Hyderabadi Chicken biryani- kachi/raw style, made easy!!!

Hyderabadi Chicken biryani- kachi/raw style, made easy!!!

I have always been intimidated to try cooking biriyani the KACHI/raw way.  My mother makes really GREAT biriyani and it is always made the “pakki” or “cooked chicken gravy method”. My Hyderabadi friends make awesome biriyani and we get to taste it once in a while. So, I tried making it, of course the tried and true “pakki- method”. It was good but not the same. Then my friend very graciously shared her recipe for this wonder ful biriyani. You know what????  It is really EASY!!!!! 

Start the day before to get really flavourful meat. The chicken needs to marinate overnight. So, clean and get it ready. Make deep slashes in chicken and pat the chicken dry. This step is very important - too much water will make the rice mushy. Grind the garam masala. Chop green chillies and ginger- garlic too if needed. Combine all marinade ingredients and taste for salt. Add the chicken and mix well. Cover and let sit in the refrigerator.

On biriyani making day, soak the rice in water for at least one hour. Then, deep-fry the onion to golden brown and set aside. Spread 2 tbsp. oil or ghee in a large heavy bottom pan or pot. Add 2-3 tbsp. of the oil left from frying to the chicken and mix well. Place the chicken in the oiled pot and liberally sprinkle with fried onion and chopped mint and coriander. Soak saffron in milk.

To prepare rice, boil water with all the rice ingredients. Make sure to salt the water well or else rice will be bland. Cook for 5 minutes and strain off half the rice, letting the remaining rice cook a bit more. Add the steaming strained rice on top of chicken; sprinkle most of the remaining onion, mint, coriander and saffron milk on top. Drain the remaining rice and add as the last layer. Sprinkle the remaining onion etc.

Cover the pot with a tight fitting lid and start heating over medium high flame. After 5 minutes, you will see steam coming out. Then take the pot away and keep a cast iron skillet on stovetop. Place the biriyani pot on top of the skillet to prevent scorching. Cook for 30 minutes. Then remove the lid and check if all water is absorbed. You can do this with a skewer. Just like how you test doneness of cake, insert the skewer till the bottom to see if there is water. Once biriyani is ready, serve hot with raita.