CHICKEN DUM BIRYANI

Ingredients

• Marination for Chicken:
• 2 pounds skinless chicken drumsticks(about 6 drumsticks)
• 2 tablespoons ginger garlic paste(homemade ginger-garlic paste)
• 1/4 cup loosely packed mint leaves
• 1/4 cup cilantro/coriander leaves
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1/2 teaspoon Turmeric powder
• 1 tablespoon Red chilli powder (adjust as per your taste)
• Salt( as per needed, only for the chicken)
• 1 tablespoon coriander powder
• 1 teaspoon garam masala powder
• 1/4 cup fried onion
• 5-7 green chilies sliced
• juice of half a lemon
• For the gravy:
• 2 tablespoons Ghee
• 1 tablespoon whole cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 teaspoon Shah Jeera/Black cumin
• 1 bay leaf
• 3-4 cardamom
• 1 star anise
• For making the rice:
• 3 cups Extra long Basmati rice
• 2-3 cardamom pods
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tablespoons butter/oil
• Salt
• For the final Dum:
• 5-6 eggs (optional)
• 1/4 cup fried onion
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• a pinch of saffron threads (optional)
• 1 tablespoon butter/ghee

Instructions

• Marinating the chicken:
• Clean the chicken and put cuts on drumsticks, so that the masalas seep in.
• Then, we add ginger-garlic paste, lemon juice, green chilies, mint-coriander, plain yogurt, Salt, Turmeric, Red chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala powder and fried onion.
• Let the chicken marinate in refrigerator for 4-6 hours or overnight.
• After 4-6 hours of marination, making the gravy:
• Wash and Soak the basmati rice for 30-60 minutes.
• Soak the saffron in warm water.
• If you using a pan to cook the chicken, check the steps above the recipe card. If you are using Instant pot, Turn on the sauté mode on Instant pot and add ghee. Add whole garam masala spices to the warm ghee and sauté for a minute. Add cloves, cinnamon, shah jeera, bay leaf, cardamom, star anise.
• Add the marinated chicken and sauté for 5 min till the oil starts to ooze out.
• If you are using eggs, put the instant pot trivet and place eggs on it.
  Cancel Sauté mode, close the lid and set pressure cook/Manual mode for 3 minutes, QPR carefully after 5 min. If you are using small pieces of chicken, reduce the sauté time to 3 minutes and pressure cook time to 1 minute.
• Once the pressure is released, peel the eggs once cooled and set it aside.
• Making the rice:
• Boil a large pot of water, add salt, 2 tbsp butter, cardamom and a bay leaf. There is no measure for water. Just a large pot more than half way filled. The water should be salty like sea water. The butter makes sure the rice doesn’t stick.
• Add rice and boil for 5-6 minutes or until the rice is almost 70% done. We do not need to cook the rice completely. The rice should still have a bite to it but almost cooked. Check the salt in rice and add more if needed.
• Drain the rice and let the water drain out completely.
• Dum/Slow cook in Conventional Oven:
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F . Apply some butter/ghee to a large flat tray and pour the chicken gravy at the bottom.
• Add a handful of fried onions on the rice and add chopped cilantro.
• Spread the rice on top of the gravy.
• Add a handful of fried onions on the rice and add chopped cilantro again.
• Add butter and place eggs in rice.
• Add saffron water, Seal it with aluminum foil and bake on the top rack for 40-45 minutes.
• Open it up after its done and mix it gently to mix the gravy through the rice.