Chicken Biriyani - Quick and Easy

Chicken Biriyani has been a favorite with me. I love the biriyani and it is one that I make atleast once a week. Chicken biriyani with a delicious raita, pappad and pickle can get my mouth watering any time. I make it either with chicken cut into small pieces or even like the idea of making it with boneless chicken. I just finished my biriyani yesterday and now all this writing about it is making me crave for it again. I just don't seem to get enough of it. Mom makes great biriyani and while she was here I would ask her to make it and don't ask had a wonderful time savoring her special biriyani. This is one of my quick and easy biriyani recipes , in fact, got my mom too hooked on to this. It makes it so easy to make this tasty dish.Instead of using the usul biriyani masala , I like to use the Everest chicken masala(great taste guaranteed).

In this method, I cook the rice using the pressure cooker, time is very important here or else the rice may be over cooked or may even get burnt.

Ingredients
Chicken (boneless) - 500 gms
Basmati Rice - 3 cups(400 to 500 gms) (depending on the rice chicken ratio you prefer)
Whole spices - cardamom 3, cloves 3, 1" piece cinnamon, star anise 1 bay leaf 1
(there is another spice which is orangish in color and can be taken out as strands - a little of that, standard Andhra biriyani addition)
Salt to taste
Oil 2 tbsp
Butter 2 tbsp
Everest chicken masala - 2 to 3 tbsp(as per individual spice levels)
Onions -4 (sliced thin and long)
Ginger-garlic paste - 2 tbsp
Chopped fresh coriander 3 tbsp
Chopped fresh mint leaves 2 tbsp

Method:
1-Soak the rice in water for half and hour.Wash, drain and keep aside.
Take the pressure cooker, add in 1 tbsp oil and a tbsp of butter. Add in the rice and whole spices. Saute till the rice is crisp and changes color slightly. Now add water(for 1 cup add 1.5 cups of water thus, we would add 4.5 cups)and salt. Cover and cook in pressure cooker (While cooking basmati rice in the pressure cooker, after putting on the weight on the cooker, let rice cook for 10 mins on slow flame. Switch off gas and open the cooker only after 15 minutes).

2- Now for the chicken. Take a pan, add in the oil. Add the onions and ginger-garlic paste and saute till the onions turn golden. Now add the Everest chicken masala and saute till the masala is cooked and the oil starts to separate. Now add the chicken. Cover and let cook till the chicken is done (approx 10 mins). Open and let the entire water content of the chicken dry. Sprinkle with 1 tbsp coriander leaves.

3-Now for combining rice and chicken. Open the rice and let cool then separate the rice grains and keep aside. In a large serving dish, add a layer of rice. a layer of chicken and sprinkle some fresh coriander and mint leaves over it. Repeat for the rest of the rice and chicken. Pour the 1tbsp of melted butter over the biriyani and cover and keep aside for 10 minutes before serving.

Serve with raita, pappad and pickle.