Thalassery Biryani

• Gluten free

• Meat

  • 10 bone-in pieces Chicken

• Produce

  • 3 Bay leaves
  • 1/4 chopped cup Cilantro
  • 2 chopped handfuls Cilantro
  • 2 powder tsp Fennel
  • 4 chopped large cloves Garlic
  • 3 chopped inch Ginger
  • 1 Green chilies
  • 1 Mint, leaves
  • 1 Mint, fresh leaves
  • 1 Oil- enough to fry onions
  • 1 Onions
  • 7 Tomatoes

• Condiments

  • 2 tbsp Lemon juice

• Pasta & Grains

  • 1 Kaima rice or jeerakasala rice

• Baking & Spices

  • 4 Cardamom, Whole
  • 2 Cardamom, Whole
  • 1 Cinnamon
  • 1 Cinnamon 2 inch, Whole slice
  • 3 Cloves, whole
  • 2 Cloves, whole
  • 1/4 tsp Nutmeg, ground
  • 1 tsp Peppercorns, whole black
  • 1 Saffron
  • 1 Salt
  • 3 pinches Salt

• Nuts & Seeds

  • 1/2 roasted cup Cashew nuts
  • 1/4 powder tsp Cumin

• Dairy

  • 2 tbsp Ghee

• Liquids

  • 1 Water

Found on thasneen.com

Description

Ingredients

• Onions, sliced evenly- thin and long- 7
• Oil- enough to fry onions (for more flavor, use half oil and half ghee)
• Cardamom whole- 4
• Cloves whole- 3
• Cinnamon whole- 3 inch slice
• Ground Nutmeg- ¼ tsp
• Fennel powder- 2 tsp
• Cumin powder- ¼ tsp
• Ginger, chopped- 3 inch
• Garlic, chopped- 4 large cloves
• Green chilies- 6 to 8 (based on your spice level)
• Tomatoes, chopped- 7
• Chicken, bone-in- 10 pieces
• Mint leaves, chopped- 10 leaves
• Cilantro, chopped- ¼ cup
• Lemon juice- 2 tbsp
• Salt- to taste
• Kaima Rice or Jeerakasala rice- 2½ cups ( or use Basmati rice)
• Whole cardamom- 2
• Whole cloves- 2
• Whole cinnamon- 2 inch slice
• Bay leaves- 3
• Whole black peppercorns- 1 tsp
• Ghee- 2 tbsp
• Salt- a few pinches
• Water- 3 cups (to cook in rice cooker)
• Cashew nuts, roasted- ½ cup
• Cilantro, chopped- 2 handfuls
• Fresh Mint leaves, chopped- 5 leaves
• Saffron- 2 pinches soaked in ¼ cup milk

Directions

• Slice the onions evenly to thin long slices, or use a food processor and use the slicer blade to slice onions.
• Place a frying pan over medium heat, add oil or use half oil and half ghee and fry the onions in 5 batches till they turn golden brown in color. Transfer the fried onions to a kitchen paper towel and let it absorb the excess oil.
• Keep aside the fried onions.
• In a blender, blend the ingredients mentioned above for making the garam masala and keep aside.
• In a blender or food processor, grind the ginger, garlic and green chilies, keep aside.
• For making this biryani, Kaima rice or jeerakasala rice is used. If not use Basmati rice.
• I cooked the rice in a rice cooker.
• Add the washed rice along with the other ingredients mentioned above for cooking rice. While cooking in rice cooker, you dont need to add too much water. For 2½ cups rice, 3 to 3½ cups water will be enough. Cook the rice and Keep aside.
• Place a large pan over medium heat, add the chopped tomatoes, let cook and turn mushy.
• Add the ground ginger, garlic and green chilies, combine well and cook for a few minutes till the raw smell goes away.
• Add the mint leaves, combine well.
• Add chicken pieces, season with salt and cook along with ¼ cup water, cook covered till the chicken has cooked well.
• Add ¾ th of the fried onions to the cooked chicken (keep aside the remaining fried onions- it will be used for topping the biryani).
• Combine well and cook covered for 5 minutes so that the flavor of fried onions gets into the cooked chicken.
• Add the prepared garam masala, combine well and cook for a couple of minutes.
• Add chopped cilantro and lemon juice. Combine well.
• If the mixture gets too dry, add a few tablespoons of water and cook for a minute.
• Make sure the chicken masala is not watery. Taste and add more salt if needed.
• In a bowl, soak the saffron in ¼ cup milk and keep aside for 5 minutes.
• Evenly spread the chicken masala as the bottom layer of the pan.
• Spread the cooked rice over the chicken masala.
• Drizzle the saffron milk over the rice.
• Spread the remaining fried onions, chopped mint, chopped cilantro and cashew nuts over the rice.
• Cover tightly with aluminum foil and place a lid or round pizza pan over the pan.
• Place the pan over very low heat and dum cook (dum means to breathe in) for 10 minutes.
• You could also dum cook in an oven- preheat the oven to the lowest oven temperature, layer the chicken masala and rice and other ingredients in a deep dish, cover with aluminum foil and place it on the lower rack and cook for 10 minutes.
• After 10 minutes of dum cooking, remove the pan from the heat or oven.
• Let cool down for a few minutes.
• Serve the biryani along with raita, pickle or pappad.
• Remember, biryani tastes better the next day. You could cook this the previous night and keep in the refrigerator. Microwave or steam cook before serving.