Ambur Chicken Biryani | Ambur Style Chicken Biryani

To the huss weekends are never complete without a plate of chicken biryani. So if I don't make biryanis in the weekend I make it a point to make some by middle of the week. This biryani happened like that. We are not spice lovers, well we like it but we generally prefer mild spices in our food. The ambur version of biryani never fits our bill. Its super spicy and the color of the biryani screams spiciness when you even look at it. This is my version of the ambur biryani cos I have used my own strategies to reduce the spice level. But if you are in for the game then skip the cashew paste in the recipe, reduce the yogurt to 1/4 cup and add more chillies as per your spice level.

Prep time: 10 mins; Cooking time: 40 mins; Serves - 3-4 ~*What U Need*~ Chicken - 1 lb, with bone Oil - 2 tbsp Ghee - 2 tbsp Onions - 1, large, sliced Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp Coriander Leaves - a handful, chopped Mint Leaves - a handful, chopped Tomatoes - 1 large, chopped Thick yogurt - 1/2 cup Biryani rice - 1 1/2 cups Water - 2 cups To grind: Cashews - 5-6, whole To grind separately: Red chillies - 2, seeds removed For biryani masala: Fennel Seeds - 1 tbsp Cinnamon - 1" Cardamom - 2 Star anise - 1/2 Cloves - 2 How I Made it: Wash and soak the rice. Soak the red chillies in hot water for 5 mins. Drain and make it into a smooth puree. Set aside. Grind the cashews and set aside. Heat oil in a kadai. Add 1 bay leaf and fry for a min. Add the onions and saute well. Once golden brown, add the ginger garlic paste and fry till the raw smell goes off. Add the tomatoes and fry well. Add the chopped mint and coriander leaves and saute for a min. Add the fresh biryani powder and saute well. Add the cleaned chicken pieces and mix well. Now add the chilli paste and fry till the chicken is half cooked. Add the cashew paste and fry for 2-3 mins. Add the yogurt and mix well. Add water and the drained rice. Add 2tbsp ghee, give it a stir and pressure cook for 2 whistles. Open the lid and fluff the rice.

Serve with some raitha!!!

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Mughalai Chicken Biryani

By now, you should have known about our love for biryanis. When I say its biryani for lunch or dinner, the boys keep chanting the term till they get some on their plates... I love trying new biryani varieties when the mood sets in and it happened again last week.
It was a weekday and pappu was sound asleep taking his afternoon nap... I felt like doing something and reading a book didn't help... The kitchen seemed to be the destination and biryani the solution... I was going through my biryani booklet when I came upon this mughalai biryani.. The richness called my name and I didn't waste another minute resting on my couch...

~*What U Need*~ Chicken - 500 gm, cleaned Onion - 1, large, sliced Tomato - 1, large, sliced Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp Green chilli - 1 Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp Cumin powder - 1/4 tsp Coriander powder - 1 tsp Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup Mint leaves - 1/4 cup Oil/ Ghee - 2 tbsp Basmati rice - 1 1/2 cup Water - 2 cups To grind to a paste: Cashew - 1/4 cup Almonds - 1/4 cup Poppy seeds - 2 tbsp Yogurt - 1 tbsp For Briyani Masala Powder: Fennel Seeds - 1 tbsp Cinnamon - 1" Cardamom - 2 Star anise - 1/2 Cloves - 2 How I Made it: Dry roast the ingredients under biryani masala and grind in a coffee grinder. Soak the rice in enough water. Grind cashews, almonds, poppy seeds and yogurt to a smooth paste. In a pressure cooker, heat oil and fry the green chilli. Add the onions and saute till brown. Add the ginger-garlic paste and saute till the raw smell goes off. Add the tomatoes and fry till oil separates. Add the spice powders and biryani masala powder. Add the chopped coriander and mint leaves followed by the chicken. Once the chicken is half cooked and leaves water add the ground cashew paste and mix well. Add the soaked rice and water and pressure cook for 2 whistles.

Serve hot!!!

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Channa Biryani / Chickpea Biryani

Did you know that my facebook id got hacked? Like really. Yes it actually got hacked and it was one hell of a day for me when I had to reply to all the messages asking if it really was me, changing my privacy settings to make it all the more private and breaking my head over how it actually happened. So let me warn you that if you are connected with me via FB and you get a second friend request from me, then DONOT accept or give your personal information at any cost. And many thanks to all my dear friends who stood by me and who felt sorry for me and who helped me in blocking that *!&*T@$%&.

