Make this spice-loaded chicken biryani for a dinner so hearty and comforting, no sides will be needed

Biryani has been exalted as the “jewel in South-Asian food’s crown,” and this take on it from Anjum Anand’s cookbook I Love India proves exactly why the dish is so beloved. Not only is it packed with spices that’ll fill your home with a rich aroma as soon as they hit the pan, the chicken and rice-based meal is hearty enough that you won’t need to serve it with any sides. That’s a comfort food win if we’ve ever heard one. Read on to learn more about the inspiration for this dish, and scroll down for Anand’s full recipe.

Kutch Chicken Biryani

By Anjum Anand

The Kutch are people from Gujarat. It is a small community and one I only heard about when my brother became really close friends with one of them in university. He often told me how delicious their food was and what a great cook his mum is. I think at some point he even wrote down a chicken curry recipe for me to try to cook… but I don’t think I ever did. However, in Mumbai I tried some Kutchi food and it is indeed delicate, fresh and fragrant. Their chicken biryani is probably one of their more famous dishes and, while it has a few steps as does any biryani, it is fun and easy to do. You can put the whole thing together in advance and simply beat it through when you are ready. You can also just make the chicken curry separately; it is just as good.

Ingredients

Marinade:

• Scant ½ cup Greek yogurt
• 2 tbsp finely grated root ginger
• 10 large garlic cloves
• ⅓-⅔ tsp chili powder, or to taste
• 1 tbsp garam masala
• ¾ tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 ½ packed cups coriander stalks and leaves
• Generous ½ packed cup mint leaves
• 3 tomatoes, skinned if you have time, roughly chopped

Biryani:

• 2 lb + 4 oz skinned, bone-in chicken joints, cut into large pieces by the butcher
• 3 cups basmati rice
• 4-5 tbsp ghee
• One 2-inch cinnamon stick
• 2 dried bay leaves
• 8 green cardamom pods
• 8 cloves
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• 2 black cardamom pods
• 1 large onion, finely chopped

To serve:

• Vegetable oil, as needed
• 1 medium-large onion, thinly sliced
• Handful of slivered almonds
• 2 tbsp raisins (optional)
• 3 tbsp milk
• Good pinch of saffron threads

Preparation

Start with the marinade. Blend together the yogurt, ginger, garlic, chili powder, garam masala, turmeric, salt, herbs and 1 tbsp oil until smooth. Pour into a non-reactive glass or ceramic bowl. Add the tomatoes and the chicken, mix well and leave to marinate as you cook the rice.

Rinse the rice under several changes of water or until the water remains clear when left in a bowl with the rice. Soak for 15 minutes.

Heat half the ghee in a large heavy-based saucepan. Add the cinnamon, bay leaves, 4 each of the green cardamom pods and cloves and half the peppercorns; cook until the spices puff up a little. Add the rice and sauté in the spiced ghee for 2 minutes. Add a generous 4 cups water and salt to taste (the water should taste well seasoned). Bring to the boil, then cover and cook very gently for 5 minutes. The grains should be only slightly undercooked in the middle. Take off the heat.

Now for the onion, to serve. Heat up 2 inches oil in a very small saucepan. Add the sliced onion and fry until golden brown, then remove with a slotted spoon and place on a kitchen paper to blot off the excess oil. Once dry, they should crisp up. Set aside. Remove and reserve the oil (you can use this in cooking for the next few days and it will impart a lovely onion flavour to the food).

Heat the remaining ghee and 2 tbsp of the onion oil in a large non-stick pan. Add the remaining green cardamom pods, cloves and peppercorns and the black cardamom pods and cook until these puff up. Add the finely chopped and fry until soft and browning at the edges. Then add the chicken with its marinade. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer until the masala has dried, 20-25 minutes. Stir occasionally. Once the moisture has dried up and it has released oil back into the pan, increase the heat and stir-fry the meat in the masala for a few minutes to intensify the flavours. The chicken should be done by now; if not, add a splash of water and continue to cook, covered, until the chicken is cooked. When done, adjust the seasoning and take off the heat. There should be a little sauce in the pan — it shouldn’t be too dry.

Heat 1 tbsp more of the onion oil in a small saucepan, add the almonds and raisins, if using, and fry for 1 minute or until the raisins have puffed up and the almonds have been browned. Set aside. Rinse the pan out. Add the saffron, stir-fry gently for a minute, then add the milk, simmer gently for a minute and set aside.

Now you need to layer up the biryani in an appropriate-sized pan or oven dish. You can have as many layers as you like; traditionally it is 5 in total. Choose your pot or dish. Start by spooning in one-third of the rice, then spoon over half the chicken, add the next layer of rice, then the chicken, then the last layer of rice. Drizzle over the saffron milk.

Cover with a tight-fitting lid, making sure nothing escapes the lid. Place on the flame, turn the heat up and cook for 2 minutes on a high flame and then 10-15 minutes on a very low flame. (You can also cook this in a preheated 350°F oven for 20-30 minutes.) When you can see steam under the lid, you will know everything is well heated through. Serve garnished with the fried sliced onions, toasted almonds and raisins, if using.

Excerpted from I Love India by Anjum Anand. Photography by Martin Poole. Recipes Copyright © 2017. Excerpted by permission of Quadrille. All rights reserved.