Nargisi Koftha Biriyani - Chicken Koftha Biriyani - Step by Step

   Nargisi koftha means - eggs encased in meat balls. This is a famous "Mughal" dish, where meats like chicken,mutton,prawn  are used.. Boiled eggs are stuffed inside the chicken kofthas. British Scotch eggs are inspired from these "nargisi Kofthas " of Mughals. When I was searching for "Biriyani" recipes, this caught my eye, because of its uniquness.So prepared nargisi kofthas and incorporated it in the biriyani. When I tried at home, It was a huge hit . The chicken kofthas cooks very quickly. Here, the recipe has used just the fried onions, instead of plain. For giving tartness ,tomatoes and curd are used. I have prepared this biriyani,by keeping in dhum in oven. But you can keep in the stove too. I have tweeked the recipe to my taste.

Check my other biriyanis.

* Mutton Biriyani

* Anjappar Style Chicken Biriyani

* Shrimp Dhum Biriyani

* Chicken Dhum Biriyani

* Fish Dhum Biriyani 

* Kayalpatnam Mutton Biriyani 

* Kovai Angannan Biriyani

* Malabar Mutton Biriyani

* Egg Biriyani

* Vegetable Biriyani

Preparation time : 10 mins

Cooking time : 30 mins

Serves : 4

Source : Here

Ingredients:

For the Koftha:

1.Minced chicken - 1 lb ( 450 gm)

2.Onion - 1/2 (finely chopped)

3.Green chillies- 2

4.Ginger garlic paste- 1/4 tsp

5.Sambar powder - 1 tbsp

6.Garam masala powder - 1 tsp

7.Salt - to taste

8.Boiled eggs - 1 1/2 slices

9.Oil - for greasing

10.Cilantro - finely chopped

For the Biriyani :

To Cook Rice :

1.Basmati Rice - 2 cups

2.Bay Leaves - 3

3.Cinnamon  - 1/2 inch

4.Cloves- 3

5.Oil - 1/2 tsp

6.Salt - 1/2 tsp

7.Fennel Seeds - 1/2 tsp

For the Gravy :

1.Onion - 2 (big)

2.Tomatoes - 2

3. Ginger Garlic paste - 1/2 tbsp

4.Mint Leaves - 1 cup

5.Cilantro - 1/2 cup

6.Biriyani Masala - 1 tbsp

7.Green Chillies - 2

8.Bay Leaves - 2

9.Cloves - 4

10.Cinnamon - 1/2 inch

11.Fennel Seeds- 1/2 tsp

12.Curd - 1/4 cup

13.Salt -to taste

14.Saffron - a pinch

Method:

* Slice the onion, thinly.Take a pan, add oil and dump the sliced onion to the pan. Wash and soak the basmati rice for atleast 20 mins. Soak the saffron in hot water. * Let the onion bake inside the oven @350 F.For about 20 minutes, stirring in between.Turn off the oven and let the onion sit inside the oven ,it will turn crisp, by the time ,our biriyani is ready. We can prepare this ahead of time and store it.  * Preparing the Koftha: * Take a mixing bowl, add minced chicken,finely chopped onion,green chillies,ginger garlic paste, sambar powder,turmeric powder and salt.Mix them thorughly . * Divide the meat into 6 balls. Grease a cover with oil. Flatten the meat balls to 1/2 inch thicknessed disc. * Now halve the eggs.I took 2 eggs and halved them into 8 parts. But used only 6 parts.If you want, you can use full eggs to stuff inside. * Roll them into balls again,after stuffing the egg.So each koftha will have 1/4 egg . Keep the kofthas aside. Making the Gravy: * Take a biriyani pan, add oil and splutter with cinnamon,cardamom,cloves, and fennel seeds.When the they splutter, add the green chillies. The green chillies has to splutter. for the biriyani to have a good flavour. Now add the chopped tomatoes and sprinkle some salt to the tomatoes. * Now add biriyani masala to the pan and saute. The mixture shoud give out oil .As shown in picture. Add ginger garlic paste and saute. * Now add chopped cilantro,mint leaves to the pan and saute. Now whisk the curd and add it to the pan. Let the curd mix with the curry well. * Now add the 3/4 of the baked onion. Reserve 1/4 of the onion for garnish. Just give it a stir,as onions are baked already. Adjust salt to taste. * Drop the kofthas to the pan and cover it. The kofthas has to be cooked ,by the steam created by covering the pan. Let the flame be medium . In between, turn the kofthas for it to cook evenly. The kofthas has to be cooked well. Cooking the rice : * While the gravy is getting ready,let's prepare the rice. Take a wide pan, add oil ,splutter with cinnamon,cloves,bay leaves and fennel seeds.Now add 10 cups of water or till the pan is filled 3/4 th of its height. * When the water comes to rolling boil, add the strained rice to the pan. The rice will enlarge in its size .When the rice is 80 % done, turn off the flame. That is when you press the rice, it should break, but ot should not be mushy. This is the right consistancy. * Strain the cooked rice using a strainer. Let the rice be covered and keep it ready for layering .The ric has to be hot for layering the biriyani. Layering the biriyani: * Lets layer the biriyani . Take the pan, layer it with 3 kofthas and some curry. * Now layer it with 1/2 the cooked rice .Sprinkle saffron water and chopped cilantro. At the end top it with baked onion. * Similarly do the layering with remaining kofthas,curry,rice ,saffron ,baked onion and chopped cilantro .Cover the pan with a damp cloth and close it agin with a lid. This has to seal the pan tightly, so that the steam doesn't escape. * Pre heat the oven to 350 degree F. Pop the pan into the oven. Let it stay in dhum for 20 mins. Alternatively, we can keep a tawa in low flame on  the stove.Then place the biriyani pan on top of the tawa. when we open the pan, the biriyani would have cooked beautifully as shown. Fluff the biriyani with a fork and serve with raita.

Notes:

* Cook the basmati rice, till it is 80 % done.

* While baking the rice, it should not become dark, if not the biriyani will taste bitter.

* If you don't have saffron, you can try using colour to the biriyani.

* Try to alter the spice level according to your taste.

* The chicken kofthas has to be cooked well.

* The gravy should be enough to cover the cooked basmati rice. If not the biriyani will not taste good.

* Our kofthas are spice enough, so don't add too much chilli powder to the biriyani.