Moving on to the recipe, its been a long time that I have posted a biryani recipe here or to be more specific a vegetarian biryani recipe. I like to take a break from chicken biryanis at times. And when I seek that break and something different I make this channa biryani most of the time. Completely nutritious and tummy filling this is best served with some raitha. I had to make something non-veg for the huss and so made some chicken liver fry for the side. Recipe for the same coming soon.

~*What U Need*~ Serves - 2 Basmati Rice - 1 1/4 cup Water - 1 3/4 cups Onions - 2, chopped Tomato - 1, chopped Green chilli - 1 Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp Channa/Chickpea - 1 1/2 cup, ur choice, soaked overnight Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp Coriander powder - 2 tsp Garam masala - 1/2 tsp Biryani masala - 1 tsp, optional Curd - 1/4 cup Cinnamon - 1" Cloves - 2 Cardamom - 2 Coriander leaves - a handful, chopped Mint leaves - a handful, chopped Salt, oil How I Made it: Clean and soak the rice. Heat oil in a pressure cooker, add cinnamon, cloves and cardamom and fry. Throw in the onions and when brown add the slit green chilli, ginger garlic paste and saute till raw smell leaves. Add the tomatoes and fry well. Add the spice powders and when oil starts to separate, add the curd and mix well. Add the chickpeas and saute for 2 mins. Add chopped coriander and mint leaves and then water and rice. Stir well without breaking the rice. Cover and cook for 2 whistles. After the pressure has completely released, uncover and fluff with fork.

Serve hot with raitha or any side dish of choice...

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Chettinad Chicken Biryani | Chicken Biryani ~ Chettinadu Style

Whoever was the first to discover biryani seriously needs a standing ovation. Its a science, making that perfect biryani is a science and skill by itself and it needs experience to get that texture and flavors right. My mom makes the best dum biryani in the world and me and my brother go bongers whenever she makes it. I had never had the courage to attempt her version cos its quite lenghty and I had never had that patience. So I always stick to the pressure cooker version. It is easy but still it took me an year and lots of trials to perfect it. And now I can proudly say that I make a good biryani.

I have started trying new varieties of biryanis these days, the first bring the Dindigul chicken biryani. It was so tasty and it has become a regular in the kitchen. Last week when I was reading the booklet that my MIL had presented, this chettinad biryani had me hooked to it. The ingredients were huge and the process lengthy but I knew that it would be a stunner by taste. And so it was.

~*What U Need*~ For Marination: Chicken - 500 gms, with bone Thick Curd - 2 tbsp Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp Salt - a big pinch For Briyani Masala Powder: Fennel Seeds - 1 tbsp Cinnamon - 1" Cardamom - 2 Star anise - 1/2 Cloves - 2 For Grinding: Pearl Onions - 8-10 Coriander leaves - 1/2 cup Mint leaves - 1/2 cup Green chilli - 1 For the biryani: Onion - 2, chopped, medium Tomato - 1, chopped Green chilli - 2-3 Bay leaf - 1 Cardamom - 1 Cinnamon - 1 inch piece Red chilli powder - 1 tsp Coriander powder - 2 tsp Turmeric powder - a pinch Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp Thick curd - 1/4 cup Coriander and mint leaves - a handful each Salt Oil - 2 tbsp Ghee - 4 tbsp Biryani rice - 1 1/2 cups Coconut milk - 1 cup Water - 1 cup How I Made it: Marinate the chicken with the marination ingredients and set aside for 20 mins. Soak the basmati rice in water for 20 mins. Grind the biryani masala powder in a coffee grinder. Grind the coriander, mint leaves and green chilli and set aside. Grind the pearl onions and set aside. Heat oil and 2 tbsp ghee in the pressure cooker and fry the cardamom, bay leaf, cinnamon and green chillies. Add onions and fry till golden brown. Add the ground pearl onions paste and fry till the oil separates. Add ginger garlic paste and once the raw smell goes off, add the chopped tomatoes. When the tomatoes are cooked till mushy, add the ground mint-coriander paste. Add the curd and mix well followed by the freshly ground biryani masala powder, turmeric, coriander, and red chilli powder. Fry for 3-4 mins. Add the chicken pieces and cook till half done. Meanwhile drain water from the basmati rice and saute this in 1 tbsp ghee till it turns non-sticky. Add the rice to the masala, pour water and coconut milk, season with salt and cook for 2 whistles. Once the pressure is released, add the remaining 1 tbsp ghee and chopped coriander and mint leaves and fold carefully not to break the rice grains.

