Chicken Tikka Biryani

Who doesn’t like a good Chicken Biryani? It is a true mood lifter when it comes to food for the soul. We have tried out many chicken biryani recipes in our kitchen and this one stood out among them all. The Chicken Tikka Biryani is a delicacy served in Punjab, a land which is hailed for most of the tandoori dishes in India. The tikka should ideally be marinated overnight and cooked in a tandoor or smoked over a long period of time. Since most of us don’t have a tandoor or the time to go through such arduous measures, this recipe makes minor tweaks to allow us to enjoy a similar flavor in the comfort of our humble home.

Chicken Tikka Biryani

Servings: Serves 6-8

Prep time: 1 hour

Cook time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

◻ 1 kg Chicken with bone/boneless (medium size pieces)

Marinade for chicken:

◻ 2 tbsp lemon juice/vinegar

◻ 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste

◻ Salt to taste

◻ 2 tbsp Kashmiri chill pwdr

◻ 1 tbsp tandoori masala (can be substituted by biryani or garam masala)

◻ 1 ½ tbsp mustard oil (sunflower/peanut or extra virgin olive oil)

◻ ¼ cup yogurt

For the tikka:

◻ 1 tbsp oil+1 tbsp butter

◻ 2-3 pieces of charcoal

◻ 1 tbsp oil or ghee

◻ Foil or food cover/lid

Biryani masala:

◻ 2 deep fried onion slices(optional)

◻ 2 tbsp oil

◻ 2 onions sliced finely

◻ 1.5 tsp ginger garlic paste

◻ 2 finely chopped tomato

◻ Spice powder:1 tbsp Kashmiri chilli pwdr,1 tbsp coriander pwdr, ½ tsp turmeric, salt to taste

◻ 2 tbsp yogurt

◻ 1 tsp sugar

◻ ½ cup of coriander

◻ 1 tbsp kasuri methi leaves

◻ ½ tsp kewra water (optional)

Rice:

◻ 3 cups basmati rice

◻ Whole spices:2 bay leaves, 6 cloves, 2-inch cinnamon, 6 cardamoms, ½ tsp shahjeera, salt, 1 tsp ghee, salt to taste

◻ Mint and coriander to garnish

Preparation:

1. Take medium size chicken pieces, clean and score them so that the masala coats the chicken. Add all the ingredients given in the marinade and keep it for an hour, it can also be refrigerated overnight.

2. Add 1 tbsp oil+ 1 tbsp butter to a nonstick frying pan or grill pan and fry the chicken pieces for 10 minutes on each side until ¾th done. Switch off the flame once the chicken pieces are done and make a space in the center. You could also take the chicken pieces out onto a large plate.

3.This step is optional, but it does give the chicken tikka its smoky flavor. Heat the charcoal until it turns red, use a tong to carry it into a stainless-steel dish which will be placed in the center of the pan/plate. Add 1 tbsp oil/ghee and cover the pan/plate immediately with a well-sealed lid. Keep it aside.

4.Take a large nonstick pan, add 2 tbsp oil to it and add the thinly sliced onions to it, saute until brown, add the ginger garlic paste and cook until the raw smell disappears, now add the tomatoes and the masala mix and cook until the oil begins to separate, mix the whisked yogurt with any remaining chicken marinade and add it to the mix. The sugar is optional and gives the tanginess a sweet little twist. The gravy is almost done now, add ½ a tsp of kewra water and some of the coriander and kasuri methi leaves. The cooked chicken pieces are now added to the curry and cooked at a simmer for another 5-10 minutes.

5. Take the nonstick deep dish that you intend to use for the assembly of the biryani. Fill it with water and keep it to boil.

6. Add the whole spices to the water so that the rice will be flavorful, you can also add the salt at this time. One of the most important steps in making a perfect biryani is adding some extra salt at the time of rice preparation. When you taste the water, it should almost taste like a soup at this point. Add the 3 cups of rinsed, soaked, and strained rice to the water. Cook until it is ¾ th done. Drain it into a colander.

7. So now it’s time to assemble our biryani, add ghee to the bottom of the pan, spoon out a thick layer of rice, spread mint, coriander, fried onions, ghee, and layer it with the chicken tikka and gravy.

8. Add the next layer of rice and follow the same layering, the final layer will be rice topped with fried onions, coriander, mint and ghee. Cover with foil and lid and place the pot over a flat pan, enabling indirect heat to cook the biryani on dum for ½ hour on a low flame.

P.S: So this recipe is special in that if you just make it till step 3, you would have some delicious chicken tikka appetizer, if you proceed further to step 4, you just made yourself a flavorsome chicken gravy for lunch/dinner and when you decide to go the whole way, you have prepared an entire meal. The tandoori masala, mustard oil and charcoal smoke eventually gives the dish the authentic taste. But for all of you out there who don’t have the specific ingredients ,I have added some alternatives and it will turn out delicious either way. One of the simple perks of cooking your meals is that you get to decide what you prepare and eventually if the dish does not turn out the way you hoped it would, you even have the privilege of naming it differently. Shoutout to all the bosses of the kitchen, we know the kind of love you put into your meals and we are rooting for you.

Flavors with spice and all things nice ❤