Chicken Dum Biryani

Ingredients

Basmati rice: 4 cups

Chicken pieces: 1 kg

Mint leaves (Pudina): 1 cup

Coriander leaves: 1 cup

Chopped onion: 2 cups

Yogurt: 2 cups

Ghee: 6-7 tsp

Ginger Garlic paste: 2-3 tsp

Lemon juice: 4-5 tsp

Coriander powder: 2 tsp

Garam masala powder: 1 tsp

Chili powder: 2-3 tsp

Bay leaves: 5

Cinnamon: 5-6 medium sized

Cloves: 8-10

Caraway seeds (Shah Jeera): 1 tsp  

Black cardamom: 2-3

Green cardamom: 2-3

Star Anise: 2-3

Mace: 2-3

Nutmeg: ¼th piece

Salt: To taste

Method

Grind mint and coriander leaves. And the grinded paste, ginger garlic paste, coriander powder, garam masala, lemon juice, chili powder and salt to yogurt and mix well. Marinade chicken in this paste for 5-6 hours.  

Heat 2-3 tsp of oil in a vessel and add onion, sauté till golden brown, remove from the heat and keep aside. Heat another 2-3 tsp of oil and add bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon, black cardamoms, green cardamoms, star anise, mace, nutmeg and caraway seeds. Sauté well and remove the spices from heat and keep aside.

Wash basmati rice, add the fried spices and cook the rice and keep aside.

Heat ghee in a vessel and add the marinated chicken pieces. Cover the lid and cook till the chicken is tender. Remove lid and cook till water evaporates and chicken is left with a thick gravy. Keep aside.

Take a large vessel and spread a layer of chicken with gravy and top it with some fried onion. Spread some cooked rice on this layer. Again spread a layer of the remaining chicken with gravy and top it with some more fried onion and spread the remaining cooked rice over this layer. Top it with the remaining fried onion. Cover tightly with the lid so that the steam does not escape (I use flour dough to seal the lid tightly around the vessel). Cook on a very low flame for 10 minutes (I keep the vessel on a hot tava and cook it for 15 minutes. When cooked on indirect heat, the rice and chicken does not get burnt). Remove from the flame and serve with cucumber raita.