Biryani, chicken

Swasthi Shreekanth’s selected one-pot chicken biryani cooks yogurt-marinated chicken with aromatics, then layers uncooked aged basmati rice over it. This pressure-cooker version uses a roasted spice powder prepared for this recipe, ghee, mint and selected saffron milk, with the chicken and rice served in layers.

Bay leaf, star anise, green and black cardamom, mace and cinnamon are dry-roasted first, followed by cloves, fennel, shahi jeera and black pepper. The supplied grated nutmeg is added, then the heat is turned off before the mixture cools and is ground. Chicken is slit and coated in yogurt, supplied ginger-garlic paste, salt, turmeric, red chilli powder, some of that spice powder and the selected optional lemon juice. The marinade is tasted, adjusted as needed and left covered.

The rice is rinsed in water, soaked in fresh water and drained to a colander. In the pressure cooker, ghee heats the selected optional whole spices before the sliced onion is fried with stirring. The chicken is sautéed, covered and cooked until tender, then checked with a fork. Excess moisture is cooked away before yogurt, mint, green chilli, more of the same spice powder and the selected optional extra red chilli are mixed through.

The chicken is levelled and the drained rice spread above it. Salted water is boiled separately, tasted and poured partly around the sides and partly over the rice. The rice is levelled and finished with the remaining mint, selected fried onions and saffron steeped in hot milk. The cooker is covered and fitted with its whistle for cooking.

After the pressure drops naturally, the biryani is fluffed with a fork. Portions are served from the top through to the chicken below, with raita, sliced vegetables, papad and shorba alongside.