Chicken Biryani

Geoff's quick and easy version of this classic Indian recipe is full of wonderful flavours and will feed the whole family for around ten dollars.

Ingredients

Main dish

2 tablespoons ginger, skinned & grated 2 cloves garlic, grated 1 large onion, diced 4 cardamom pods, crushed 8 whole cloves 2 cinnamon sticks 1/4 cup yoghurt 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder 2 cups Basmati rice, raw 3 1/2 cups chicken stock 2 teaspoons salt (optional) 1 barbecued chicken, deboned and cut into bite-sized pieces (or substitute any cooked meat, such as beef or lamb) 1 sprig fresh coriander

Garnish

2 tablespoons vegetable oil 2 dozen whole almonds 2 onions, sliced into rings

Method

To prepare the garnish: heat oil in a large frypan on medium-high heat and gently fry the almonds until they are golden. Remove and rest on absorbent paper. Fry the onion rings until soft and translucent. Remove from the pan and rest on absorbent paper.Fry the diced onion, garlic, ginger, cloves, cardamom pods and cinnamon. Reduce heat to a simmer, add yoghurt and turmeric, mix to combine.When well mixed, sprinkle in the raw rice, pour on the chicken stock, add salt, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes. (Note: Geoff used homemade chicken stock, so needed to add salt. If you use bought chicken stock - which is fairly salty - you won't need to add salt.)When the rice is cooked through, turn off heat, stir through the chicken pieces and leave covered for a couple of minutes so the rice may soak up the remaining liquid.Remove the cinnamon sticks, and spread the almond and onion garnish evenly over the dish.To serve, drizzle over a little more yoghurt and top with some fresh coriander.

Copyright 2002 CTC Productions