Ambur Biryani

This Recipe is courtesy Deepak

This is an interesting recipe which we enjoyed during our forced bachelor-hood days at Nuneaton, England.

It is very easy to make and awesome in taste!

Chicken Cooking

Biryani!

Ingredients: (Serves 12-14 people)

1. Chicken - 2kgs drumsticks
2. Basmati Rice - 1.5 kgs 
3. Onion -  2kgs (Sliced)
4. Tomatoes - 1.5 Kgs (Finely chopped)
5. Coriander leaves - 1 bunch
6. Mint Leaves (Pudina) - 1 bunch
7. Fresh Garlic Paste - 150-200 gms
8. Fresh Ginger Paste - 100 gms
9. Green Chillis - 7/8 medium hot
10. Bay Leaves - 3-4 leaves
11. Star Anise - 4
12. Big Cardamom (Badi eliachi) - 1
13. Cinnamon - 1 big stick
14. Stone Flower (dagad phool) - 5-6 (optional)
15. Lemon Juice 6 lemons
16. Yoghurt - 500 gms (hang it in a cloth for a couple of hours to remove water or use greek yoghurt)
17. Ghee - 300 gms
18. Oil - As required
19. Salt - As required
20. Red Chilli Powder - 10-12 teaspoons
21. Cumin (Jeera) Powder - 2 teaspoon
22. Coriander (Dhaniya) Powder - 4 teaspoon

Marinade for Chicken:

1. Oil - 2-3  tablespoon
2. Cumin (Jeera) powder - 2 teaspoon
3. Red Chilli powder - 4 teaspoons (put more if you want it spicy)
4. Coriander (Dhaniya) powder - 4 teaspoons
5. Ginger Paste - 50 gms
6. Garlic paste - 75-100 gms

Mix all the above in a bowl. Take chicken drumsticks and put 2-3 long, deep cuts in each of them. Fully coat the chicken drumsticks with the above mix and keep it in a fridge for 3-4 hours (overnight is desirable).

Preparation:

1. Take a large pan and heat 300 gms of ghee and an equal amount of oil 
2. Put star anise, big cardamom, cinnamon stick, bayleaves, dagad phool in the oil and let it fry for few seconds
3. Put Onion, 150 gms of garlic paste, 75 gms of ginger paste and saute till the onion is golden brown
4. Put Tomatoes and let it cook for a while until the whole thing attains consistency
5. Put salt and red chilli powder and cook for a while. Add chopped green chillies
6. Add chicken drumsticks, chopped coriander, chopped mint leaves and cook for a while
7. Once the chicken is half cooked, add the juice of 3-4 lemons and add yoghurt
8. Mix everything well and let it cook on low flame
9. In parallel - Half cook the basmati rice in a separate container. Add salt.
10. Drain water from the rice and put the half-cooked rice in the large pan in which masala is cooking and mix well 
11. Put the lid and seal the container and let it cook in slow heat for 30 minutes

Open the lid and Serve YUMMY Biryani! :-)