Serve warm with raitha!!!

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Dindugul Chicken Biryani

By this time you should have atleast got an idea of our love for biryanis and how our Sundays are never complete without a plate of warm chicken biryani. A plate of homemade chicken biryani and a 1-hour nap is what the huss calls a perfect Sunday and a perfect start to the week. I like trying different biryani recipes and when I left to the US my MIL gave me a booklet which had recipes of different types of biryanis. Ya, I know, my MIL is sweet... so sweet that she had xeroxed a special side edition of a famous magazine on biryanis page by page, stapled it into a booklet and handed it over to me on the night of packing.

The book(let) is a treasure, it has all sorts of biryani varieties from thalapakatti to mughalai to dum. This recipe is from the book, ofcourse (duh!!!). The highlight of this biryani is that it uses no tomatoes and gets its richness from thick coconut milk. BTW, I read somewhere that an authentic biryani recipe uses no tomatoes and gets its flavor from the freshly ground spices. That's so true. You have to try this, its rich, its yummy and the freshly ground spices makes your house smell b-i-r-y-a-n-i.

Prep Time: 15 mins; Cooking time: 1 hour; Serves - 3-4 ~*What U Need*~ Basmati Rice - 1 1/2 cup Onion - 1, sliced Green chilli - 2 Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp Chilli powder - 1 tsp Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup, chopped Mint leaves - 1/4 cup chopped Ghee - 1 tbsp Oil - 3 tbsp Thick Coconut milk - 1 cup Water - 1 cup Broken cashews - 3 tbsp Raisins - 2 tbsp Salt For Marination: Chicken - 500 gms, with bone Thick Curd - 1/2 cup Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp Salt - a big pinch For Briyani Masala Powder: Fennel Seeds - 1 tbsp Cinnamon - 1" Cardamom - 2 Star anise - 1/2 Cloves - 2 How I Made it: Marinate chicken with the given ingredients for atleast 30 mins. Grind the ingredients under biryani masala to a fine powder. Wash and soak the basmati rice for 20 mins. Heat oil and ghee in a pressure cooker and fry the cashews and raisins. Add in onions, green chilli and saute till golden. Add the ginger garlic paste and saute till the raw smell goes off. Add in turmeric, chilli powder and the ground masala and fry for 2-3 mins. Now add in the chicken mix. Mix well and cover and cook for 15 mins. In another kadai, add a tsp of ghee and fry the soaked and drained rice for 5 mins. Once it is coated well with the ghee and is free from moisture, add it into the pressure cooker. Add in coriander leaves and mint leaves, coconut milk and water. Season with salt. Cover and cook for 2 whistles. When the pressure has released open and fluff the rice with a fork.

Serve with raita and boiled egg!!!

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Egg Biryani / Mutta Biryani

When it is Sundays, its biryani at home and when it is biryanis, it has to be chicken or mutton biryani for the huss... I make my prawn biryani occasionally but that has never been welcomed like the chicken biryani. And so I stick to the later. A few weeks back it so happened that we were having take-aways every alternate day and it somehow had chicken in it ;). So the same Sunday when we didn't want to have chicken but we wanted biryani, I planned to make this egg biryani.

This biryani is easy to make, satisfies that biryani craving and is just right when you are out of time and have guests around. Serve it with some raitha, boondhi raitha woould be great but onion raitha goes well too. You could make this by the traditional dum method too but you know my aversion to that method and so I go by the pressure cooker method. But if you are not lazy like me and have that patience then go for the dum biryani method which I have explained in my Chicken Dum Biryani post.

