My chopping board and a little spice: Kolkata Style Easy Chicken Aloo Biriyani

I know a lot of people who can think of no other dish other than Biriyani when they go to any restaurant and yes, they never get tired of eating it. My family contains those people and they are completely mad about Biriyani. I have made Biriyani at home for several times and believe me it is a real simple dish if you get the proportions right. Today in my blog, I am posting my easy Chicken Aloo Biriyani or as they say, Kolkata Biriyani in pictorial format so that you can easily make it at any weekend and give your family and friends a surprise treat.

Kolkata Style Easy Chicken Aloo Biriyani

Ingredients:

Part 1# 4 potatoes cut into two pieces, 2 tbsp ghee for frying it, turmeric for the colour and salt for taste.

Part 2# 12 medium chicken pieces, 6 chopped onion, 2 tbsp ginger garlic paste, 1 tbsp chilli paste, 1 tbsp kashmiri mirch, 4 tbsp curd, whole garam masala, 1 tsp coriander powder, 2 tsp garam masala powder, 1 bay leaf, 4 tbsp salt (keep the amount of the salt high as it will mix up with the rice), turmeric, 1 tsp sugar, food colour (optional), 2 tbsp mustard oil for marination.

Part 3# Long grain basmati rice 625 gm, a hand full of whole garam masala, 2 bay leaves, 1 tsp sugar, salt, turmeric.

Part 4# Kewra water, rose water and mitha attar. Garam masala powder (home made). Ghee.

The utensil I use for making Biriyani is a big microwave safe bowl with lid. If you are planning to make it in gas only, then you can replace it with a handi with a proper lid.

Chicken Biriyani

Stage 1# In a bowl take , 2 tbsp ginger garlic paste, 1 tbsp chilli paste, 1 tbsp kashmiri mirch, 4 tbsp curd, 1 tsp coriander powder, 2 tsp garam masala powder, 1 bay leaf, 1 tbsp salt, turmeric, food colour and mustard oil. Mix it properly and then add the well cleaned chicken pieces. Mix well so that all the chicken pieces gets covered with the masala. Close the lid and marinate for at least 30 minutes.

Marinate the chicken

Stage 2# Boil the whole potatoes with a pinch of salt. Make sure that you do not over boil it. After it’s done properly, take it out from the pressure cooker and cut it into 2 pieces. In a pan add 2 tbsp of ghee, after it turns hot, add the potatoes with some salt and turmeric powder. Saute it for some minutes but do not overdo it otherwise it will ruin the texture of the potatoes. Take it off from the pan and keep it separately.

Boil fry and keep those aside

Stage 3# Add some ghee and refined oil in a pan and after it becomes hot, add the chopped onions. Add some whole garam masala, sugar and salt to it and keep it cooking until it becomes soft and brownish pink. After it gets the desired colour, take out 1/4^th portion of it and keep it aside.

Keep a portion separated for later use

Stage 4# make the space among the remained onion in the pan and add some more refined oil into it. After the oil becomes hot, add the marinated chicken into it. Add the remaining salt. Cook it in medium flame for 15- 20 minutes, stir in between and cover it the rest of time. No need of adding water, but if you feel the need, add some but not much because we don’t want a smashed chicken inside the Biriyani. Keep on cooking it until it gets the desired thickness (follow the picture below). Add the sugar and cook for 5 minutes more and then turn the heat off.

Cook the chicken untill it gets the desired thickness as per the image

Stage 5# In a handi boil some water with a hand full of whole garam masala, 2 bay leaves, 1 tsp sugar, salt, turmeric. After the water starts boiling, add the basmati rice. Check in between so that the rice does not get over cooked. Cook it 80%. After that, remove it from flame and drain the water. Keep the rice in a big flat pan in open air so that the moisture vanishes.

Boil it 80% along with the spices

Stage 6# Take the microwave safe bowl, grease it with 1 tsp of ghee, lay down a bay leaf. Take some rice and make a layer on it. Now add two chicken pieces and one potato with some gravy. Make another thin layer of rice and add 1 tsp rose water, ½ tsp kewra water, 1 drop of mitha attar, 1 tsp ghee, ½ tsp garam masala, 1 tsp fried onions. Close the layer with another layer of rice. Repeat. Repeat and repeat until the bowl gets full and all the rice and chicken gets vanished. If you see that one bowl is not enough, take another microwave safe bowl and follow the before mentioned procedure.

Create the layers

Stage 7# After you have done the top layer, add all the remaining fried onions, 2 tbsp of ghee, 2 tsp of rose water, 1 tsp of kewra water, 3 drops of mitha attar and 2 tsp of garam masala powder. Make sure that there is atleast 1 inch gap between the last layer and the lid. Close the lid and shake everything a bit. Put the microwave safe bown in the microwave and cook it for 5 minutes.