Chicken Tikka Biryani

Eid Mubarak to all muslims around the globe, usually for Eid  lunch I always make Tandoori Chicken with Matar Pulao, but this time I wanted to go for some thing different and thought of making Chicken Tikka Biryani instead, The method outlined below may seem to be a long procedure but believe me its not that hard to make as it may sound.  

Ingredients:

1 kg chicken cut in to 8, 12 or 16 pieces

1tbsp tsp ginger garlic paste

1 & 1/2 tsp red Chili Powder 

¼ cup lemon Juice or vinegar 

1 tsp salt  

¼ cup yogurt  

1 tsp garam masala   powder

A pinch of tandoori food color

2 tbsp oil  

Method:

 1)  Prick the chicken pieces with a fork and make several deep slits in on each piece (if using 4 pieces)

2) make a paste by combining lemon juice (or vinegar), ginger garlic paste, salt, red chili powder, garam masala powder, yogurt and tandoori color Rub this paste on all the chicken pieces, coat the chicken pieces with this marinade, and let the chicken marinate for minimum 4 hours or maximum 8 hours for best results. ( I left it over night in fridge)

3) Once the chicken pieces are marinated and ready to be cooked, you have 3 options, to grill it, roast it in oven or steam it, for pot cooking put the chicken pieces along with all the marinade and 2 tbsp of oil in a large pan, cover with a lid and let it cook on low heat, turning once or twice until the chicken get done. It will take 25-20 minutes to get ready.

4) Don’t waste the left over gravy, it will be added to masala we make for biryani.

For Gravy:

3/4 cup oil

3/4 cup yogurt

3-4 medium onions (thinly sliced, about 250gms)

4-5 medium tomatoes (finely chopped)

1tbsp ginger garlic paste

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 big black cardamom

1 large cinnamon stick

4-5 cloves

8-10 black pepper corns

1 large bay leaf

Salt (to taste)

1 ½ tsp red chili powder (you can adjust it depending upon how spicy you want it to be)

½ tsp turmeric powder

1/4 tsp yellow food color

3-4 tbsp milk

A bunch of mint

A small bunch of fresh coriander chopped

2-3 chopped green chilies

½ cup dried alu Bukhara/ prunes (optional)

Method:

1) Heat oil in a pan and fry the onions till they get golden brown, turn off the heat and take out some of the browned onions for later use.

2) Now turn the flame on again and add cumin seeds, bay leaf, green cardamoms, black cardamom, cinnamon stick and ginger garlic paste, fry it well for 2 minutes.

3) Add in the chili powder, salt, turmeric powder, yogurt, chopped tomatoes, cover the pan and let it cook on low-medium till the tomatoes get dissolved and raw smell of masala has gone.

4) Now add in the chicken tikka pieces along with all the left over marinade/gravy and mix every thing together, adjust the salt and chili, , cover the pan again and let cook on low flame for 5-10 minutes and turn off the flame. (You can add ¼ cup of water if the gravy seems to be to dry)

5) Mean while Put the coal over medium flame, wait until the coal is fully red and is covered by white ash. Put a small piece of aluminum foil in middle of the chicken pieces. Place the burned coal over it and put 2-3 drops of oil on it. Cover it at once with a tight fitting lid and put aside. Remove the coal after 5 minutes.

For Rice:

750 gm rice (soaked for 30 minutes before boiling)

 Take a large pan and bring the water to boil, add in 3-4 tsp of salt, along with one cinnamon stick, 3-4 cloves, 2-3 green cardamoms, and a tsp of cumin seeds.  Once the water starts to boil add in the rice and cook till rice are half done, drain and set aside

For Layering:

1) Mean while mix together yellow food color in ¼ cup of milk.

2) Spread chopped coriander, chopped green chilies and mint leaves on top chicken masala, followed by the layer of boiled rice. Spread the fried onions we kept aside.  Swirl over the milk mixture, cover the pan by using by damp kitchen towel and placing it over the pan then placing a lid on top.

3) Transfer the pan to a hot tava (flat pan) to prevent the biryani from sticking to the bottom. Cook on high flame for 5 minutes, then let it cook on very low heat for 20-30 minutes and turn of the flame. 

* To serve, gently stir the rice and dish out in to serving dish, along with some salad, and raita.