Cafe Bahar Chicken Biryani Recipe

Ingredients: 1 kg chicken (with bone cut into 8 big pieces for the biryani) 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste 1 tbsp lemon juice 2 cup basmati rice 15 strands of saffron cup warm milk 4-5 green cardamom, only the seeds 1 inch stick cinnamon 1 tsp black cumin 6-8 cloves 8-10 peppercorns cup fried onions cup hung yoghurt (two hours is enough for hanging the yoghurt) 2 tsp green chilli paste Salt to taste 1 tsp red chilli powder tsp turmeric powder 2 tsp coriander powder 2 tbsp ghee 10-12 mint leaves 2 tbsp oil 1 cup refined flour Water to knead the dough

cafe bahar chicken biryani recipe

But I have to be a 100% honest with you. I had never made chicken biryani before I decided to share this recipe. And I got convinced because so so many of you have requested for a legit/authentic biryani recipe that was also relatively easy.

While choosing rice for the biryani, make sure to buy 'basmati rice' and not long grain rice. While they may look similar at first, good quality basmati rice is fragrant, and has grains that are thin and long as opposed to long grain rice which has fatter grains and almost no fragrance. The basmati rice is cooked for exactly 5 minutes in boiling water with whole spices and salt to get it to the right doneness - which is 70%. Drain the rice well to get rid of any excess water. The rice will continue to steam when we finally cook it along with the chicken and that's where it picks all the flavour and perfume from the chicken, saffron, mint leaves and coriander.

This Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani gets a lot of its flavor from the marinade. We are using yogurt as a tenderiser, fried onions (birista), tomato puree, red chili powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, garam masala and salt to flavor the chicken. It's important to marinate the chicken in a large bowl for at least two hours or overnight for the maximum flavor. Like I said before, I prefer using only chicken thighs and legs for chicken biryani because these are the juiciest and do not become dry while the biryani cooks.

Once you have your chicken marinated, rice and fried onions ready, start by cooking the marinated chicken. To cook the chicken, place it in the dutch oven or a large pot that you plan to use for cooking the biryani, and cook them for 7 minutes. There is no need to stir the chicken, only flip it once around the 4 minute mark.

And there you go! The whole thing takes approximately an hour so I call this a weekend project, but after you've done it once, you'll realize how easy and simple making biryani at home is! The results of your labour will look like this, and trust me, there is nothing like the smell of chicken biryani wafting through the house to get everyone to the table!

It's really important to use a heavy-bottomed pot when you make chicken biryani, or the chicken pieces can be scorched or burnt. A dutch oven will be your best friend while making this biryani because it heats evenly and stays warm. It also has a thick bottom that does not let your food get burnt easily. Another tip is to keep the biryani pot on a tava or flat skillet. This will stop it from coming in contact with direct heat, and it'll steam at a low heat.

I love the way Hyderabad comes alive during Ramzan. I personally love venturing towards the Old City during the month to soak in the sights and sounds of the old lanes. You will witness people shopping for wares, breaking their fasts during iftaar and most importantly enjoying delicious street food. Starting off with the haleem and chai at Hotel Nayaab, fish fry besides Hotel Shahran, seekh kebabs at Jehangir, pathar ka gosht, chicken 65 at Akbar and walk all the way till Shah Ghouse to end it all with delicious bowl of biryani is the regular food walk route.

If you prefer Indian and Pakistani cuisines, then this restaurant is worth checking out. Enjoy tasty pepper chicken, chicken biryani and gobi manchurian Cafe Bahar offers. Good kulfi will impress you at the first bite. This place is famous for great coffee, tea or lassi.