How to Make Nano's Biryani (Grandmothers Recipe Biryani)

Biryani is a dish best prepared by seasoned cooks with a knowledge of ingredients, and who better to prepare such a delicious dish than a grandmother with years of experience and expertise under her belt? In this recipe, learn how Mrs Azra Syed prepares her version of chicken biryani, a recipe she has refined and defined as her own.

Preparation time: 20 minutes, Cooking time: 40 minutes, Serves 6

Ingredients:
1 ½ kilo/3 pounds chicken pieces
1 kg/2 pounds basmati rice (soaked for 30 minutes)
4-5 large onions (fried till golden brown)
2 tbsp ginger paste, 2 tbsp garlic paste
1 tbsp chili powder
2 tbsp cumin powder
2 tbsp coriander powder
1 tbsp garam masala powder

For cooking Rice:
2 tbsp salt
2 tez pata (bay leaves)
2 tbsp whole black cumin
5-6 cardamoms
2-3 cinnamon sticks
4-5 cloves
10 black peppercorns.
4 tomatoes (chopped)
4 potatoes (parboiled and chopped into 4)
½ cup yogurt (whipped)
10-12 dried plums (alu bukhara) soaked in water
6 whole green chilies
6 tbsp chopped cilantro leaves
4 tbsp chopped mint leaves
1 tsp rose water or kewra (optional)
Saffron or yellow food color
1 ½ tbsp salt (or more to taste)
1/3 cup oil

Whole pieces of chicken are are cut up by a butcher and washed.

Basmati rice is taken (in roughly the same ratio as the chicken), washed several times and soaked for about 20 minutes.

Onions are sliced and then fried till golden brown.

Whole ginger and garlic are made into a paste.

Biryani is a complex mixture of different spices. Here we can see chili powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, garam masala powder.

For cooking the rice, salt, bay leaves, black cumin, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, peppercorns are also used to enhance fragrance of the dish.

Tomatoes & potatoes entered the subcontinent relatively late, but they are essential ingredients in today's Pakistani kitchen.

Here we have yogurt, dried plums, alongside green chilies, cilantro & mint leaves as part of the ingredients.

Oil is first added to a pan.

Ginger and garlic paste are fried together.

Gradually chicken pieces and yogurt are added...

Ground spices are combined in a container

Whipped yogurt is slowly added once the raw smell of the chicken and spices has subsided.

Chopped tomatoes are then added and cooked...

until the chicken is cooked through.

When the chicken juices start to thicken, soaked dried plums (alu bukhara) are added...

along with green chilies, cilantro & mint leaves and parboiled potatoes.

This is cooked on a low flame for a few minutes.

Creating steam is important to the cooking process of a biryani.

Two liters of water is brought to the boil in a separate pan with salt and the other whole spices added to flavor the water.

The soaked rice is drained and cooked till 70% done. The spiced water is then discarded.

In a large pan, some oil is added and rice is layered on.

The chicken mixture is then placed over this rice, and garnished with extra cilantro leaves, green chilies, mint leaves and fried onions.

Another layer of rice is placed on top after the first layer of chicken.

Another layer of chicken and garnishes are added, with a final layer of rice at the top.

The topmost layer of rice is sprinkled with saffron or food coloring and cooked on a high flame for 5 minutes. After which when steam starts to appear from the pot, the flame is reduced to low, the pot sealed firmly with a cloth or foil and cooked till the rice is completely cooked, approximately 25 to 30 mins.

The rice and chicken are served on a decorative dish.

The final biryani is ready to serve.