So with Ka and Ki releasing in the theatres on 1st April, I decided to cook up our family’s biryani recipe for my sister. Usually it’s her who loves to cook but this time the food blogger in me decided to rustle something up for her on her birthday. The moment of epiphany was spurred by the Cook for your Ki with Daawat Rice. It was truly a moment of Reverse Pyaar Ki Bhaasha. With her being a big fan of the Biryani, I decided to try out my mom’s typical Bengali style Biryani. Being a total novice at cooking, it needed the full support of my mom on the phone as she dictated the steps to her struggling son. Literally sweating in the hot kitchen with eyes running thanks to the ton of onions I had chopped, I finally curated the Biryani I had planned for her all thanks to our love.
The word Biryani always brings palate tingling mouth watering pictures to the mind. With the Awadhi style Biryani in the North to the Hyderabadi styled Biryani in the south along with the Murshidabadi Biryani in the East, the fight over which one is better will continue to rage. The origin of the dish is uncertain with two theories holding forte. The first one being that Biryani was created in the Muslim Kitchens of North India centred around Delhi (Mughlai cuisine), Lucknow (Awadhi cuisine) and other small principalities. The second theory that exists is that it originated in South India, where rice is more widely used as a staple food, an offshoot of the Pulao brought from the Persian traders. The original Pulao is speculated to be a meal of foot soldiers who in the absence of elaborate meals, cooked up a rice dish with any meat available locally. The most essential points that differentiate between a Pulao and a Biryani is that in biryani meat and rice are cooked separately before being layered and cooked together while the former is a single-pot dish where meat and rice are simmered in a liquid until the liquid is absorbed. Another one being the use of stronger spices in the latter.
Recipe for the Bengali style Chicken Dum Biryani
Serves: 4-5
Ingredients for chicken
Chicken 1 kg with bone cut into 8 pieces
Medium sized onions- 3 (thinly sliced)
Green chilies 4-5
Meetha Attar
Mustard oil- 1/4 cup
Salt
For Marination
Kashmiri mirch powder- 1 tsp
Cumin powder- 1 tbsp
Coriander powder- 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder -1/2 tsp
Yogurt- 100g (well beaten)
Ginger-garlic paste 2 tbsp (hipped)
Rose water- few drops
Keora water- few drops
For Tempering
Dry red chilies- 2
Green cardamom- 3 (roughly crushed)
Whole black peppercorns- 8-9 (roughly crushed)
Cinnamon stick- 1″ single piece
Cloves- 2-3
Bay leaf- 2
Method
Marinate the freshly washed chicken pieces with all the ingredients mentioned ‘for marination’. Keep aside for 3-4 hours. Heat oil in a kadai/deep frying pan, temper with the all the ingredients mentioned ‘for tempering’. Add sliced onions, fry on medium flame until light brown in color. Now add the marinated chicken with green chilies. Mix well, cover and cook on low flame. Stir in between. The chicken will cook without water. Add salt in the middle
Ingredients for rice
Daawat Basmati Rice- 750gm (wash well and keep aside)
Green cardamom- 3 (roughly crushed)
Bay leaf- 2
Star anise- 2
Mace- 2 (grounded)
Nutmeg powder- 1/2 tsp
Ghee/Clarified butter – 1/2 cup
Saffron- 1 fat pinch soaked in 1/2 cup of warm milk
Salt
Garam masala powder- ¼ tsp
Method
Boil enough water in a deep bottom pan. Add the washed rice along with star anise, bay leaves and green cardamoms. Add salt. Keep cooking uncovered till 80% done.
For layering and sealing
Potato- 4 medium sized (peel and cut into halves)
Boiled egg- 4 (cut into halves lengthwise)
Slit green chilies- 5-6 (optional)
Whole black peppercorns- ½ tsp (roughly crushed)
Wheat dough/ Atta dough- Make dough with wheat flour and water just the way we do for Chapati.
Method
Boil the freshly washed potato pieces, drain and keep aside. Heat 2 tbsp mustard oil in a kadai/deep frying pan, fry the potatoes on medium flame until golden. Remove and keep aside.
Grease a deep bottomed pan with ghee. Add rice in the first layer. Now add a layer of Chicken pieces along with the gravy. Add gravy carefully, in small quantity at a time. Otherwise the biryani will look like ‘Chicken and rice curry’. Place few pieces of potatoes in between. Sprinkle some ghee, along with mace and nutmeg powder, 1-2 green chilies, a pinch of crushed black peppercorn and saffron milk. Repeat this process of layering rice and chicken one more time. Close the layering with a final layer of rice. Place the boiled eggs on top, yolk side down, push them gently in the bed of rice little bit. Sprinkle a generous amount of ghee on top. Garnish with fried onions, few drops of meetha attar and garam masala powder.
Close with a tight fitting lid, seal the edge with atta dough (make a log with the dough, then seal). Turn on the heat. Put a tawa. Now put the biryani vessel on it. Keep the flame as lowest as possible. Put on dum for 45 minutes.
Remove from heat. Your delicious ‘Chicken Dum Biryani’ is done. Break the seal and serve hot with raita. My Ki loved it a lot. So go out and participate in the Cook for your Ki with Daawat contest.
