Nisha Katona's one-pot chicken biryani
Chicken and rice and all things nice!
Nisha is back in the kitchen with another curry to add to your repertoire, her easy one-pot biryani.
Full of flavour, it’s a perfect dish to spice up your hump day!
Chicken biryani
Serves 4
Ingredients
5 tbsp veg oil
2 large onions finely diced
5cm 2 ginger, peeled and crushed
4 cloves garlic, crushed
600g chicken breast, diced small
1 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp chilli powder
3 tbsp garam masala
2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 stick cinnamon
2 cloves
3 green cardamom pods
100g finely diced dried apricots
500ml water
For the rice
600ml cold water
400g white basmati rice
2 tsp salt
1 tsp turmeric
For the onions
5 tbsp oil
3 large onions, finely sliced
1 tsp salt
For the saffron pour
1 tsp saffron strands steeped in 100ml warm milk for 5 minutes
For the dough seal
120g plain or chapati flour
50ml water
2 tsp veg oil
For the garnish
Pomegranate seeds
Chopped fresh coriander
Method
1. Set a large wok style pan over a medium heat. Add the oil, onions, ginger and garlic and fry until brown. Now add the chicken and cook for two to three minutes. Add all the spices, ingredients and apricots and stir for 3 minutes. Now add the water and simmer with a lid on over a medium to low heat for 15 minutes.
2. Meanwhile add the water, rice, salt and turmeric to a pan and simmer on a medium to low heat until the rice has just absorbed the water. This is around 8 minutes. Place a lid on and set aside.
3. In another pan, gently fry off the onions in the oil until golden and stringy. Season with salt.
4. Preheat the oven to 200C. Spoon in a layer of the flavoured rice to the bottom of an ovenproof dish. Add half of the fried onions and lightly cover with another thin layer of rice. Add half the chicken curry, then repeat with rice, onions, rice and the remaining curry. Finish the layering with rice and pour the saffron and milk over the top of the rice.
5. Mix the ingredients for the dough seal in a bowl. Create a long sausage and seal the joint between the lid and the dish. Place the dish in the preheated oven and cook for 15 minutes.
6. At the end of the cooking time, remove from the oven, break the dough seal and serve with a scattering of pomegranate seeds and coriander.