Let's make a beginner Chicken Biryani

My best friend, Afrah, is from Pakistan and since I've know her, her mom; mama Saleem, makes chicken biryani every friday. When I lived near mama Saleem's house, I would often hop on over and enjoy a plate. Now that both Afrah and I don't live as near, Afrah has learned to make it and taught me how to make a beginner friendly version of chicken Biryani.

Why a beginner version? Becuase it has a lot of spices and ingredients that many may not have so we used Shan Biryani mix box and tried to make it as simple as possible.

Ingredients:

• 1 Shan Biryani mix box

• 1 yellow onion

• 3-4 tomatoes

• 2 tbsp of garlic - You can use garlic paste but fresh garlic is preferred

• 2 tbsp ginger - You can use ginger paste but fresh ginger is preferred

• 1-2 Serrano peppers (Optional)

• 1/2 cup of dahi (plain yogurt, not Greek)

• 2 cups basmati rice - You can add another 1/2 -1 cup of additional rice to set to the side incase it's too spicy.

• 1/4 cup Vegetable oil

• 4-5 cups of water

• 1 tsp salt

Instructions to make Chicken Biryani:

1. Soak the rice in water and let it sit during steps 2-8

2. Clean the chicken, I do this with water, white vinegar and salt.

3. Prep your veggies: Peel fresh garlic and the fresh ginger, cut the peppers and onions in juliane cuts, and dice the tomatoes into small-medium pieces.

4. If you are using fresh garlic and ginger, make a ginger garlic paste by placing the peeled garlic and ginger in a processor or blender.

5. In a sauce pan, add the onions, cover the pan and let them sautee until translucent and soft. This takes about 3 minutes.

6. Add the tomatoes, cover the pan and let it sautee as well until the tomatoes are reduced. This takes about 3-5 minutes.

7. Add the ginger garlic paste and the bag of seasonings into the pan, mix well and let it stew for about 2 minutes.

8. Add chicken and mix until the chicken is coated with the sauce. Let the chicken stew covered for about 5 minutes and then add the yogurt. Cover and let it cook for 30 mins or until chicken is cooked throughly.

9. While the chicken cooks place a pot at medium heat with 4-5 cups of water. Once the water is boiling add the salt and the soaked rice to the pot. Cook the rice until it's 70% done, remove from the heat and strain it.

10. Butter the bottom of the pot where you boiled the rice. Add half of the rice to the bottom, once the chicken is done add the chicken with the sauce and the serano slices on top. Finish covering the chicken with the other half of the rice and then sprinkle ground annatto on top. If you added extra rice, set a bit of if to the side before you assemble the pot.

11. Cover the top part of the pot with alluminum and then place the lid on the pot. Place the pot at the lowest heat possible on your stove and let it cook for about 10-15 minutes.

12. Once the rice on top is fully cooked, remove from heat and mix the chicken and rice in the put before serving.

Enjoy the biryani with a yogurt garlic sauce or your favorie topings like cilantro. This was my first time making it on my own and it was pretty simple and bullet proof method. Of course if you have all the spices you can make your own biryani mix. For more recipes head over to @FLOURISHWITHG on Instagram and TikTok.