~*What U Need*~ Basmati Rice - 1 1/2 cups Water - 2 cups Onions - 2, large Tomatoes - 2, medium Green chilli - 1 Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tsp Red chilli powder - 1 tsp Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp Garam masala - 1/4 tsp Biryani masala - 1 tsp Buttermilk - 1/2 cup Hard boiled eggs - 2 Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup Mint leaves - 1/4 cup Salt, Oil Ghee - 2 tbsp Cinnamon - 1" Cloves - 2 Cardamom - 2

How I Made it:
Clean basmati rice and soak in water for 15 mins. Heat oil + 1 tbsp ghee in a pressure cooker. Add cinnamon, cloves and crushed cardamom and fry till brown. Add the slit green chilli and onions and fry till brown. Add ginger garlic paste and saute till the raw smell goes off.

Next throw in the tomatoes and fry well. Add the spice powders and fry for 5 mins. Add the buttermilk and mix well.

Slit the hard boiled eggs slightly and add this to the masala. Add the mint and coriander leaves. Fry till all the water evaporates. Remove the eggs, add water and basmati rice and cook for 2 whistles. Once the pressure has released, fluff with fork and serve with the eggs.

Serve hot with raita of choice.

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(Amma Cooks) Chicken Dum Biryani

Tell me one non-vegetarian who doesn't like Chicken dum biryani. I am yet to find one. Am no exception too. I love this biryani or let me put it this way, I have a love-hate relationship with this biryani. Love it cos it is mind-blowingly delicious, hate it cos it is outrageously painstaking and labor-intensive... All with its chopping, sauteing, frying and more chopping, it gives you one hell of a time. But end of the day, I can assure you that you will be getting a plate of pure bliss that will leave you wanting for more. That is "the fruit of labor" that you are left with.

I can never stand in the kitchen for hours, chopping onions, frying 'em in one burner of the stove and sauteing 'em in the other, making the masala, fluffing the rice and finally putting them together. I am not that kind and so I never think about trying my hands on the ever famous Chicken Dum Biryani. Moreover hubby prefers the one-pot pressure cooker biryani to this and that makes things easy. Also when you have an SME at home you never have to worry about it.

Amma makes the best dum biryanis and when it is dum biryani at home, appa dons the chef's hat too. He helps her (BTW he is so good at chopping onions), chopping onions like a breeze, cleaning chicken with such skill, following her instructions to the 'T'. So whenever I have that craving for home amma-cooked dum biryani, I call them down and enjoy it to the fullest. Its that simple, so now you know why I never bothered to give it a shot.

This time when she made it, I was there with my camera to click step by step pics but having a kid on his toes never helps with things going the planned way. Finally I had to abandon the camera and the task too. But I did take decent shots of the dum biryani and I so wanted to share it with you. I will update the post with the tutorial soon.

~*What U Need*~ Servings - 6 to 8 Chicken - 1/2 kg Oil, Salt For the Rice: Basmati rice - 2 1/2 cups Water - 5 cups Ghee - 2 tbsp Cardamom - 2 Cloves - 3 Cinnamon - 2 1" piece Bay leaf - 1 Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp Salt For the masala Onion - 1/2 kg Tomato - 200 g Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp Coriander powder - 1 1/2 tsp Garam masala - 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp For frying Sliced onions - 1 cup Cashew - a handful Raisins - a handful Ghee/oil - to fry To grind Coriander leaves - half a bunch/a handful Mint leaves - half a bunch/ a handful Grated coconut - 1/4 cup Green chilli - 4 Sour curd - 1/4 cup Saffron - 1/4 tsp soaked in warm milk

How I She Made it:
Prep work:
Grind coconut into a smooth mixture. Grind mint leaves, coriander leaves, green chilli and curd into a coarse mixture. Set aside. Soak the rice for 10 mins. Lets prep it up next. Heat oil in a big kadai, add ghee, fry the crushed cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, bayleaf. Add the rice and fry foir 5 mins till the water evaporates. Add the water, salt and cook till 75% done. Remove and fluff with work. Set aside to cool down. Heat oil to fry the onions. Deep fry the sliced onions till brown. Remove and set aside. Similarly fry the cashews and raisins.

Method:
In the same pan, add the remaining chopped onions and fry till golden brown. Add the ginger garlic paste and fry till the raw smell goes off. Add the chopped tomatoes and fry till oil separates. Add the masala powders and fry well. Add the chicken and cook till the water separates and half done. Add the coconut mixture and fry well. Once the sauce starts thickening up, add the coriander-mint paste and cook till you get a semi-gravy. Season with salt.

