Hyderabadi chicken dum biryani and review of Foodpanda

In my recent visit to India I got to know about FOODPANDA.(www.foodpanda.in) - the online delivery site for delicious, tasty, mouth watering dishes. A wide range of succulent, hot meals can be delivered at your door step within a few minutes. Delivery from Foodpanda is hassle free and with a few clicks of the mouse your favourite food can be at your door step. I used this service several times and got an opportunity to enjoy great dishes from all over the city. The food is served in a hygenic way and the pleasant behavior of the delivery boys adds a extra flavour to the dish. You can also enjoy great savers from their website. I would recommend Foodpanda to ONE AND ALL. Now coming to today's recipe .

 Hyderabadi Chicken Dum Biryani 
This recipe originated from the royal kitchen of the Nizams. It is a dish that doesn’t call for an elaborate process but requires a lot of ‘tender loving care’. Kachha (raw) biryani is in Hyderabadi style, where marinated raw chicken and partially cooked basmati rice are layered and cooked on dum, over low heat. I have prepared this biryani several times, and the recipe is perfect and has never failed me. Once the biryani is cooked on dum, as you open the lid, the kitchen smells fragrant, rich with the reassuring aroma of pure ghee, saffron and the chicken cooked to melt in the mouth with tenderness.

SERVES: 5
Cooking time 45mins
INGREDIENTS: For the Aqni:
STEP 1:MARINATION
Marination time:1hr minimum
1.Chicken with bone 1kg
2.Salt to taste
3.Red chilli powder 2tspns
4.Turmeric powder 1/4tspn
5.Ginger-garlic paste 3tbspns
6.Garam masala powder 1tspn
7.Green chillies 15(slitted)
8.Coriander leaves 1 bunch(finely chopped)
9.Mint leaves 1/2 bunch(finely chopped)
10.Fried onions 2 handful
11.Yogurt 400gms
(put it in a strainer or a muslin cloth and use the hard curd for marination)
12.Oil 3/4cup (use the leftover oil that you used to fry the onions)

METHOD FOR THE MARINATION:

Wash the chicken and leave it in a strainer atleast for an hour so that you don't have any water in it.
Add all the ingredients one by one into the chicken.
Leave it to marinate atleast for an hour or you can even marinate a day earlier and leave it in the refrigerator overnight.

STEP 2: BOILING THE RICE

INGREDIENTS FOR THE ADHAN:
1.Basmati rice 5 cups(I use India gate)
2.Salt 9tspns
3.Caraway seeds 1tspn(shazeera)
4.Cardamom 5(elaichi)
6.Cloves 4(loung)
7.Cinnamon 2sticks(patta)
8.Bay leaves 2

METHOD FOR PREPARING THE RICE:
Soak rice in lukewarm water for a minimum of 30minutes.(this will make your rice grain longer). Simultaneously in a big wide vessel,boil lots of water with salt,caraway seeds,cinnamon,cardamon,cloves and bay leaves.
When the water starts boiling add the soaked rice to it.
Give it a stir,dont keep stirring everytime as this will break your rice grain.
Cook till the rice grain can be broken into 2 when held between two fingers.
This will take 2-3 minutes as you have already soaked the rice for 30minutes. Keep checking now and then.
Drain the rice in a strainer and keep the rice aside.

STEP 3:LAYERING
INGREDIENTS FOR THE LAYERING:

1.Lemon juice of 1lemon
2.Coriander leaves 1cup
3.Mint leaves 1/2 cup
4.Fried onions 1cup
5.Saffron 2 pinches(mixed in luke warm milk)
6.Luke warm milk 1/2 cup
7.OIl 1/2 cup
8.Desi ghee 2Tbspns

METHOD FOR THE LAYERING:
Take a wide vessel in which you wish to dum the biryani in or you can alternatively use a clay pot.

LAYER 1:
Put a very thin layer of rice as your first layer This is a protective layer so that you don't burn your chicken in case you over cook.

LAYER 2:
Put the marinated chicken as your second layer.

LAYER 3:
Put half of the cooked rice as your third layer.

LAYER 4:
Sprinkle evenly fried onions,coriander leaves,mint leaves and lemon juice as your fourth layer. (fried onions should be put in this layer and not the final layer as they go darker if put in the last layer because of the steam).

LAYER 5:
Put the remaining half rice in the fifth layer.

LAYER 6:
Finally sprinkle the saffron mixed in milk evenly.
Desi ghee mixed with oil should be put in from the corners to make full circle.
Seal this with aluminium foil.

FINAL STEP: COOKING METHOD:
Cook on high flame for 8-10 minutes till you see some steam escaping.
Now lower the flame for 15minutes.
Keep rotating your vessel clockwise every 3 minutes.
Switch off the stove and leave aside for 10minutes.
Don't mix in the whole biryani when you serve.
Take them out in layers like the chefs does.

SERVE HOT WITH RAITA OR MIRCHION KA SALAN

TIP:
You can freeze the onions in the freezer in a zip lock bag after you fry them to make it crispy.