This week Rosie Victor-Hoogland from India shows us how to make chicken biryani.
Rosie Victor-Hoogland came to New Zealand 10 years ago to study computing.
Originally from south India, she was living in Oman with her husband and two sons teaching music, when she had a serious accident. One of her sons was killed and she was badly injured, her marriage broke up, and she felt she was left with nothing.
However, in New Zealand she recovered, graduated, married a New Zealander and now has a four-year-old son, Sathya. She works part-time in IT at the University of Otago, as a university chaplin, and organises a women's group, Chai and chat, for the Dunedin Multi-ethnic Council and has recently won an award for positive contributions to cultural diversity and race relations from Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres.
Biryani is a special-occasion dish and there are many versions, each region having its own. It includes lots of spices, which makes it rich, and chicken, meat or vegetables, which are cooked separately from the rice then layered with it. It is nice eaten with raita, a yoghurt condiment with vegetables such as cucumber, carrot, onion, mint, coriander and spices, but it's good just by itself.
Chicken biryani (south Indian style)
For the rice:
2 cups basmati rice
1 Tbsp cumin seeds
2 bay leaves
1 green chilli
For the chicken:
800g chicken cut into medium-sized pieces with bone in
1 bunch coriander, chopped
1 bunch mint leaves, chopped
2 Tbsp biryani masala
½ stick cinnamon, broken
8 cloves
6 green cardamom pods
6-8 peppercorns
¼ tsp turmeric
2-3 bay leaves
¼ tsp chilli powder
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground coriander
¼ tsp nutmeg
2 Tbsp crushed or chopped ginger
2 Tbsp crushed or chopped garlic
2-3 green chillies (fresh is best but frozen will do)
2 Tbsp lime or lemon juice
2 cups plain yoghurt
4 medium onions
2 Tbsp oil
2 Tbsp butter
½ tsp saffron extract, powder or stamens
For the garnish:
1-2 Tbsp butter
2-4 Tbsp cashew nuts
2-4 Tbsp whole almonds, skinned and cut in half
4 Tbsp raisins
Method:
First wash the rice about three times in cold water, then leave to soak for half an hour.
In a large pot with a thick base, put half the chopped mint and coriander, all the spices, along with chillies cut lengthwise, bay leaves, lemon juice, a little oil, salt to taste and the yoghurt.
Fry the chopped onion in oil and butter until golden, but not brown. Add about half to the yoghurt mixture. Mix together and taste for salt and chilli, adding more if necessary. Add the chicken and stir to coat.
If the pot-lid has a steam hole in it, block it with a piece of dough (flour mixed with water) or put a tea-towel under the lid so as little steam as possible escapes. Cook on high for 10 minutes then on medium heat for 10.
Meanwhile, boil the kettle for the rice. Tip boiling water into a large pot, add the cumin and bay leaves. Bring to the boil, salt the water and add the soaked, drained rice. Return to the boil, and when the rice dances around, cook for another 3-4 minutes on high heat.
While waiting for the rice, prepare the garnish. Melt butter in a frying pan and fry cashew nuts and almonds until golden.
Add the raisins and stir.
When the rice is half-cooked, you will be able to break a grain in half. Drain and spread over the top of the chicken, yoghurt and spice mixture. Spread the rest of the fried onions over, sprinkle the nuts and raisins with the butter they were cooked in, and the rest of the chopped mint and coriander over the rice. Sprinkle the saffron soaked in a little hot water or milk, or the saffron extract over the top.
Replace the lid tightly and cook for another 10 minutes on medium heat and a further 10 minutes on low. Turn off the heat and leave to stand for five minutes before serving.
Raita is traditionally served with biryani.
To make raita, mix plain yoghurt with chopped cucumber, a chopped chilli, finely chopped onion, grated carrot, maybe a tomato and coriander. Stir together, with salt to taste. You can be creative with what you have, she says.
Thanks to Afife Harris and Mamma Mia Pizza.
Tips
• Other meats can be used for biryani, such as lamb, goat or beef. For fish biryani, fry the fish and add it later, layered with the spice mix and rice.
• Vegetarian versions are made with vegetables such as cauliflower, beans, carrot, and potatoes.
• Some versions use tomatoes instead of yoghurt, or both.
• Like many cooks, Rosie says she doesn't measure anything so quantities can vary according to your taste.
• Spices and biryani masala are available from ethnic groceries and good supermarkets.
• Traditionally, biryani is cooked in a clay pot on a wood fire, and hot embers are placed on the lid. It can also be finished in the oven.
