Spicy Kadai Biryani

As a Bengali girl growing up in a very conservative North Kolkata home all I knew about chicken was the jhol and kosha that Ma used to make on most of the Sundays.Even our occasions had only mutton kosha along with chingri malaikari, ilish bhapa and bhetki paturi on a frequent note.  And on frivolously hot sunny summer Sundays it used to be a lightly spiced thin chicken curry made with only onions. We were fed and grown up on only and only home cooked meals and snacks, with the kachoris and samosas and chops from our parar dokan. Then puberty struck us and we started to look around. The eyes which always looked forward started to sneak past the crowd and we discovered many a things which were there but we still remained unseen and untouched by us.

That shop in the corner, the small shaft on that street, the small momo stall at the Five point crossing in shyambazar and we were slowly stepping towards small eateries. And there at Honey Da Dhaba...we met Kadai Chicken for the first time. I guess it was not a disaster situation...but that name stayed with me for a long time. And when I started to cook my own meals Kadai Chicken was something I tried at the very beginning.

Dry roast the whole spices for kadai masala.

Grind the spices into a coarse powder.

Temper the ghee with whole spices and add in the sliced onions. Cook them until translucent.

Then add the ginger garlic paste. Cook them until the raw flavour is gone.

Then add the chicken and salt. Cook them until the chicken changes its colour.

Add half of the kadai masala.

Add coriander leaves and mint leaves. Cook until half done.

Add the turmeric powder, red chilli powder and rest of the kadai masala and green chilli paste. Cook until almost done.

Cook the rice with the whole spices.

Layer and chicken and rice and cook covered on low flame for 30 minutes.

Kadai Dishes are one of my favourite. Kadai Paneer, Kadai Chicken, Kadai Gosht and kadai mushroom are some of my favourites. So why not try the Kadai Biryani?? As we all know Kadai Chicken is very easy to make and the main attraction of this chicken preparation is its spicy kadai masala. Do not make the kadai masala too fine as that will ruin its taste and rusticness. So as you see making kadai Biryani is also very easy..as all you have to make in this case is the rice, which will be added later. When preparing the rice be generous with the salt because seasoning the rice from the first step is very important for the Biryani to taste good.

Kadai Biryani

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

Chicken Preparation:

1 kg chicken on bone

5 medium ripe tomatoes – pureed

2 medium onions – sliced

8-10 fat garlic cloves – minced

1 and ½ inch ginger stick – minced / paste

A handful of fresh coriander leaves – chopped

A handful of fresh mint leaves – chopped

½ cup desi ghee

2 medium cinnamon stick

1 bay leaf

4-5 green cradamoms

3-4 cloves

8-9 black peppercorns

Salt

Kadai Masala:

1 tsp whole cumin seeds

1 tsp whole coriander seeds

2 dry red chillies

1 small cinnamon stick

2 green cardamoms

2 cloves

5-6 whole black peppercorns

2 maces

1 tsp nutmeg powder / a small portion of a nutmeg

Rice preparation:

2 cups of fine Basmati rice

1 tsp caraway seeds / sha zeera

1 medium bay leaf

1 small cinnamon stick

2-3 green cardamoms

2 cloves

1 tbsp salt

Layering:

½ cup ghee

2 tsp kewra / screwpine water

3-4 tsp rose water

Method:

Prepare the Kadai Masala :

Dry roast the ingredients listed under the kadai masala. Then grind them into a coarse powder. Do not make the powder very fine. We need 3-4 tbsp of this masala.

Prepare the Chicken:

Heat the ghee in a kadai or pan and temper it with the whole garam masalas i.e cinnamon stick, bay leaf, green cardamoms, cloves and black peppercorns.

Sauté for a minute or until the ghee becomes aromatic and then add the sliced onions to them.

Fry the onions till they become translucent and then add the ginger – garlic paste.

Cook them for another 2-3 minutes or until the raw flavour of the garlic is gone and then add the chicken pieces to them.

Sprinkle some salt over them and cook them until the chicken pieces start to change their colour.

Now throw in half of the prepared kadai masala and pour the prepared tomato puree, chopped coriander leaves and mint leaves.

Mix in and let the chicken cook for 15 minutes or until they are half cooked.

When the chicken is half cooked add the turmeric powder and red chilli powder. Taste and adjust the seasonings and cook for another 5-7 minutes or until the chicken is cooked.

Now add the rest of the kadai masala. Give them a good stir to mix in properly and put off the flame.

Prepare the Rice:

Wash the rice till clean water runs through and then soak the rice for 1 hour.

After soaking cook the rice with the caraway seeds, bay leaf, cinnamon stick, green cardamoms, cloves and salt.

Cook the rice till they are almost done, like 80%, i.e when you press one grain of the cooked rice it should be soft but a little stiff, indicating that it needs a little more cooking.

Once done, drain the water and keep the rice aside.

Layering / Mixing:

First layer some chciken and gravy and spread some rice over them. Drizzle some ghee and salt over them.

Follow this process until you finish all your chicken and gravy.

In the end drizzle the kewra, rose water and the rest of the ghee over the rice.

Cover the lid and put the entire cooking vessel on a tawa. Put the tawa on low flame for about 30 minutes.

Once done, put off the flame and do not open the lid for another 15 minutes. After 15 minutes open the cover and empty the prepared Biryanui in a larger vessel. Then very carefully mix the rice and chicken. Serve hot with raita.