MURGH DUM BIRYANI 

                     North Indian Chicken Biryani

“Serves 6–8 PREPARATION → 40 minutes COOKING 1½ hours”

YOU WILL NEED:

3 tablespoons whole milk

large pinch of saffron

4 tablespoons rose water

3 tablespoons ghee

3 large onions, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons ginger-garlic paste

3 fresh green chillies, chopped

2 tablespoons tomato purée

600g skinless chicken breast, diced

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon garam masala

300g basmati rice, washed and drained

a handful of fresh mint leaves, chopped

a handful of fresh coriander leaves, chopped

3 tablespoons flaked almonds

salt

6–8 hard-boiled eggs, to serve

For the bouquet garni

10 green cardamom pods

5 black cardamom pods

12 black peppercorns

small cinnamon stick

10 cloves
a few shavings of nutmeg
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
3 bay leaves

“1 Crush the seeds of 5 of the green cardamom pods and all the black cardamom pods in a pestle and mortar and discard the husks.

2 Put the bouquet garni spices (except the 5 whole green cardamom pods) in a pan with 500ml hot water and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat, cover the pan and leave to steep. This is the savoury aroma liquid.

3 Finely crush the reserved cardamom pods in a pestle and mortar (discarding the husk) and mix with the milk, saffron and rosewater

. Set aside. This is the sweet aroma liquid.

4 Preheat the oven to 220ºC/gas mark 7.

5 Heat 1 tablespoon of the ghee in a heavy-based frying pan, add the onions and fry for 8–10 minutes until brown and crisp. Remove half the onions and reserve for the garnish. Add the ginger-garlic paste and chillies and stir for 2 minutes, then add the tomato purée and cook for a further 2 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a blender, add enough cold water to cover and blitz until smooth.

6 Heat another tablespoon of the ghee in the pan and fry the chicken for 5–6 minutes. (If making a vegetable biryani, add 300g mixed, cooked vegetables, such as carrots, peas and potatoes, to the pan here.)

7 Add the powdered spices and season with salt. Cook for 2 minutes until the spices have turned dark, then add the purée from the blender and stir. Mix well, add 100ml water and simmer for a few minutes until the chicken is cooked. Remove from heat and set aside.

8 Heat the remaining ghee in a heavy-based saucepan over high heat. Add the rice and fry for a few minutes, until shiny, then strain three-quarters of the savoury aroma liquid into the pan. Season with salt, stir once, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover and cook for about 10 minutes until the liquid has been absorbed.

9 It’s time to assemble the dish. The bottom and top layers are always rice. Put a layer of rice at the bottom of a 25–30cm deep ovenproof dish. Sprinkle over some of the remaining savoury liquid and some sweet aroma liquid, then cover the rice with a layer of curry. Sprinkle some of the fried onions, mint leaves and coriander leaves over the curry then top with another layer of rice. Repeat until everything is used up and the top layer is rice. Sprinkle with almonds and fresh coriander. Seal the dish with foil.

10 Put the biryani in the oven for 40 minutes, reducing the oven temperature to 190ºC/gas mark 5 after 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, uncover, decorate with halved hard-boiled eggs and serve.