Some Good Recipies (Biryani)

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Easy Chicken Biryani Recipe

Ingredients:Chicken - 1 lb cut into medium sized piecesOnions - 2 big (sliced)Tomatoes - 2 big (sliced)Green Chillies - 3 - cut slantedGinger garlic paste - 2 to 3 tspTurmeric powder - 1/2 tspChilli powder - 2 to 2 1/2 tspCoriander powder - 1/2 tspCumin seed powder - 1/2 tsp (optional)Garam masala items - 2 cloves, 1 bay leaf, 1 cardamom, 2 medium sized cinnamon sticks, a pinch of saunf (if not available, substitute with 1 tsp garam masala)Salt - to tasteOil - 5 tbsp (with a little butter or ghee)Food coloring/Saffron - a pinchBasmatic rice - 3 cupsMint leaves (pudina) -1/4 cup
For garnishing:Coriander leaves (Cilantro) - a littleFresh mint (sautéd in ghee) - a littleRaisins - 5 (optional)Cashews - 8 (optional)

Method:In a large pan, heat oil and add the garam masala items and onions. Saute the onions for a while. Then, add the mint leaves, ginger garlic paste and saute for a few minutes. Then, add the tomatoes, green chillies, turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin seed powder and salt. Fry this mixture for a while maybe adding a little bit of water. Then, add the chicken pieces and saute for 10-15 min. Pour some water, close with a lid and allow the chicken to cook. This should be in a sort of a gravy consistency (the oil would have come out on top).
Separately cook the basmati rice (for 3 cups rice, add 4-4 1/2 cups water) ensuring that the rice is not sticky (Make sure not to overcook the rice). Soak the pinch of saffron in a little water. Roast cashews and raisins separately and keep aside. In a large dish, put in a layer of rice. Sprinkle a little saffron water. Add some chicken masala to this and mix. Then again add another layer of rice, saffron water, and chicken masala. Continue this until all of the rice and masala is exhausted. (Note: The biryani would have a mix of colors - orange (from the food coloring), partially plain white (from the rice), orangish brown (from the masala)). Toss in the cashews, and raisins, mint and coriander leaves and serve hot with onion raita or cucumber raita or plain sliced onions.

Egg Biryani Recipe

Ingredients:1/2 cup ghee / oil8 large eggs (hard boiled)1 large onion (finely chopped)2 flakes garlic (curshed)2 bay leaves1-inch cinnamon stick1 brown Cardamom (badi elaichi)4 green cardamom pods (chhoti elaichi)1/2 tsp turmeric powder1/2 tsp chili powder or to taste2 cups Basmati (long grain) Rice21/2 cups warm waterSalt To Taste1 tsp garam masala powder1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves3-4 tomatoes (thickly sliced) to garnish

Preparation:Heat the oil / ghee in a deep sauce pan and fry onions and garlic together with the bay leaves, cinnamon and cardamoms, until golden. Carefully prick the eggs with a fork and add to the pan. Stir in turmeric, chili powder and fry for about 5 minutes. Add pre-soaked rice and stir slowly and carefully for 2 minutes. Pour in water and salt to taste, and cook over a modeate heat until the rice is tender and water is absorbed. Sprinkle garam masala powder over it. Garnish egg biryani with chopped coriander and tomato slices, serve hot.

Hyderabadi Biryani Recipe

Ingredients:1 kg chicken preferably in 16 pieces and a couple of drumsticks, 1 kg Basmati rice, 1 cup finely chopped onions, 2 tsp ginger and garlic paste, 3 tsp chilli powder, ½ tsp turmeric, 100 g cashew nuts, 4 or 5 bay leaves, 4 or 5 cloves, 2 cm long cinnamon sticks, 6 to 10 green chillies ground to paste 3 or 4 cardamom pods, 1 or 2 tsp cumin 2 cups mint leaves, 1 cup coriander leaves2 tsp coriander powder, ½ tsp garam masala powder, 1 cup coconut milk, 1 lemon, 1 ½ tsp salt (according to taste), 1 cup ghee (clarified butter), ½ cup yogurt, 1 cup oil, 2 tsp dried coconut powder, few strands of saffron, 2 cups finely sliced onions

Preparation:1. Make deep incisions on the chicken flesh. Mix turmeric, chilli powder, salt, garlic paste, yogurt, and half-lemon's juice.Apply this paste onto the meat flesh and let it marinate for an hour.
2. Heat about 100 ml of oil. Roast cumin, cloves, cinnamon, depoded cardamom, bay leaves, ½ spoon cumin, 1 spoon coriander powder, and finally add onions(2). Wait a couple of minutes to add mint leaves. When onions turn slight brown, add marinated chicken and cook for about 20-30 min. Add garam masala and coconut powder and turn off flame when it's about ¾th cooked. Gravy should not be much, chicken pieces should look roasted.
3. Meanwhile, while the chicken is still cooking, prepare the biryani rice. Slightly rinse 3 cups of basmati, and add water little less than the volume of the rice itself so that its only half cooked preferably in an electric cooker. Amount of water actually depends on kind of rice at hand and your experience helps to judge it. Also add 1-2 teaspoons of salt to it. Take a few semicooked grains of rice and colour them with diluted saffron for garnishing.
4. You will need a utensil of about 12" (300 mm) base. Place about half of semicooked rice in it. Next, layer half of chicken on it again topped by a layer of rice (half of the remaining). One more layer of remaining chicken, finally with layer of rest of the rice on top ends the rice-chicken layering stage.
5. Heat oil and deep fry half the sliced onions to golden brown. Similarly fry cashew. Garnish the top layer with these two along with 100 ml ghee, coconut milk, saffron rice grains and coriander. Lid the vessel and try making it airtight (but no pressure should build up). Put on high flame for 5 min before reducing it to low flame. The flame should NOT be at the vessel's centre, but on one side of it. Wait for 2-3 min and turn the vessel to heat other next part on its circumference.This way, keep rotating the vessel every 2-3 min for about 20 min. Everytime you turn it, carefully disturb the contents by a shake/jerk so as to avoid settling of ghee at the bottom.
6. Put off the flame and wait for about 10 min before opening. Before serving, mix the medley from the bottom. Serve with boiled egg halves.

