MALABAR BIRIYANI (Kerala)

The Kerala style can be made with chicken, egg, mutton and fish. Malabar Biriyani is famous in the coastal Malabar region.

Ingredients

2 cups Basmati rice
½ kg chicken (medium sized pieces)
½ tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp coriander powder
½ tbsp pepper powder
4 to 5 onions (finely sliced)
¼ cup of ginger garlic paste
1 stalk curry leaves
3 tomatoes (sliced)
1 ½ tsp garam masala
Salt  to taste
¼ cup curd
3 cardamoms
3 cloves
1 small piece of cinnamon
1 tbsp lemon juice
¼ cup each of cashews and raisins
¼ cup onions (finely sliced)
3 tbsp oil
50 grams ghee

How To Make 

1. Wash and soak the rice in water for 15 minutes.
2. Marinate chicken pieces with turmeric powder, coriander powder and pepper powder and set aside for 30 minutes.
3. Heat oil in a pan. Add onions and sauté till they turn golden brown in color. Add ginger garlic paste and curry leaves and sauté again for a couple of minutes. Add tomato, garam masala and salt and sauté again for 3-4 minutes. Next add the marinated chicken pieces and curd and cook this masala on medium flame till chicken is done.
4. Drain the rice. In another thick bottomed pan, pour ghee and keep the burner on medium. Sauté cashews, raisins, and ¼ cup of onions till golden brown and keep aside. Now add cardamom, cloves and cinnamon and sauté for a minute. Add the rice and fry until it starts cracking. Add salt, lemon juice and 1 ½ cups of water. Cook till the rice is done. There should not be any trace of water.
5. Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Apply some ghee to a baking dish. Put a layer of rice in the dish. On top of this, spread some chicken masala. Repeat this process by alternating between rice and chicken masala until both are over. Take care to have rice as the top layer. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Garnish the baked biriyani with fried cashew, raisins and onions. Serve hot with pickle and raita.