'Pressure Cooker' Biriyani

This is an easy biriyani and there is not much ghee or oil. It was a favourite for all my kids, nephews and nieces when they were young, and now a big hit among all my grandkids!

 

Ingredients:-

Chicken pieces  - 0.500gm

Basmati/Biriyani Rice  - 3 cups.

Ginger  - 1” piece

Garlic   - 1 pod.

Green Chillies  - 6 nos (adjust according to your spice level)

Cloves   - 8

Cinnamon   - 4 or 5 pieces

Cardamom  - 6

Big onions  - 1

Cumin Seeds  - 1/2 teaspoon

Aniseed (Perinjeerakam or Somph)  - 1/2 teaspoon

Coriander leaves  - a large bunch

Mint leaves  - a large bunch.

Oil   - 2 Tbsp

Tomatoes  - 5 large chopped

Coconut milk  - 5 cups (mix of first, second and third extracts if you are making it fresh from grated coconut)

Method:-

Cook the chicken with salt, some turmeric powder and half of the spices crushed  and some water so that we get around 1 cup of stock.

Take oil in a pressure cooker or in a large non stick pan. Saute the big onions, crushed ginger, garlic  and green chillies. When it turns slightly brown, add  the remaining garam masala and the chicken pieces and sauté a little. Then add chopped tomatoes. Cook for a while, then add coconut milk and the stock (totalling to 6 cups). For biriyani, fried rice etc we normally add 2 cups of water for one cup of rice, but if you like the rice to be cooked very soft, add a little extra water in addition to coconut milk and chicken-stock.  

When the milk+stock boils, add a pinch of cumin seed and aniseed, chopped coriander leaves and mint leaves. When it boils, add the washed rice and cook for 10 minutes in a slow fire or until cooked to desired level. If you are using a pressure cooker, it is better to not use the weights so that you can check the rice and stir occasionally.When the rice is cooked enough switch off the fire and let it stay closed for a while.

Serve with raita/salad of your choice and pappadams.