken and potatoes from bottom and top it with a heap of biryani rice. Serve it hot with cucumber raita or salad and curd.
I generally cook this biryani for special occasions and special guests. We have many styles of biryani in India but this one form Kolkata is the only recipe with potatoes. Potatoes to biryani is a lovely combination and it makes it even more juicier. The Kolkata biryani is less spicy yet very aromatic and flavorful biryani. It just melts in your mouth and you keep craving for more.
Actually I learnt this recipe from my aunt who is from Kolkata and whenever I visit her place she cooks this biryani for me and I just feel free to take around three average servings of biryani on my plate.
Well, she being from Kolkata and cooking it since years have mastered it perfectly and I am in the effort to get it perfect like her whenever I cook it.
An important tip for cooking this chicken biryani recipe is that if you could do sme preparations an evening ago, it would save a lot of time.
What I do is that I grind the garam masala powder or biryani masala powder for this biryani an evening ago the day I have panned to cook it. I also grind the cashew to powder beforehand so that I am ready with these two powders when I cook my biryani.
So, let's move on to the ingredients and procedure for this biryani.
Ingredients needed:
Basmati Rice - 1 kg
Chicken cleaned and cut into medium size - 1 kg
Whole garam masala for making biryani masala:
- Cloves - 20-25 no.s
- Green cardamom - 4-5 no.s
- Black cardamon - 2 no.s
- Cinnamon sticks - 3-4 no.s
- White cumin or shahi jeera - 1 tsp
Potatoes large size cut into halves - 1/2 kg
Onions thinly sliced - 1/2 kg
ginger garlic paste - 250 gm
Red chilli powder- 3 tsp
Curd - 500 gm
Lukewarm milk -1 cup
Oil - 300 ml
Salt - as per taste
Rose water - 8-10 drops
Lime juice - 2 tsp
Cashew - 100 gm
A few preparations before starting actual procedure of biryani:
- Soak the basmati rice for at least 1 hour.
- Grind biryani masala using whole garam masala
- Grind cashew into powder
- Make barista of thinly sliced onions by frying it to golden brown. Make sure you don't burn it.
- Squeeze juice of lime and mix with rose water and then keep aside.
- Mix strand of saffron/yellow food color in lukewarm milk and keep aside.
The main procedure.
1. In a pan add the chicken pieces and add 200 gm of ginger-garlic paste, 2 tsp of red chili powder, 300 gm of curd , and salt to taste. Now let the chicken cook on high-medium flame. The curd will leave its own water, so you don't need to add any water. Remove the chicken from the flame when its half-cooked.
*This is important because the chicken will be again cooked during the dum process or layering of biryani. This should not take more than 15 mins. Also you need to make the water evaporate from the chicken so that you are left with a thick gravy chicken. So after 10 mins, let the water evaporate on high flame for 5 mins or until dry.
2. Repeat the process for potatoes and add the remaining of ginger garlic paste, curd, red chili powder and salt to taste. Similar to step 1, remove the potatoes when half done and let the water evaporate on high flame. This should take 8-10 mins. so after 5 mins yo can let the water evaporate on high flame.
3. By the time your chicken and potatoes are cooking, place a vessel with sufficient amount of water to boil basmati rice and let the water come to full boil.
4. In the meanwhile prepare the bottom layer of chicken and potatoes for the chicken biryani. Take a biryani vessel big enough to accommodate both chicken and rice. Grease the bottom of vessel with some oil.
Spread cooked potatoes and chicken at the bottom. To this add the fried onions or barista, biryani masala, cashew powder, half of milk soaked with saffron or yellow food color, lime juice and rose water mix and half of oil. Keep this vessel aside but ready for adding layer of rice on it.
5. To the boiling water add enough amount of salt and add 10-12 cloves. To this add the soaked rice and let it cook until 70% done .
6. Strain the rice and spread it on top of the chicken and potatoes layer. Sprinkle remaining half of oil and milk mixture. To this add 500 ml of hot water so that it helps your chicken biryani to get tenderly cooked. Covered the vessel with sheet of aluminium foil and then place the lid over it.
7. Place the biryani vessel on a griddle or tawa on high flame for 5-8 mins. After that switch the flame to low and leave the biryani for 40-45 mins.
Open the biryani pot and you can see evenly cooked fluffy grains of basmati rice separated from each other. Just dig the chicken and potatoes from bottom and top it with a heap of biryani rice. Serve it hot with cucumber raita or salad and curd.
