Thalapakatti Chicken Biryani Recipe | South Indian

How to cook the recipe

• Peel the garlic. Crush the garlic in a mixie without adding any water. Set aside. Crush the shallots in a mixie without adding any water. Set aside.
• Grind all the masala ingredients to a very fine smooth paste. Add few teaspoons of water while grinding. Chop the ginger into small pieces and break the cinnamon into bits before grinding.
• Soak the rice in water now. The rice needs to soak for half an hour.
• Heat Oil and ghee in a heavy pan and add in the Masala paste, crushed garlic and crushed shallots-small onions. Fry on medium flame for a good 15 minutes until the oil separates from the mixture.
• Add in the chicken. Add in the chili powder. The ratio of rice to chicken should be 1 cup rice to 1.5 cup meat. Saute the chicken so the masala coats evenly. Reduce the flame to simmer and cover it with a lid and let it cook. Don’t add any water. The chicken will cook in its own juices. Just saute once in 5 minutes so the chicken doesn’t scorch in the bottom. After 15 minutes, the chicken should be done and there should be some gravy too.
• Add in the yogurt/curd. Cook with the lid open for 5 minutes.
• Remove the cooked meat to a bowl and roughly measure how much liquid is left behind. Mine had about 1.5 cups of liquid. Just measure roughly. It need not be accurate.
• We are using 2 cups rice and 750 grams meat. We require 2 times water to the quantity of rice. So we need to add 4 cups water. There was already 1.5 cups gravy that we measured before. So I added 2.5 cups water to the mixture. Add salt. Add in the chopped coriander leaves and the mint leaves. Let the mixture come to a boil.
• Add back the meat and let it come to a boil again. Check for seasoning. Add more salt if necessary.
• Drain the soaked rice and add it to the pan. Wait for it to boil. Add in the lime juice.
• Cover the pan with a lid and let it cook for the first four minutes on medium flame. Open the lid. Gently mix once from the bottom, cover the lid again and simmer for 10-15 minutes on very low flame.
• After that time, open the lid and see if the rice has been cooked. Cook for a couple of minutes more if necessary. Switch off the flame and close the pan with a lid.
• Serve Thalapakatti Chicken Biryani Recipe with raita for a hearty weekend meal.