Thalassery Chicken Dum Biriyani

My earlier post was also regarding biriyani. I already mentioned in the post that I am a biriyani lover. The biriyani which I earlier made was lil spicy.There is always a conflict about biriyani in northern parts of Kerala regarding the best biriyani.Whether Kozhikode biriyani or Thalssery biriyani is the best. But the fact is that both has its own signature taste. This week I am going to make a Thalassery Chicken Dum Biriyani. This is not a very spicy biriyani but its very very tasty.

Ingredients

• Chicken cut into pieces – 1 Kg
• Onions- 4 big ( thinly sliced)
• Green Chilies – 8 to 10 depending on spice level
• Ginger – 1 big piece
• Garlic- 2 1/2 Tbsp crushed
• Tomato – 2 big chopped
• Coriander leaves- 1/4 cup chopped
• Mint Leaves - 1/4 cup chopped
• Garam Masala Powder –  11/2 Tbsp
• Turmeric Powder A pinch
• Lemon juice – juice of 1 lemon
• Ghee  - 2 Tbsp

For Rice

• Jeerakasala Rice –  2 cups( this rice gives the authentic n signature taste to Thalassery Biriyani)
• Water – 3 1/2 cups
• Cinnamon – 1 inch
• Cardamom – 4
• Cloves  - 5
• Pepper Corns -5 Nos
• Star Anise - 4 
• Fennel Seeds - 1/2 tbsp
• Ghee -1 1/2 tbsp
• Salt

Other Ingredients

• Cashew nuts - 100 gram
• Raisins – 100 gram

Preparation of Rice

We can prepare rice first. Cook the rice with the above mentioned qty of water with the spices and ghee added to it.Add salt as needed. Normally we strain water but here the rice is cooked in very adequate amount of water so that we don't have to strain the excess water.Keep the cooked rice aside. Use only the correct amount of water mentioned so that the rice will be properly cooked.

Preparation of Masala

Initially we have to fry all the thinly sliced onions in ghee and keep it aside. Take another vessel where we are gonna do the Dum, so it should be a lil big vessel with a lid. Add thinly sliced tomatoes , no need to add oil.After that add the half of the onions which we fried in ghee.Once cooked add the grinded ginger and garlic paste it to it. After some time add the grinded green chilies to it Saut well add some salt .Put the washed chicken pieces into it then add the chopped mint leaves. Add some amount of water just to cook the chicken. Cover the vessel with a lid. Once chicken is half cooked add the coriander leaves , garam masala and a pinch of turmeric powder(optional) .Then cover the vessel again the cook until the chicken is properly cooked. No need of much gravy. Ocne this chicken is done add the rice into it by layering again with raisins , cashew nuts and rest of the onion fried in ghee. For Thalassey Biriyani we won't fry raisins and cashew in ghee as we do for other biriyani. If you need some more smell you can add lil rose water and for color you can add saffron diluted in milk.Saffron was not in my store so I didn't add that.Saffrons are not only for color it add taste to ur biriyani. Once the layering part is over cover it with a wet clean cloth and close the vessel with a lid and keep another vessel filled with water on top of the lid to do the Dum.Basically Dum is to "Cook in Steam" Keep the vessel on low flame for 10-15 minutes. When we open the lid we can find the wet cloth almost dried.

Thalassery Chicken Dum Biriyani is ready. Serve it with Dates pickle and Onion-Vinegar Salad.That is the best and traditional combination of Thalassery Dum Biriyani.