Easy Chicken Biryani

Chicken Biryani is such a delicious classic. But making it is usually a long and arduous process that involves cooking of numerous components, all of which with utmost care.

Our easy peasy chicken biryani recipe below takes all that fuss away while still satisfying us with the comforting biryani taste.

Both the rice and the chicken are cooked together in one large pot, so that drastically reduces the cooking time. And while the chicken and rice cooks, you’ll be frying the onions, cashews and raisins in another pan, saving up on time again.

To keep things simple, we used store bought ‘hanaakuri havaadhu’ spice mix on the chicken. And as for the rice, we used Daawat Devaaya Basmati Rice, which we got from one of our partners S&O (Standard & Origin). Daawat Devaaya Basmati rice is long and fluffy making it ideal for dishes like biryani and we particularly loved how aromatic it was.

Serves: 5-6

Ingredients:

• 1.2 kg curry cut chicken
• ½ cup hanaakuri havaadhu (Maldivian roasted curry powder)
• 1 tsp. salt (for marinating the chicken)
• 1 tsp. lime
• 2 cups Daawat Devaaya Basmati Rice
• 4 cups water (for soaking the rice)
• 1 large onion (for the curry)
• 1 tsp. crushed ginger
• 1 tsp. crushed garlic
• 2 tbsp. oil (for the curry)
• 15 curry leaves
• 6 inches pandan
• 3 inches cinnamon
• 5 cardamom pods
• 2 cloves
• ½ scotch bonnet pepper (or to taste)
• 1 cup water (for the curry)
• 3 large onions
• ¾ tsp salt (for the rest of the biryani)
• 3 cups water (for the rest of the biryani)
• 5 tbsp. oil (for frying onions, cashews and raisins)
• 1 cup cashews
• 1 cup raisins
• ¾ tsp. rose water

Instructions:

1. Defrost the chicken and remove the skin.
2. Add the chicken, hanaakuri havaadhu (Maldivian roasted curry powder), salt and lime to a large bowl. Mix to combine and set aside while you prepare the other ingredients.
3. Wash the rice thoroughly and add it to a large bowl along with 4 cups of water and set aside while you prepare the other ingredients.
4. Slice 1 onion thinly and crush the ginger and garlic using the back of a spoon.
5. Add 2 tbsp. oil to a large pot (the one you’ll be using to cook the biryani; ours was 5 inches deep and had a diameter of 10 inches) and heat it up. Add the sliced onion, curry leaves, pandan, cinnamon, cardamom (ends snipped off), clove and scotch bonnet pepper (you might want to add more as ours biryani is a bit mild) and cook until the onions soften and you see just a hint of brown on them. Then add the garlic and ginger and cook for another minute.
6. To the pot, add the chicken you set aside in step 2 along with 1 cup of water. You can use the water to clean out the bowl so that all the spices end up in the pot. Bring the mixture to a boil and then lower the heat to let the mixture simmer for 15 minutes.
7. While the chicken is cooking, slice 3 large onions thinly and set aside.
8. When the chicken has cooked for 15 minutes, discard the soaking water and add the rice from step 3 to the pot along with ¾ tsp. salt (or to taste) and 3 cups of water. Mix everything well and put the lid on. Bring the mixture to a boil and then lower the heat so that it’s bubbling very gently. Let it cook for 30 minutes or until all the water evaporates.
9. While the chicken and rice is cooking, heat 5 tbsp. oil in a large pan and add the onion slices from step 7. Cook on medium heat until red and crispy and then remove to a paper towel lined plate. Add the cashews to the same pan, fry until golden and remove to the plate. Add the raisins to the same pan, fry until they puff up and remove to the plate.
10. When all the water has evaporated from the pot, place the fried onion, cashews and raisins on top of the rice in a neat layer. Pour the rose water into your palm and then use your fingers to sprinkle it on top of the onion layer. Put the lid back on and cook on the lowest possible heat for 7 minutes. That’s it. Serve with some poppadum and boiled eggs.

Note: If you can’t find Daawat Devaaya Basmati Rice from a shop near you, contact 301 5533 or 301 5522.