Mutton Biryani Recipe

Ingredients:Mutton big pieces with bones - 1/2 kgBasamati rice (soaked in water for 1/2 hour) - 1/2 kgOnions cut into think slices - 150 grmsTez patta (bay leaves) - 4 to 5 leavescloves - 5 to 6 Shajeera - 1 spoonCinnamom sticks (Dal Chini) - 3Kali mirchi (Sabuth) - 4 to 5Elachi (Big) - 2Pudina (Mint Leaves) chopped - 1 bunchCashew nuts - 100 (optional)Milk - 2 tbspnKesar color - 1/4 spoonGhee - 1 1/2 cupsMarination (for 1 to 2 hours)Wash mutton pieces and put in an earthen pot or heavy bottom vessel. Add to Mutton:Ginger garlic paste - 2 tbsShajeera powder - 1 spoonCinnamom powder - 1 spoonSalt according to tasteRed chilly powder - 1/2 small spoonTurmeric powder - 1 spoonDhania powder - 2 tbs spoonGreen chilly paste - 2 tbs spoonJeera powder - 2 spoonCurds thick - 1 1/2 cupsFresh coriender chopped finely - 1 bunchFresh pudina - 1 bunch
Mix well so that all mutton pieces are well coated and let it marinate for 1 to 2 hours.

Prepration:Heat little ghee in a kadai and fry the sliced onions till they are dark brown and crisp. and keep aside. Fry the cashew nuts in ghee for few seconds till they become light brown, do not burn them. Heat ghee in a heavy bottom vessel and add tez patta, lavang, elachi (cardamom big ones), sabuth kali mirchi, cinnamom sticks and saute for few seconds add the marinated mutton pieces and cook in slow flame stiring for every few minutes. Meantime cook the soaked rice with salt (1/2 spoon) till half boil, drain the water and spread it on a plate and sprinkle ghee over the rice.When the mutton is almost (see that it is not over cooked but just cooked)done, take out the cooked mutton in a plate.
Put some mutton mixture in the same bowl in which mutton was cooked, add on top of the mutton some half boiled rice evenly and sprinkle one spoon ghee and chopped pudina leaves and fried cashew nuts and sprinkle kesar mixed in milk from top.Continue the process for all the layers till the Rice and Mutton is over. Add the fried crisp brown onions on top.
Immediately after the above prcedure, cook biryani on low flame that is on dum with tightly closed lid for 10 to 15 minutes .Serve hot with curd raitha, fresh green salad and boiled eggs (cut into halves).

Vegetable Biryani Recipes

Ingredients: 1 1/2 c uncooked long grain rice3 pinches of saffron2 onions sliced12 cashewnuts broken into halves2 tbsp raisins3 tomatoes finely chopped1/4 c yoghurt1 1/2 c mixed boiled vegetables (capsicum, cauliflower, carrots, potatoes, green peas)1 tbsp chopped coriander3 tbsp chopped mint leavesa little milk4 tbsp ghee2 tbsp buttersalt to taste To be ground in to a paste:6 cloves garlic1 inch piece ginger3 cardamoms4 green chillies3 cloves1 tbsp poppy seeds2 sticks cinnamon1 tbsp coriander powder1/2 tsp turmeric powder1/2 tsp chilli powder2 onions

Method: Boil the rice in salted water. Each grain of the cooked rice should be separate. Drain and cool. Soak saffron in little hot milk and rub until it dissolves. Heat the ghee and fry the onions until brown and crisp. Remove the onions and in the same ghee, add the cashewnuts and raisins and fry for a few seconds. Remove and keep aside for garnish.
In the same ghee, add the ground paste and fry for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the tomatoes and fry again for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the yoghurt and fry till liquid evaporates a bit. Add the boiled vegetables, mint, coriander and cook for a while.
Grease a baking dish. Spread half the vegetables on it. Layer half the rice on it. Sprinkle, half the saffron liquid, half the onions, half the fried nuts. Repeat with the remaining vegetables, rice, saffron and nuts. Dot with butter. Cover and bake in a hot oven at 200C for about 15 minutes. Alternatively, layer in a pan with a very tight lid and keep on a very slow flame for 10 minutes. Serve hot with raita.