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Irani Biryani Recipe
How to make Irani BiryaniHeritage Village Resort, Manesar
This dish is prepared in a pot with chicken at the bottom and rice on top, then the entire dish is turned over on a plate to make for a beautiful cake-like presentation. This Irani biryani tastes super delicious and would be the centerpiece for any occasion.
- Total Cook Time1 hr 10 mins
- Prep Time 40 mins
- Cook Time 30 mins
- Recipe Servings5
- Easy
Ingredients of Irani Biryani
- 50 gms Ghee
- 50 gms Onion
- 5 gms Bay leaf
- 8 gms Cinnamon sticks
- 5 gms Cardamom
- 4 gms Clove
- 5 gms Coriander seeds
- 20 gms Salt
- 4 gms Black pepper
- 10 gms Turmeric powder
- 1 Chicken (skin off, cut into 8 pcs)
- 100 gms Potato
- 100 gms Eggplant
- 560 gms Basmati rice
How to Make Irani Biryani
HideShow Media1.
First, prepare the eggplant and potatoes. Peel the potatoes, slice them up and fry until golden. Slice the eggplants and sprinkle some salt on them to draw out any bitterness from them, then rinse well and dry them. Fry them too until tender and set them aside. Wash and soak the rice for about 30 minutes.
2.
Heat the ghee in a pan, then add the onions and fry until they begin to colour. Next, add the chicken. Stir fry on high heat to seal the meat and brown it slightly. Add in the bay leaf, cloves, cardamom pods, black pepper and cinnamon stick, and stir them, in.
3.
Add the 4 cups of water and a tsp. of salt and bring to a boil. As soon as it begins to simmer, turn the heat down, cover the pot and allow the chicken to simmer gently for about 15 minutes.
4.
When ready, remove the chicken pieces into a bowl and keep them covered. Drain the broth and discard the whole spices. Measure out 4 cups of the broth, add an extra 1 cup. If you run out of broth, just add water to reach the desired amount.
5.
Bring this broth to a gentle boil on a separate burner so that it is hot for when we will need it. Make sure to taste it for salt, it should be a bit saltier than you would want because the rice is unsalted so this will make up for it.
6.
Now take a deep heavy pot. Grease the bottom and sides well. Lay out the chicken pieces (bone sides up) in the bottom, the eggplant and potato slices over the chicken and around the sides. Sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper over these veggies.
7.
Drain the soaked rice and add the turmeric, garam masala and black pepper powder into it and mix gently. Then scatter handfuls of this spiced uncooked rice over the chicken/potato/eggplant layers and spread it out to cover the bottom layers.
8.
Invert any heatproof plate over the rice then gently and carefully pour in your hot broth. The plate is just there to hold everything down in its place otherwise without it the layers you prepared will float up and ruin the effect of the presentation.
9.
The liquid should cover the rice completely and should reach about half an inch above the rice level. Cover the pot (with the plate still in there). And bring to a boil on high heat for 5 minutes.
10.
Then open and carefully remove the plate). Do not stir or mix the rice. Just pat it down smoothly, over with a tight lid and cook on low heat for 45 minutes more. Midway through you can place a tawa (flat griddle pan) under the rice pot to prevent the bottom from burning.
11.
Once done, turn off the heat but do not open the pot. Let it stand for 30 minutes. This helps the rice hold together in one shape. Then take a large plate, open the pot and place the plate over the top and flip it.
12.
Again let it sit for 10 minutes upside down. Give the pan a few gentle taps to make sure it has released from the sides and the bottom. Serve with a lemon slices or salad or raita.