Basic Biryani Food

THE BEST BIRYANI

Steps:

• Soak rice for half an hour.
• Cook in rice cooker with 15 cups of water. Cook rice until almost done.
• Fry onions in oil until golden brown.
• Add ginger and garlic.
• Add chili powder, cloves, cardamom, pepper corn, cumin, curry, graham masala, coriander, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, dried plums, and salt.
• Add yogurt.
• Add tomatoes and cook until dry.
• Add meat.
• Add green chiles.
• Cook until meat is done and add water if needed.
• Add cilantro.
• Mix saffron with hot water.
• Layer rice and meat mixture and sprinkle with saffron mixture.
• Put in oven at 350°F for 20 minutes.

HOW TO MAKE BIRYANI

Steps:

• Wash the basmati rice. Before you begin cooking, you need to wash the rice. Fill a large bowl with cold water and pour in the rice. Use your hand to stir the rice in one direction. The water should get cloudy, so pour off the cloudy water. Refill the bowl with water. Continue rinsing the rice until the water is clear. Washing the rice removes surface starches and any debris.
• Soak the rice. After you have you rinsed the rice, soak it. Place the rice in a bowl of cold water and let it soak for 30 minutes to 2 hours. Soaking the rice helps the grains expand and be fluffy. You can soak the rice in the water you plan on boiling it in. If you do this, then the amount of water you need to use is 1.25 times the amount of rice. For 2 cups of rice, use 2 1/2 cups of water.
• Chop the vegetables. If you are adding mixed vegetables, such as carrots, beans, tomatoes, cauliflower, or peas, cut them into smaller pieces. Make sure you wash the vegetables and set them aside, ready to be added to your rice.

MASALA RICE AND VEGETABLES

Steps:

• Make the rice: Place the rice in a sieve and rinse under cold running water until the water runs clear. Set aside.
• Melt the butter in a medium saucepan with a tight-fitting lid, over medium-high heat. Add the golden raisins, almonds, turmeric, cumin seed, coriander seed, cardamom pods, and cinnamon stick and cook, stirring, until toasted and fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the rice and cook, stirring, until toasted, about 1 minute more. Add the water and salt and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, (wrap the lid tightly with a kitchen towel), cover, and steam until the rice is tender, 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and let rest, covered, for 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork and set aside.
• Meanwhile, make the vegetables. Melt the butter in a medium straight-sided skillet with a tight-fitting lid, over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Add the garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the golden raisins, almonds, coriander seed, cumin seed, and cardamom and cook, stirring, until toasted and fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in the cauliflower, green beans, potatoes, carrots, and salt. Raise the heat to high, pour in the water, and cook, covered, for 4 minutes. Uncover and cook, stirring, until the vegetables are tender and most of the water has evaporated, about 1 1/2 minutes more.
• Add the rice to the vegetable mixture and, using a rubber spatula, stir to combine. Season with salt to taste. Divide the vegetable-rice mixture among plates and top with some of the toasted coconut and almonds. Serve immediately.

CHICKEN BIRYANI

Steps:

• In a large skillet, in 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (or ghee) fry potatoes until brown, drain and reserve the potatoes. Add remaining 2 tablespoons oil to the skillet and fry onion, garlic and ginger until onion is soft and golden. Add chili, pepper, turmeric, cumin, salt and the tomatoes. Fry, stirring constantly for 5 minutes. Add yogurt, mint, cardamom and cinnamon stick. Cover and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally until the tomatoes are cooked to a pulp. It may be necessary to add a little hot water if the mixture becomes too dry and starts to stick to the pan.
• When the mixture is thick and smooth, add the chicken pieces and stir well to coat them with the spice mixture. Cover and cook over very low heat until the chicken is tender, approximately 35 to 45 minutes. There should only be a little very thick gravy left when chicken is finished cooking. If necessary cook uncovered for a few minutes to reduce the gravy.
• Wash rice well and drain in colander for at least 30 minutes.
• In a large skillet, heat vegetable oil (or ghee) and fry the onions until they are golden. Add saffron, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon stick, ginger and rice. Stir continuously until the rice is coated with the spices.
• In a medium-size pot, heat the chicken stock and salt. When the mixture is hot pour it over the rice and stir well. Add the chicken mixture and the potatoes; gently mix them into the rice. Bring to boil. Cover the saucepan tightly, turn heat to very low and steam for 20 minutes. Do not lift lid or stir while cooking. Spoon biryani onto a warm serving dish.

