Pakki Chicken Biryani (mummy's recipe)

This is my mother-in-law's recipe for pakki biryani. Here the chicken is cooked separately and then added to the rice and cooked together. This takes about an hour and a half from start to finish.

INGREDIENTS (for 5 people): 

The ingredients have been broken up into two lots for cooking the chicken curry and then the rice. Some of the whole spices are listed in two places - please total the quantity when getting your ingredients together.

Rice

• Biryani rice (long-grained e.g. basmati)  - 2 full cups or 400 gms  

Meat and Spices for the chicken curry

• Chicken - 1 to 1.250 kgs
• Oil - 4 tbs + 5 tbs
• Medium sized onions - 2 chopped
• Fresh garlic - 1 whole pod
• Fresh ginger - 1 whole piece about 2 "   
• Cardamon (green) -  4 or 5 whole 
• Jeera whole - 1 tsp 
• Cinnamon piece - 2 ' long 
• Black Peppercorns - 1 tsp 
• Star Anise - 2
• Cloves - 8
• Jatika ( jaiful flower) - 1 piece (optional)

Spice Powders

• Meat masala - 3 tsp
• Chilli Powder - 1/4 tsp 
• Haldi - 1/2 tsp
• Salt - 1 tsp

Whole Spices for the rice

• Jeera - 1/2 tsp
• Cloves - 4
• Cinnamon - 1 piece 2'' long
• Gardamom (green) - 4
• Black Peppercorns -  1/2 tsp 

For the Garnish

• Onion - 1 and 1/2, finely sliced
• Cashew - 10 to 15
• Raisins - 20
• Coriander leaves for garnish 

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Soak rice in the water  for 1/2 hr in a bowl
• Wash the meat and pat dry and keep aside
• Paste the garlic and ginger together with a little water
• Heat the presser cooker without lid on medium flame
• Add 4 tbs oil, and when the oil is warm, put all the whole spices (cardamom, cinnamon, jeera, pepper, star anise, cloves & jatika) 
• Add the chopped onions and brown them, then put in the garlic & ginger paste and fry for a couple of minutes
• Add the meat masala,  chilli powder, haldi and salt - and put in a little water so the spice mix doesn't burn
• Now add all the chicken pieces and brown well with the spices for  5 - 7 minutes
• Add 1.5 cups of water to the cooker, put the lid on and and pressure cook for 10 mins after the pressure builds
• Once the pressure is done, check to see that the meat is cooked well. Remove the meat and separate the meat and gravy into different vessels.  Remove all the whole spices from the cooker and broken bones, or you can strain it. Measure the gravy, and add water until you have about 4 cups (the liquid should be double the amount of rice - 4 cups for 2 cups rice)

• Use a large flat bottomed dish (dekchi) to make the biryani in
• Put it on the gas, and heat 4 tbs oil in it.
• For the garnish, brown the sliced onions and remove it in a plate, Fry the cashew until light brown, remove from dish and then fry raisins. The cashew and raisins need to be fried separately otherwise they burn. Remove all onto a kitchen towel to drain the oil 

• Add a tbs oil more to the dish and when hot, put 1/2 tsp  of Jeera, 4 cloves, 1 stick of cinnamon, 4 green cardamom, 1/2 tsp black peppercorns and fry for a couple of minutes
• Add the drained rice and stir for a couple of minutes

• Add the liquid (chicken gravy and water) - 4 cups
• Add the chicken meat and stir, taste for salt, cover and bring to a boil. 

• After 3 to 4 boils, lower the gas to simmer. Put a heavy iron tava under the dekchi and place the garnish on the rice (fried cashew, raisins, onions and green coriander leaves) 
• Put off the gas and let it cool on the tava. It is now ready to serve