Chicken Biryani

I made a chicken biryani dinner the other Sunday to use for leftovers during the week. I like this dish because it's relatively cheap (after you've accumulated the right assortment of spices) and not terribly difficult to make. However, it does involve a number of steps and the preparation is a little time-consuming. The rewards are well worth it, however.

The dish is made of rice and chicken. The basic strategy is to prepare all the intermediate ingredients, assemble them on the workbench before you, and put the dish together layer by layer.

Going clockwise, we have spiced basmati rice and raisins, cooked in water that has been infused with ginger, cinnamon, cardamom pods and cumin seeds (the little satchel of spices is sitting right next to the bowl). The rice is drained just a couple minutes before it finishes cooking and it has some saffron mixed in with it.

Next to that is a bowl of sauteed onions, with garlic and jalapeno pepper mixed in at the last moment.




Then we have four chicken thighs that have been fried up and are about halfway cooked. I find that chicken tastes better when only halfway cooked.

Lastly, on the chopping block is a mixture of mint and cilantro, chopped finely.

The first step is to layer about half the rice down on a casserole pan.



Next, about half the onion mixture gets layered on top.



Now that the pan is properly cushioned, the chicken thighs are willing to nest down.



The mint and cilantro is sprinkled over top of them.



And finally, another layer of onions and then rice covers them, tucking the chickens in for a nice little nap on top of the stove.