Take a large cooker and grease with ghee. Add a layer of rice followed by a layer of gravy. Sprinkle fried onion, cashews, raisins, chopped mint leaves and a pinch of garam masala. Repeat till you are out of rice and gravy finishing with rice, fried onions and mint leaves and saffron milk. Close with the pressure cooker lid with the whistle on. Place this setup on top of a dosa tawa filled with sand and cook in low flame for 15-20 mins or till the mint leaves on the top get cooked.

Serve hot with raitha and boiled egg!!!

** My Notes:
** The cooking time of the rice is very important so be careful.
** When cooking on dosa tawa, do it on very low flame.
** Also add a dollop of ghee on the top for more flavor.

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Prawn Biryani / Chemmeen Biryani / Shrimp Biryani ~ Pressure Cooker Version

Foreword: Me and the huss are hard-core non-vegetarians, the favorite being chicken. But considering our love for non-veg dishes, this blog holds very little NV dishes. In my quest to fill up the Non-veg index, I am starting to post a few chicken, mutton and prawn recipes here. And with Christmas round the corner, I think this is the best time. So veggie readers please ignore the next few posts.
Prawns had never appealed to me before marriage and as back as my memories can take me, I can never recall amma making prawn dishes for us. I was first introduced to prawns after my marriage when my MIL made a delicious prawn thokku for our dinner. Said hubby loved to have it with chapathis or dosas. I detested prawns then and after loads of requests and assurance from my MIL, I took a bite and from then I have been hooked to the taste of prawns. When cooked properly, I would say these are the best sea food, next to crab ~ okay atleast in my list.

I have not followed the traditional dum method here but have used the pressure cooker. To be frank, till date I have not tried making biryani using the dum method. Amma does it but me, I have never even thought about trying it. Using the pressure cooker takes half the time of the dum method but yields good results not the best but good and I am satisfied with that. Whenever Amma comes here, she makes me her chicken dum biryani and I am fine with the occasional taste.

Coming to this prawn biryani, I opted to make this when I had only 1 hour to lunch. I had to go grocery shopping and by the time I reached home it was 11. Had planned to make fish curry and prawn thokku for our lunch, but then was out of time ~ had to run to the fish market to get the prawns, had to come back, clean, de-vein them and then the clock struck 12. By the time, a curry and thokku was literally out-of-focus for me and that is when I decided to make this one pot biryani. The prep took 15 mins, another 30 mins for marination, used that to rest myself and the biryani was done in another 30 mins. Serve it with some onion raitha and it makes a lip smacking meal.

~*What U Need*~ Shrimp / Prawn - 1/2 kg Basmati rice - 1 1/2 cups Water - 2 cups To Marinate the prawns: Lemon juice - 1 tbsp Red Chilli powder - 1 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp Cumin powder - 1 pinch Salt to taste Cinnamon stick - 1" Cloves - 2 Cardamom pods - 2 Onions - 3, medium Tomato - 2, medium Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsps Curd - 1/3 cup Coriander powder - 2 tsp Red Chilli powder - 1 tsp Garam masala - 1/2 tsp Biryani masala - 1/2 tsp Cumin powder - a pinch To grind Mint leaves - 1/4 cup Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup Green chilli - 1 Grated coconut - 3 tbsps Salt, Oil Ghee - 2 tbsp Chopped coriander, mint leaves - a handful

How I Made it:
Peel, de-vein and clean the prawns. Marinate the prawns with ingredients given under to marinate for 30 mins. In a non-stick pan, shallow fry the prawns for 2-3 mins on each side. Set aside. Grind the ingredients under to grind to a smooth paste. Clean and soak basmati rice for 15 mins.

Heat oil in a pressure cooker, add cinnamon, cloves and rushed cardamom pods and fry. Add the chopped onions, fry. Add ginger garlic paste and fry till the raw smell goes off. Add the tomatoes and fry till oil oozes out.

Add the spice powders and mix well. Add the ground masala and mix. Fry for 5 mins. Add the curd and stir. Next dump in the fried prawns and mix well. Fry for 2 mins.

Add water, basmati rice, chopped mint and coriander leaves and ghee, give a mix and pressure cook for 2 whistles. Once the pressure leaves, remove lid and fluff with fork.

Serve hot with raita of choice.

So thats it Folks...
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