Chickeny rice aka Chicken Biryani
I have no idea when biryani become chickeny rice in this house, but it did and is now an absolute staple. Don’t be intimidated by the long list of ingredients, marinating your chicken and making your own spice paste is super simple and will guarantee a rich biryani, packed full of flavour.
Ingredients
Marinade
220ml plain or greek yoghurt
4 cloves of garlic, grated
1 medium sized chunk of fresh ginger, grated
1 1/2 teaspoons garam masala
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
6-8 skinless and boneless chicken thighs, cut into large pieces.
Spice Paste
2 tbsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
4 cloves of garlic
1 medium sized chunk of fresh ginger
1/2 tsp chilli powder
4 tbsp garam masala
1 tbsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground cinnamon
125ml malt vinegar
60ml sunflower oil
Biryani
Knob of butter
1 large red onion
1 bay leaf (a dried one is fine if you can’t find them fresh)
3 cardamom pods
3 tbsp spice paste
2 tsp tumeric
300g basmati rice
50g sultanas
825ml chicken stock
big bunch of fresh coriander, chopped
flaked almonds, toasted
Method
Start the day before by marinating your chicken and making your spice paste.
In a large bowl put in all the marinading ingredients, a good pinch of salt and some fresh black pepper and mix it all up until there is no white yoghurt left. Stir in your chicken, cover, and place in your fridge.
For the spice paste put the cumin, coriander, and mustard seeds into a dry saucepan over a medium heat and toast them slowly until they are starting to turn brown and become very aromatic.
Place your toasted spices, garlic, ginger, ground spices and salt and pepper in a pestle and mortar and pound until they combine into a thick, smoothish paste. Stir in the vinegar until it is combined.
Het your oil in a small saucepan over a medium heat and fry off your spice mixture for about 5 minutes. You will know when it is ready when the oil begins to separate from the paste.
Let this cool, and place in a airtight container in your fridge.
Let’s make the biryani!
Prepare your rice by soaking it in 300ml of warm water for 30 minutes, then rinse in a sieve until the water runs clear.
Halve and thinly slice your red onion.
In a large, heavy based casserole dish with a lid heat a glug of oil on a medium - high heat. Once it is hot add your marinated chicken and brown all over. Do this in batches if you need to. You don’t want to overcrowd the pan. Once all the chicken is browned, place it in a dish to the side.
Turn the heat down to medium and add in a knob of butter, your sliced onion, bay leaf, and cardamom pods and fry gently until the onion has softened.
Put your chicken back into the pan, along with 3 tbsps of your spice paste and stir until it is all combined and the spice mix is aromatic.
Add in your rice and stir to make sure the rice is fully coated.
Add in your chicken stock and sultanas, give everything a good stir and put a lid on. Let this some to a vigorous boil and then reduce to medium and simmer for 10 minutes.
Take it off the heat and let it sit for 10 minutes and your rice should be perfectly cooked. Use a fork to separate the rice and stir through half of your coriander.
Serve in big bowls topped with more chopped coriander and toasted almonds.
Top Tips
The curry paste will keep for about 4 weeks in an airtight jar in the fridge. It’s also freezable!
If you are pushed for time you can make the spice paste and marinade the chicken on the day. Just give the chicken at least an hour marinading time before cooking it.
If you don’t have a pestle and mortar you can use a food processor or blender to create your spice paste.
