Biryani

Are you ready for an adventure??? Biryani is an Indian/Pakistani dish. If you've ever been to an Indian restaurant and like that type of food, you'll like this! It's not your every day chicken dish, but, come on people! Give those taste buds a little something new and exotic!

HERE'S WHAT YOU'LL NEED:


Chicken legs and thighs, on the bone but with the skin off
One large onion, sliced
3 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
2 teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger
One anaheim chili pepper, sliced
1-2 tomatoes,chopped
1/2 to 1 potato chopped into 1/4 inch cubes (depends how big your potatoes are)
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon chili powder
about 1/2 teaspoon salt (you can always add more later...)
6 whole cloves
1 inch of a cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
5 whole pepper corns
1 cup chicken broth
fresh mint leaves
rice

Get your rice cooking first so it will be ready. Here's what you need.

2 cups jasmine or basmati rice

4 cups chicken broth

1 inch cinnamon stick

3 whole cloves

Put those four ingredients in a rice cooker or in a pot and cook until rice is done.

Now, while the rice is cooking......

Put oil in a large saute pan or electric skillet and saute onions and potatoes until onions start to brown a little.
Add the ginger and garlic and saute.
Add the cloves, cumin seeds, cinnamon stick, turmeric powder, chili powder, salt, and whole pepper corns. Mix together.
Add chicken pieces and start to brown those up.

(I didn't let the chicken brown up enough before I added the tomatoes in the above picture....make sure you cook it a bit more first....I learned...)

Then, add tomatoes and 1/2 to 1 cup chicken broth. Start out with less. Add more as needed. If it all dries out too much before the chicken is done cooking, you'll want to add more broth. Let cook at at simmer until chicken is completely cooked and sauce is reduced. Usually, I'll cover it for a little while, then leave the lid off so the sauce can reduce. You don't want it too liquidy. Once the chicken is done, the sauce is reduced, and your rice is cooked, start adding rice in to the rest of your goods. Don't just add it all in.... add it in gradually, mixing as you go, until you appear to have a good sauce to rice ratio. If you add to much rice, you won't get much flavor. And I'm all about flavor! The rice will kind of soak up any remaining liquid and soak up all the flavors. Yummm..... Usually I add it until it looks about right, then put the rest of the rice out on the table as well, so people can add more rice to their own if they want it that way.

Before you serve it, add fresh, chopped mint leaves over the top.

Sometime we've noticed... if it tastes a little bland.... we just have to add more salt!!! It is amazing how a little more salt can just enhance all the flavors that are already there! so, make sure you've got salt out on the table.

And, there you have it. Your first, home cooked Pakistani/Indian dish!