The White Biryani

Ever imagined eating a biryani and not feeling heavy? The White biryani does the trick. It is less oily, less hot and less spicy, but full of flavour and very tasty. Ever since I created the white chicken, I have been wanting to create this dish for so long and had been imagining it all the time. Thanks to the Almighty it turned out to be as tasty as I had imagined it to be.  The chicken pieces were soft, silky,  flavourful and juicy and the biryani had a subtle exotic flavour and intense taste.

My favourite dish is our traditional Madrasi biryani. There are different kinds of biryanis all over the world. But I am proud to say and challenge that none can beat our traditional madrasi biryani not even the white biryani which is my own creation. I will be posting that soon.

Ingredients:
Whole chickens – 2 (1.5kgs each)
Long grain Basumati Rice-6 cups

For the marinade:
Thick Yoghurt – 1 full cup
Ginger garlic paste – 1/4 cup
Dhania powder – 2 tspns
Cumin powder – 1 tspn
Fennel powder – 1/2 tspn
Green cardamom powder – 1 1/2 tspns
Green chillies – 4 -6 small size
Vegetable oil – 1/4 cup

For the sauce:
Cinnamon bark (dark brown) – 1 (3 inch piece)
Cloves – 8 – 10
Green cardamoms 10
Star anise – 1-2
Vegetable oil – 1/2cup
Blanched Almonds – 1/2 cup
Fried onion paste – 1 cup (made with 2 medium sized onions)
1 small to medium sized onion sliced.
Cilantro – 1 cup chopped
Mint – 1 bunch (pepper mint only)
Saffron -1/2 tsp
Whole green chillies – 6 – 8 small size
Ginger garlic paste – 2 tbsp
Half and half milk – 1 cup
Top quality Basumati Rice for biryani – 6 cups
Lemon- 1
Yoghurt – 1/2 cup
Salt to taste

Method:
1. Remove the skin, clean, wash and drain the chicken. Wipe it dry with paper towels. Rub the chicken with the lime juice and salt, keep aside for 15 mins.
2. Mix together all the ingredients for the marinade and stir well till it becomes a thick paste. Combine everything well adding appropriate salt.
3. Rub the chicken with this marinade and set aside for a couple of hrs.
4. Broil the marinated chicken pieces for 4-6 mins on each side. Remove and set aside.
5. Lightly fry the blanched almonds separately in a tspn of butter. Grind them in a wet grinder to a fine paste and keep aside.
6.  To prepare the sauce, heat a tablespoon of vegetable oil in a big pot add the whole spices (cinnamon, cloves, star anise and cardamom)  then fry the sliced onion on medium heat till it becomes translucent and not golden brown as in the other biryanis. Remember always that we are making white biryani here and we don’t want it to be brown in any way, therefore enough care is to be taken not to overdo anything.
7. Once the onions turn translucent, stir in the fried onion paste and ginger garlic paste followed by the yoghurt and ground almonds. Fry lightly till the onions blend well with the paste.
8. Add the broiled chicken pieces to the  pot, mix gently. Add green chillies, mint, chopped coriander  and let it simmer for a while. Add a little water if it is too thick.
9. Bring the water to a boil in a large pot. Add the basumati rice which has been pre-soaked for atleast 1/2 an hr and 2 tblspns salt.
10. Test the rice for doneness by pressing a grain of rice between your index finger and thumb. It should be soft on the outside and still gritty inside. At this stage switch off the stove and drain the rice.
11. Transfer the cooked chicken with the gravy to the roaster. Top it with chopped coriander, sprinkle 2 teaspoons of lemon juice and adjust the salt after tasting the curry.
12. Put the roaster in a pre-heated oven (at 375 degrees Fahrenheit) and let it simmer for a while. do not close the lid yet.
13. Now transfer the hot cooked rice to the roaster.
14. Crush the saffron threads with a mortar and pestle. Add some water mix well and pour it in a cup. Add a tbsp of butter to it. Take a ladle of rice and mix it with the saffron butter water.
15. Sprinkle the top of the roaster with the saffron rice, mint leaves and 1/2- 1 cup of chopped fresh cilantro and put it back in the oven for 10-15 mins.
16. Remove from the oven when you smell the aroma of the biryani around. The white Biryani is now ready. Serve hot with yoghurt chutney and kachumbar. Enjoy!