Chicken biriyani using rice cooker - Step by step

 Cooking biriyani will always be tricky in getting right textured rice. When we use pressure cooker, we should be very carefull about the number of whistle we have to keep it for. This fear can be eliminated by using rice cooker. Rice cooker cooks evenly and fast. Just prepare the masala and transfer it to the rice cooker with rice and chicken stalk. Your chicken biriyani is ready within 25 minutes. Check my other chicken biriyani recipe using pressure cooker here. 

 

Serves                      : 3

Preparation time    : 25 minutes

Cooking time          :  40 minutes

 

 

Ingredients:

For the chicken stalk:

1.Chicken cubes                  -       4 to 5

2.Pepper corns                     -        few

3.Cilantro stems                   -        few

4.Onion cubes                      -        few 

5.Small ginger piece            -         1

6.Water                                -          3 cups

 

For biriyani:

1.Chicken                            -         1 lb

2.Basmati rice                     -          2 cups

3.Onion                               -          1 (big)

4.Tomato                             -          1 (big)

5.Ginger garlic paste           -           1/2 tsp

6.Green chillies                   -            2

7.Curd                                  -            1/2 cup

8.Chilli pwdr                        -            3/4 tsp

9.Turmeric powder               -            1/4 tsp

10.Salt                                   -            as required

11.Mint leaves                       -            hand full

12.Cilantro                             -            hand full

13. Chicken stalk                   -            3 cups

 

For tempering:

1.Oil                                       -            1/4 cup

2.Ghee                                    -            2 tbsp.

3.Cinnamon sticks                  -            1/2 inch

4.Cloves                                  -            4 to 5

5.Bay leaf                                -             1

6.Fennel seeds                         -             1/2 tsp

7.Cardamom                            -              4

   

Method:

* Take a pressure pan, add chicken stalk ingredients and cook for 2 whistles. When the pressure subsides, strain the chicken stalk and discard the chicken pieces.Reserve this stalk for the biriyani. We can prepare this stalk 2 to 3 days ahead and refrigerate. We can also freeze this for atleast few months.

 

* Soak   basmati rice for atleast 20 minutes and drain it completely for 10 minutes. Take chicken pieces , wash them atleast for 4 times ,till it looses all its raw smell. Now add some curd and turmeric powder to the chicken and marinate for atleast 10 minutes in the refrigerator.

 

 * Take a pan, add ghee and oil. when they are hot, add the whole garam masalas and let them splutter. This is essential in getting a flavourfull biriyani. Now add the sliced onions and green chillies. Let the onions  turn golden brown. We can speed up the process by adding little salt.

 

 * Now add ginger garlic paste and sauté it, till it looses its raw smell. Now add chilli powder to the masala. Be carefull not to burn the chilli powder.

 

 * When the chilli powder is blended, add the chopped tomato and sprinkle some salt. when the tomato gets disintergrated, add the chopped mint leaves and cook.

 

* Now add beated curd to the pan and mix it. At last add the marinated chicken and let it get coated with the masalas. Cook the chicken for 3 to 4 minutes or until it is half cooked.

 

* Now add the soaked basmati rice to the pan. If we want, we can fry the basmati rice separately, before starting the biriyani process and keep it aside. Since I didn't had time, I fried the rice along with the chicken masala. Take care not to break the rice. Once the rice is fried, transfer the contents to the rice cooker.

 

 * Now pour the chicken stalk to the rice cooker and adust salt now. Close the rice cooker and turn it on. The rice will be cooked within 20 minutes. Once the rice cooker turns off, carefully transfer the biriyani to another bowl. This helps the biriyani to retain its texture, if not the rice will stick to each other.

 

 

Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve  with raita and egg. 

 

 

 Notes:

* If we don't have chicken stalk, then replace it with plain water.

* We can also marinate the chicken with red chilli powder and refrigerate it over night.

* Take care not to break the rice ,while frying.

* Transfer the biriyani to another bowl immediately, if not the rice will stick to one another.

* My rice cooked in 3 cups of stalk. You can increase the stalk to 1/2 cup more depending upon your rice.