Ingredients of kolkata chicken biryani

• 1 kg Basmati rice or long grain rice
• 1kg 200 gms chicken
• 4 medium potatoes
• 3 medium to large onions
• 2 tsp garlic paste
• 1 1/2 tsp ginger paste
• 1/2 lemon juice
• 1/2 cup tok doi or curd
• 1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder
• 3 1/2 tsp biryani masala
• 3 drops of rose essence
• 1 1/2 tsp kewra water
• 8-9 drops mitha attar
• 1 pinch of saffron strand
• 4 tbsp milk
• 5 bay leaves
• 2-3 inch cinnamon stick
• 8-10 cloves
• 10 green cardamom or elaichi
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 10-12  tbsp of ghee
• 1/2 cup of refined oil
• salt(as required)
• 6-7 hard-boiled eggs(optional)
• 50 gms bay leaves(for spreading on the bottom)

Ingredients of Bengali Biryani masala

• 1 tsp shah jeera
• 1 tsp white peppercorn
• 25 green cardamom or elaichi
• 1 1/2 mace or javitri
• 1 1/2 inch cinnamon stick
• 1/4 nutmeg or jaifal
• 1 tsp kabab chini or allspice
• 5 cloves

Rice

You need to have some good quality Basmati rice. If you use aged rice even better. Wash the rice under running water and then immerse them in water for at least half an hour. This will get rid of excess starch, resulting beautiful non-sticky rice grains.

To prepare the rice, take 4 or 5 cups of water in a pan and bring it to a boil. Add couple of green cardamom, 1 clove and a cinnamon stick. Add a pinch of salt.

When the water starts to boil, add the rice and cook till it is done.  Drain the extra water. Clean under running water to get rid of excess starch and salt. Take a flat plate and spread the rice.

Chicken

Prepare Onions

Cut 4 or 5 onions and fry them with a pinch of sugar in 2 tbs of oil till they caramelize.

We will use half of the onions to cook the chicken and half for assembling the final dish.

Prepare Ginger Garlic paste

We will need a lot of garlic for this dish. The ratio to ginger and garlic should be approximately 1:3.

After you peel the garlic and ginger blend them in a blender with a spoonful of water till you get a smooth paste.

Preparing Saffron

Take 2 spoonful of warm milk (or water) and add a pinch of saffron strands and keep it aside so the milk gets the color.

If you do not have saffron handy then take same amount of water and add a pinch of turmeric. The effect will be the same. But be careful, do not add a lot of turmeric, it will ruin the aroma of the dish.

Cooking the Chicken

Wash the chicken pieces and pat them dry with a kitchen towel or clean cloth. I usually use whole leg pieces for this preparation, as they taste better.

Heat 2 tbs of oil in a pan and sear  all the chicken pieces.

Searing means, frying all the sides till they start  getting a golden color. This  also seals the moisture in the meat. This also stops the meat from releasing a lot of water while cooking.

After the chicken pieces starts to get a golden brown color, add half of the fried onions, all the ginger-garlic paste, plain curd, 1 tbs biryani spice-mix, 1 tbs red chili powder, 2 tsp rose water (if you are using rose essence then use 1 tsp), 1 tsp Keora water and salt.

Do not use a lot of keora water, it tends to make the dish taste bitter

Mix well and bring it to a simmer. Reduce the heat and let it cook for at least 20 mins. Check occasionally, if required add a little water. We do not want a lot of gravy.

When done take the chickens off the heat and keep them in a separate bowl. We will use the pan to fry the potatoes. We will use the chicken pieces and gravy separately. You can sieve the gravy to get rid of all the chunky pieces, but I am too lazy to do that.

Prepare Potatoes

Take two potatoes, cut them  into four pieces each and cook them in a pressure cooker with a pinch of salt. When done keep them aside.

In the same pan, after finishing the chicken, fry the boiled potatoes till they start to acquire some golden color. Turn off the heat.

It is now time to assemble all the pieces to get our Holy-Grail.

Assembly

Now that we have all the elements of biryani ready, we just need to assemble them.

Take a heavy bottom pan.

Since we are going to cook the biryani on a low heat for a long time, we need to use a heavy bottom pan; else there is a possibility of burning  the lower portion which eventually sticks to the pan.

In the pan put the potatoes, chicken legs at the bottom, top it up with 2 tbs of gravy, some fried onion and a pinch of biryani spices.

Now add a layer of rice. Top it up with fried onion, 1 tbs of gravy, a pinch of biryani spice-mix and 1 tsp of saffron water (or milk). Put another layer of rice. Top it up with fried onion, 1 tbs of gravy, a pinch of biryani spice and a tsp of saffron water (or milk). Add the last layer of rice. Top it up with fried onion, a pinch of biryani spices and 1 tsp of saffron water (or milk). Finish it with a dollop of ghee 🙂 .

Cover the pan with a lid. Try to use a pan with a fitting cover. We want the aroma to be sealed as much as possible. Put the pan on low flame and cook it for 10 mins. Turn off the heat and let it rest for another 5 mins.

Your Biryani is ready to serve.