AUTHENTIC SOUTH INDIAN BIRYANI

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Heat oil in a large oven-proof pot over medium heat. Add cardamom, clove, and cinnamon stick. Stir in chopped onions, and fry until golden brown. Stir in garlic and ginger. Stir in chicken pieces, and fry about 3 minutes. Stir in chili powder, and cook several minutes. Stir in tomatoes, and cook about 5 minutes. Mix yogurt with 3 tablespoons water and lemon juice; stir into sauce.
• Cover pot, and bake in a preheated oven until the sauce is somewhat thickened and concentrated, about 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, cook rice in enough salted water to cover. Bring to a boil, and cook until it is half cooked, about 7 minutes. Drain rice, and stir into chicken and sauce. Stir in butter, season to taste with salt, cover pot, and bake 1 hour. Stir in mint and cilantro immediately before serving.

BIRIYANI

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Mix in the yogurt and vinegar. Place the onion in the skillet, and cook until tender. Mix in the garlic, ginger paste, green chile peppers, and tomatoes. Cook and stir until tomatoes are tender. Season with garam masala, mint, salt, and pepper, and mix in the cilantro.
• Place the chicken in the skillet. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and continue cooking 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until chicken juices run clear.
• Bring the water and rice to a boil in a large pot. Mix in the bay leaf, green cardamom, black cardamom, and cinnamon. Season with salt to taste. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 20 minutes.
• In a separate pot, alternate the rice and chicken mixture in layers, topping with rice. Sprinkle with the food coloring, and mix to serve.

CHICKEN BIRYANI

Steps:

• Soak 300g basmati rice in warm water, then wash in cold until the water runs clear.
• Heat 25g butter in a saucepan and cook 1 finely sliced large onion with 1 bay leaf, 3 cardamom pods and 1 small cinnamon stick for 10 mins.
• Sprinkle in 1 tsp turmeric, then add 4 chicken breasts, cut into large chunks, and 4 tbsp curry paste. Cook until aromatic.
• Stir the rice into the pan with 85g raisins, then pour over 850ml chicken stock.
• Place a tight-fitting lid on the pan and bring to a hard boil, then lower the heat to a minimum and cook the rice for another 5 mins.
• Turn off the heat and leave for 10 mins. Stir well, mixing through 15g chopped coriander. To serve, scatter over the leaves of the remaining 15g coriander and 2 tbsp toasted almonds.

BASIC BIRYANI

Steps:

• In a large bowl rinse the rice with cold water several times until the water runs clear and then drain well.
• In a large non-stick pan, melt butter at medium high heat and gently fry the onion and ginger together. Add the whole cumin seeds and fry til they just start to pop. Then add all the ground spices and cook for an additional few minutes.
• Add the damp rice, stir to thoroughly coat the rice grains with butter and spices and until any residual water has evaporated, then pour everything into a casserole dish with a lid. Add the whole herbs and spices to the casserole. Use a bit of the broth to rinse out the pan and pour the contents into the casserole dish. Add the rest of the broth.
• Bake covered at 350 deg F for 30-35 min or until the rice is tender. Fluff lightly with a fork and serve.
• Variation: Add 3/4-1 pound of cooked diced chicken, left-over fish chunks or other seafood to the top of the casserole dish in the last 10-15 min of cooking to warm through.
• Note: If you don't have any chicken broth, bring 2 cups of water to boiling with 1 chicken bouillon cube. Use vegetable stock if you want to keep this vegetarian. Use seafood broth if you're doing a fishy variation.
• Note: Remember how many cloves, cardamom pods, bay leaves and cinnamon sticks you used so you can fish them out before serving your dish as you don't want any unpleasant surprises.