Chicken Briani

    Lunch & Dinner · Chicken · Rice · Main Meal · Street Food · Eid · Party Food · Picnics

    Biryani is such a unique dish full of flavours who will ravish the mouth of any person tasting it. It is one of the most famous dishes in Mauritius and the favorite of nearly every Mauritians, often cooked when celebrating something special like for a wedding or any other festivals.

    Ingredients

    • 1.5 kg Basmati Rice
    • 1 kg Onion (sweet onion is preferred)
    • 1 kg Potato
    • 1.5 kg Chicken (leg or thigh)
    • Chopped Coriander and Mint leaves
    • Salt and vegetable oil
    • Ginger and Garlic Paste
    • 1 Cup Yoghurt
    • Yellow Food Colouring
    • Butter Ghee
    • Biryani Spices
    • 3 Green Chillies
    • Anise seeds, cinnamon and cardamom for rice

    Preparation

    1. Chop and deep fry 3/4 of onions (Can be fried night before and keep in refrigerator to save time). Tip: While frying add a pinch of salt to make it more crispy
    2. Drain, spread the fried onions on a plate and keep aside
    3. Peel, cut potatoes in halves and fork
    4. Add salt and food colouring
    5. Deep fry on high heat. Tip: Potatoes should be well fried as compared to chicken
    6. Blend the remaining 1/4 of onions, adding a little water and keep aside
    7. Marinate the chicken with salt and 2 tbsp of ginger garlic paste
    8. Quick fry the chicken (optional) - Do not over fry. Tip: Frying the chicken prevent it from falling apart while cooking
    9. Wash and soak rice. Tip: use high quality long grain rice and soak for atleast 30 minutes
    10. In the cooking pot, pour the onion paste
    11. Add 5 tbsp of ginger garlic paste
    12. Add 4 tbsp of Biryani spices
    13. Add 1/2 of fried onions
    14. Carefully, place the chicken and potatoes
    15. Add 2 cups of water
    16. Add green chillies
    17. Add the chopped mint and coriander leaves
    18. Add 1 cup of yogurt and salt to taste
    19. Tip: Hold the pot, move to mix to prevent chicken and potatoes from coming into pieces
    20. Boil water in another pot for rice
    21. Add salt to taste
    22. Pour the soaked rice
    23. Add anise seeds, cardamom and cinnamon
    24. Tip: Do not overboil or underboil rice. To check if the rice is done, press one, if it breaks easily then it is cooked just right
    25. When water starts to boil again, use a slotted spoon to transfer the rice to the cooking pot by layers adding fried onions in between
    26. Tip: Transfering in little quantity make sure that rice on top are better boiled than bottom
    27. Pour a little food colour mixed with water
    28. Top with butter ghee and rest of fried onions
    29. Cover and let cook on dum (low heat) for 20 minutes
    30. Use a load on top of the pot
    31. Tip: if you are using a big pot (like in this video) on a gas cooker, move around the pot on the gas to make sure the heat is distributed evenly
    32. Use a long cutlery (e.g a fork) to penetrate into the Biryani to check if the spices have dried
    33. Serve with chutney, tomato salsa, cucumber and carrot salad and pickles

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