Saturday, November 25, 2006

Kerala Biriyani Recipe


Ingredients

Whole Chicken Legs - 4lbs
Onion - 3 nos.
Green chillies - 5nos
Ginger - 2 inch piece
Garlic - 5 cloves
Turmeric Powder - ½ tsp
Salt To taste
Water - 10 cups
Butter - ¼ cup
Oil - ¼ cup


Ingredients for Masala:

Onion - 5 nos
Ginger - inch piece
Garlic - 4 cloves
Tomato(skinned and chopped) - 5 nos
Green chilli - 5 nos
Chilli Powder - 11/2 tsp Coriander Powder - 1 ½ tsp
Jeera Powder - ½ tsp
Turmeric Powder - ½ tsp
Garam Masala - ½ tsp
Cloves To taste
Cinnamon - 1 inch stick
Salt To taste
Oil - ¼ cup

Ingredients for rice and garnish:

Rice - 5 cups
Saffron - 1 pinch
Onion(sliced thinly) - 3 nos
Raisins - 1 handfull
Cashew nut - 20 nos(optional)
Butter - 1/4cup

Procedure:

Soak the rice in lightly salted water for two hours and remove the water. Grind the masala for the marinade except oil, butter, and water. Clean the chicken (no skin) and cut into big pieces. Put the butter and oil in a big cooking vessel . When it melts, add the cinnamon stick and cloves. Then add the paste into it. Fry the masala till it turns it color to a very light brown. Add the chicken, cook for 5 minutes. Add the water and salt. Cook till the chicken is done. Remove the chicken and keep the liquid for cooking rice. Remove the bones from the chicken and make into small strips and keep.

For masala, sauté the onion, garlic, ginger, green chili in the oil. When it turns light brown add the dry spices and chopped tomato. Sauté the masala till the oil separates. Add the chicken stripes and mix. This is a dry mix.

For cooking the rice, put some butter in the pan and add the rice. Fry for 5 minutes. Add the liquid (if the liquid is not 10 cups, make it up to that level by adding water). Add the saffron and enough salt.

For garnish, fry the onion, raisins, and cashews, separately in butter and keep.

Now take two aluminum or any baking trays, and butter them thoroughly. Put one layer of rice, then one layer of masala, then rice. Go on alternately like that and finally end with rice. On the top, spread the garnish. Cover it and bake for 10 minutes at about 300 degree Fahrenheit.