Chicken Biryani in Rice cooker

I bought a new rice cooker few days back and since then haven't stopped experimenting on it. I used to think its just for cooking rice or steaming meat and veggies. I went through the whole recipe book that came along with it but ended with nothing. It has great recipes but they are not exactly what we prefer to eat. So I did a little research on my own.

I have always made biryani the same way layering the half cooked chicken and half cooked rice and cook it over the heater in a cover pot. But most of the time I ended up with a small of portion of the masala, chicken and rice burning .So would go to a restaurant and eat briyani rather than going through all the trouble.

After buying the rice cooker I decided to give chicken biryani one more shot in the rice cooker. I thought what the heck it can't be any worst :)

And I am glad that I tried. It turned out amazing. It had every

thing one looks for in a good biryani, aroma, flavor and juicy chicken.

So here we go...

Ingredients:

1. Chicken leg piece: 6 (you can use other pieces as well.... it would be abt 800 gm)
2. Basmati Rice: 2cups
3. Curd: 2 cups
4. Ginger Garlic Paste: 2 tbsp
5. Coriander Powder: 1tbsp
6. Cumin Powder: 1tbsp
7. Red Chilli Powder: 2tbsp (adjust as per taste)
8. Green Chilli:2-3 Slit
9. Salt: As per taste
10. Mint Leaves: 1/2 cup chopped
11. Coriander Leaves: 1/2 cup chopped
12. Fried Onion: 2cups
13. Cloves: 4
14. Cardamon: 4
15. Sahi Zeera: 1tbsp
16. Cinammon: 2 inch stick
17. Javitri: 2
18. Pepper Corns: 1 tbsp
19. Turmeric Powder: 1tbsp
20. Biryani Masals: 1tbsp
21. Saffron color: few drops
22. Oil: 4 tbsp

Procedure:

In a bowl mix, curd, ginger garlic paste, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, whole garam masala (cardamon, cinannamon, Javitri, cloves), Pepper, Green chillies, Coriander leaves, Mint leaves, half of the fried onions, biryani masal, 2tbsp oil and salt to taste.

Add the chicken pieces to the marinade. Let it marinate for 1/2 hour. If you have more time then well and good.

Soak the rice in water for 30 mins.

In a pot boil some water and add 1 tbsp oil to it. To this add sahi zeera and 1 javitri.

Add rice to the boiling water, after 2-3 mins drain the water out. We just want the rice to be infused with those beautiful flavors and not get cooked.

Turn on the rice cooker and put it in keep warm mode for few minutes.

Add rest of the oil into the cooking pot in the cooker and cover it for a minute or so.

Now add all the chicken and marinade to it. Smooth it out in a even layer.

Add all the rice on top of the chicken and level it out. Add rest of the fried onions few stands of mint and coriander leaves. Add few drops of saffron color and 1/2 cup of water.

Close the lid and change the mode to white rice.

Now you can forget about checking if it done or if its getting burned. Because the rice cooker would set the timer and let you know once its done.

Once the beeper goes of don't open the lid immediately. Let it sit there for few minutes and then you can open and see how beautiful your biryani has turned out.

Serve it hot with raita or salan. Unfortunately after making the biryani I ran out of curd so I served it with plain salad :)

Here is how mine turned out.

What do you say pretty good ;)

So go ahead and try this out. Btw if you don't have a rice cooker, try the same recipe in your normal pot over the heater. It should be fine :)

do let me know how it was!!!!!

Till then Happy Blogging.

Rakhee