Chicken biryani

To go with our prawns in coconut milk I decided to make chicken Biryani, I have seen several different ways of making this dish, and I wanted to try this one out.  This recipe was also from my Around the World Cook Book. I have never been a big rice lover especially plain boiled or steamed rice so this is a nice dish that makes the rice much tastier.

The recipe says this serves 4, it would if they were big eaters and if you were not serving a seperate meat dish we served 9 with enough for lunch left over. But we also had prawns, lamb and green beans.

1 1/2 cups basmati rice
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion finely chopped
2 garlic cloves crushed
1 green chili finely chopped
1 inch piece of ginger finely chopped
1 1/2 lb chicken cut in to small pieces.  (we used thighs but breast would work as well)
1 teaspoon garam masala
2 tomatoes cut into wedges
1/4 teaspoon turmeric.
2 bay leaves
4 green cardamom pods
4 cloves

Wash the rice in several changes of cold water.  Put into a large bowl, cover with plenty of water and let soak for 30 minutes.  Meanwhile heat the oil in a large frying pan ad the onion and fry for 5 to 7 minutes until lightly browned.  Add the garlic, chili, ginger and garam masala stir until it is fragarent about 1 minute.

Add the chicken and fry for about 5 minutes stirring frequently.

Add salt and stir in the tomatoes and continue cooking for a further 3 to 4 minutes.

Remove from the heat and set aside.

Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil, add the drained rice and turmeric.  Cook for 10 minutes, or until the rice is almost tender.  Drain the rice and toss together with the the bay leaves, cardamon pods and cloves.

Layer the rice and chicken in a shallow ovenproof dish.

Second layer of rice going on top of the chicken.

Cover and bake in a preheated 375 oven for 15 to 10 minutes or until the rice is tender and the dish is hot right through.

This was a good dish and one of those dishes that you could make ahead and heat in the oven and could be a one dish meal.