Special Fried Chicken Biriyani (Kerala style)

So another addition to our biriyani collection . This recipe is actually very special as there are so many reasons to it , As the ingredients that we add makes it absolutely rich, tasty and super yum ,we add a good amount of fried onions, nuts , tutti fruity , Orange juice and also pure ghee.

Also we do not dum the chicken and the rice together. Both are separately cooked and only the rice is kept under dum . Then we serve them by layering the rice and topping it with chicken masala and then the fried nuts, raisins and onions.

The main highlight for the biriyani is we use deep fried chicken that absolutely boosts the taste . Next we prepare a special onion tomato masala as to get the fresh feel of the orange we add the zest towards the end that makes it more special . Next we layer and dum the long grain basmati by adding orange juice and sliced orange pieces so while you dum the flavors of the orange juice gets infused in the rice and it becomes even more flavorful.

Even though its a time consuming process the result is just fablous . I 100% guarantee you that you will definitely enjoy the biriyani. Also you can call this to a fusion biriyani as most of the places pineapples are added to enhance the flavor but this recipe proves that Orange also perfectly blends and enhances the taste of the Biriyani.

Special fried chicken biriyani can be served with Boiled egg, Curd raita, Papadam & Pickle.

Before starting the process there are few things that has to be prepared like the fried onions, Roasted cashews and rasins, Freshly squeezed orange juice, soaked good quality long grain rice, marinated chicken etc.

Fried onions

Slice the onions thinly and then start cooking it with 2 tbsp Ghee and 1 tbsp oil, add salt for speeding the process. Cook until golden brown and crisp .

Fried Nuts and rasins

Serves 4

Pre cooking of the Rice:

• 4 Cups Long grain good quality Rice (750 grams)
• Whole spices – 2 cloves, 2 cardamom, 1/2 tsp fennel ,2 star anise, 1 Bay leaf, 5-6 pepper corns,1/2 inch cinanmon stick
• 1 tbsp Ghee
• More than sufficient water
• Salt

Chicken Marination

• 500 grams Chicken (cut medium pieces)
• 1 tbsp normal chili powder
• 1 tsp Kashmiri chili powder
• 1/2 tsp Cumin powder
• 1 tsp Garam masala
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• Salt
• 1 tbsp – lemon juice
• 2 tbsp of warm ghee

Onion Masala base

• 2 Large onion – Sliced thinly
• 1 Large tomato – Chopped small size
• Crush – 15 small onions, 4 garlic cloves, 1/2 inch ginger, 6 spicy green chilies
• 1.5 tsp Kashmiri chili powder (adjust accordingly)
• 2 tsp Biiryani masala (I used Eastern Biriyani masala)
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• Salt
• 1/4 tsp of Orange zest
• half the portion of fried onions. roasted nuts, mint leaves, coriander leaves.

Rice Dum.

• Cooked rice (flavored rice)
• 1 Cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• Mint & Coriander leaves -1/4 cup(chopped)
• Fried onions, nuts and raisins
• Slices of orange
• Tutty Fruitty (optional)

Method

Step 1 : Chicken Marination & Deep Fry

Marinate the chicken with the ingredients mentioned under Chicken marination and marinate the chicken for a min of 30 mins to 1 hour in room temperature. After the marination deep fry the chicken pieces and keep it aside.

Step 2: Rice Cooking

To a heavy bottomed vessel add more than sufficient water for the rice to cook. then add salt , then the whole spices . The salt should be slightly high . When the water comes to a boil add a tbsp of ghee and then add the soaked and drained long grain rice . Cook until 80 % drain and keep it aside.

Step 3: Biriyani masala/ Gravy

Use the same kadai that you have used for the fried onions Then add a tbsp of ghee if needed then add the crushed small onions, ginger garlic , chili mix and sorte until the raw smells leaves then add the sliced onions cook until translucent then add the tomatoes and cook until they are 80 % done.

Step 4: Add the powders red chili powder, turmeric powder and biriyani masala , salt cook until the raw smell leaves. Once the oil starts separating and the masalas are completely cooked add the fried chicken pieces just mix on to the gravy and finally add the orange zest , fried onions, nuts , mint & coriander leaves just slightly mix and off the flame and immediately close and keep for around 20 mins. before assembling.

Step 5: Dum the rice

To a thick bottomed vessel grease the bottom with ghee and start adding the cooked rice when you are half way add half of the orange juice, mint leaves, coriander leaves, nuts, tutty fruity , 2 tsp of ghee, then layer down the next batch of rice and repeat the process and finally place 3 slices of orange. Seal the top with aluminum foil or a heavy lid to secure the flavor . Place it over a dosa pan or a tawa and keeping the flame on medium low flame dum the rice for 15 mins. Do not open the lid immediately allow it to set for another 15 mins. This helps the rice to absorb the flavors of the orange.Discard the orange slice after dum.

Step 6: Serve the rice and top it with the chicken masala. Enjoy Warm !

Points to remember:

• Use good quality basamati rice for perfect and best results. Cook the rice until 80% . Allow to cook the rice to roughly cool before you assemble and dum the rice.
• Adding Ghee to the chicken marination helps the chicken to become tender and also while deep frying it absorbs less oil.
• Adding orange absolutely enhances the whole flavor to the biriyani You can definitely add the level of the orange according to your taste and preference.
• For fried onions and nuts the ratio of Ghee and oil should be 2:1 as that gets to a perfect flavor and texture to the fried onions and the nuts.
• Use less mint leaves as we don’t want it to over dominate the flavor.