Awadhi Chicken Biryani / Lucknow Style Chicken Biryani

While sipping my morning tea, I was thinking what should I post today!! Should I post a milkshake or a breakfast dish or Sunday Special menu? And finally I decided to go with Sunday Special Menu. Non-vegetarian’s Sunday is incomplete with Chicken or Mutton. So today I will share one biryani recipe from Lucknow. Yes, I am sharing Awadhi Chicken Biryani. Awadh which was known as Oudh has been derived from Ayodhya which is now part of Uttar Pradesh. Awadh was the place of Nawabs and Awadhi cuisine has the influence of Nawabs.

My Lucknow visit was very interesting and adventurous. No not because of food, that time I was not at all experimental about food. It was a trip with my family (My parents and sister) when I was in 8th or 9th Std. We went with a tour party with a group of 40 people, so you can guess about the chaos happening all the time. Lucknow was a part of trip along with other places like Nainital, Almora, Ranikhet, etc. From Kolkata we reached to Lucknow and visited all the historical places and without forgetting to buy some Lucknowi Chikan dresses. So after staying two days we were supposed to catch train at night and go to other places. We were ready after dinner to check out from hotel and our trip manager came and said “good you are ready, stay at room others are not ready I will call you”. We kept waiting and suddenly we realized almost one hour passed no one called us and went outside to check and found everybody left leaving behind us. They simply forgot to call us. Tension started and anyhow hotel people managed to get rickshaws which took us to platform and we found train was late hence we were relieved.

Coming back to Awadhi Biryani, it is known as ‘Pukki’ biryani as both rice and chicken cooked separately and later layered together. Unlike Hyderabadi Biryani, it is less spicy and some people also call it as Pulao. The best part after reading this recipe you might think now today is late, there is no time for marination. Let me tell you this recipe does not call for marination hence you can go to market get the chicken and start cooking it now.

Awadhi Chicken Biryani / Lucknow Style Chicken Biryani

Chicken – 500 – 600 grams

Basmati Rice – 2 cups

Onions  – 4  medium, chopped

Ginger  – 1 inch piece

Ginger Paste – 2 teaspoon

Garlic – chopped, 1 teaspoon

Garlic Paste – 1 teaspoon

Curd – 2/3 cup

Black Peppercorn – 6 to7

Black Cardamom – 3

Fennel Seeds – 1 teaspoon

Mace – 2 blades

Cinnamon – 2 inch stick

Green Cardamom – 5

Bayleaf -3

Shahi Jeera – 1 teaspoon

Red Chilli Powder – 1 teaspoon

Cloves – 5

Saffron – few strands

Milk – 1 tablespoon

Salt to taste

Refined Oil – 3 tablespoon

Ghee – 1 tablespoon

For Masala

Cumin seeds – 1/2 teaspoon

Nutmeg powder – 1/4 teaspoon

Cloves – 5

Green cardamoms -6

Black cardamoms -2

Procedure

1. For masala dry roast the spices and grind them in mixer to make a powder. Now add 2/3 of chopped onion and make a paste along with this masala and keep aside.

2. Wash and soak the rice for 15 minutes.

3. Take a muslin cloth and add remaining onion, chopped garlic, ginger piece, fennel seeds, shahi jeera,  black cardamom and peppercorn, mace and cinnamon stick in to a bundle. Put his bundle with cleaned chicken pieces and add 3 to 4 cups of water and boil until 75% of chicken is cooked.

4. Do not throw the stock, take out the bundle and chicken pieces. Now no use of that bundle can be thrown away.

5. Heat little ghee and oil in a pan and add bay leaf, green cardamom, clove, black cardamom and add soaked rice. After stirring for few minutes add the chicken stock and cook the rice until 80% done. After that drain the water and spread the rice in plates for cooling.

6. Now heat remaining oil and ghee and put bay leaf and ground masala. Add ginger and garlic paste and red chilli powder. Cook until oil separates.

7. Add chicken pieces and add salt to taste. After few minutes add beaten curd and mix well. Cover with lid and cook for few more minutes. Avoid adding water, if it gets very dry can add little milk.

8. Soak the saffron strands in warm milk and keep aside. Now grease a vessel with ghee and prepare chicken and rice layer alternatively and add saffron milk in each layer. Close the vessel with lid and put it on gas for few minutes, serve hot with raita or onions.