Chicken Biryani

Ingredients

• •2 cups rice (preferably Basmati)
• •500 g (1 lb ) chicken
• •6 tablespoons oil
• •300 ml (10 oz ) yoghurt
• •3 cloves of garlic , crushed and chopped
• •1.5 cm ginger , peeled and sliced
• •5 large onions , chopped
• •½ cup tomatoes , puréed
• •2 chiles , chopped
• •1 teaspoon turmeric powder
• •5–6 strands saffron
• •8 cloves
• •10 cm (4 inches ) cinnamon stick
• •5 black pepper corns
• •8 cardamom pods
• •1 teaspoon cumin
• •Salt to taste

Instructions

1. 1Cook soaked and washed rice.
2. 2Marinate the chicken in lemon juice , yoghurt, ginger, garlic, salt, turmeric powder, cumin powder, cloves, chillis, chopped tomatoes, and tomato purée.
3. 3Heat oil in a pan, add onions, and cook until onions turn golden brown. Add these to the chicken.
4. 4Grease a heavy-bottomed deep and wide mouthed pan. Add a layer of rice. Put in the chicken mixture, top with the rest of the rice, and put the saffron on top.
5. 5Bake in the oven for 1–1½ hours at 150°C (300°F); cut into a piece of chicken to see if it is cooked.
6. 6Serve the biryani with yoghurt on the side.