Not Your Mama's Biryani Guide — the snobby foodie

Because if your mom gave you a biryani recipe, it would go like this: “A pinch of this, a dash of that, and cook it until it smells right.” Indian food is tricky. If you’re risking staining your shirt with Indian spices, you better get the recipe right. Here’s one of the most thorough biryani guides you will ever read.

Attempt: 8

This recipe has been cooked and refined 10 times. I am NOT messing around.

For more biryani related content…

What is Biryani?
It's a curry infused rice dish. Think of fruit infused water, but better- and spicier.

The Short Story

Marinate the chicken.
Saute the vegetables (onions, garlic, ginger, tomatoes- add in this order).
Add biryani seasoning and cook and ingredients until they are a curry.
Partially cook rice on stove.
Partially cook chicken in curry.
Layer rice, herbs,, and curry. Rice. Herbs, Curry. Rice. Herbs. Curry.
Put in oven to bake 350 F, 30 mins.
Serve with yogurt.
Like & share this post on Facebook & start following The Snobby Foodie on Instagram. (this is what makes the biryani taste REALLY good)

Pro Tips

A Dutch oven really helps. Especially for the onion sweating… you’ll learn more about this later.
Cook your veggies thoroughly.
Don’t be too prideful to use a blender.
Don’t be too prideful to use store-bought biryani seasoning.
Wear clothes that you would wear to Korean BBQ.

The Long Story

I've had too many ghee-coated, mushroom-ridden (why!?) experiences with biryani, so I decided to set out to make it on my own. After many failed attempts, I finally made a biryani that was ON POINT (if I do say so myself).

Disclaimer: I'm someone who hates following recipes and measuring. So this recipe is designed for similar people. I like simple instructions and hate spending time cleaning measuring cups.

Most Important Parts of the Recipe (STOP BEING LAZY aka must follow this to get good biryani).
Cooking the rice just right al dente.
Realizing the rice will dilute the biryani curry you're making, but not to go to crazy on the jalapenos.
Buy Basmati rice- don't cheap out- although I'm not sure this rice is much more expensive.
Ingredients you NEED: biryani seasoning, onions, tomatoes, basmati rice. This will make your biryani alright. The rest of the ingredients make it AWESOME.
It's important to cook the vegetables thoroughly- or else your biryani will taste like uncooked onions.
Use VEGETABLE OIL not olive oil.

Time to Consumption
If you're efficient: 1 hr 20 minutes (25 minutes cooking)
The best way to increase efficiency is to tag team:

Rice duty (for someone who has a good concept of time & preferably has rice on a stovetop before)
Biryani Curry duty (for someone with good taste buds & is patient)
Raita duty (for someone who doesn't deal well with kitchen stress)

Ingredients

Biryani Seasoning- I've made this spice in the past, but it's a pain in the ass. Just get Shaan brand. Do not get MDH. This can be found at your local Indian store
3 Tomatoes
4 Onions
Plain Yogurt
Cucumber
Chaat Masala (optional, but it makes the Raita so good; can be found at your local Indian store)
1 Jalapeno
Chicken Thighs and other dark meat (you can use white meat if you want, but dark meat gives the rice a flavor)
4 Cups of Long Grain Basmati Rice
Fried Onions (can be found at an Indian supermarket)
1 Cup of Cashews
1 Cup of Golden Raisins
1 Bunch of Cilantro
1 Bulb of Garlic (don't get garlic paste)
Vegetable Oil (just so things don't stick to the pan when you're saute-ing)

Chicken Biryani #foodie #food #indianfood http://t.co/ZzSi94bOGf https://t.co/5E8oXjR560
— The Snobby Foodie (@thesnobbyfoodie) March 30, 2015

Directions
For Raita

Dice 1 Tomato and Cucumber
Add to 1 cup of plain yogurt.
Add in 0.5 tsp of minced jalapeno. You can also grind the jalapeno more finely and add in the paste.
Mix in 0.5 Tbsp Chaat Masala.
Mix in 2 tbsp chopped cilantro.

For Biryani

Marinate chicken in 2 tsp of the biryani seasoning. Set aside.
Chop all of onions, all of the cilantro, and 2 of the tomatoes. Please tell me you did not buy canned tomatoes.
Crush garlic into a 2 Tbsp of paste.
Crush the jalapeno into a paste.
Saute onions thoroughly in vegetable oil. The onions should be “sweating”.
Add in garlic and saute. (smells like cooking)
Add crushed tomatoes. If stuff starts sticking, add a bit more oil. Don't go crazy.
Take half of mixture use a blender to turn ingredients into a chunky sauce. DON'T liquefy.
Add biryani masala and mix.
For a spicier mixture (TASTE it first), add a bit of of the jalapeno paste. If you do add this, make sure to cook it down and mix. Otherwise, some bites of your biryani will just taste like jalapeno.
Cook until it looks like there’s a layer of oil surrounding your veggies. Sorry - this is Indian mom advice.
Add Chicken to curry mix, and cook 80%. (Don't worry- you will not be eating raw chicken. We will cook it in it's entirety soon.)
Turn off the stove.
Add 8 Cups of water to a pot and bring to a boil.
Once boiling, add the jasmine rice.
Monitor the rice closely. Strain excess water when it's 70% cooked. You'll be able to break it in half with your fingers without it mushing all over your hands. It should be al dente.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Add thin layer of curry to bottom of pot.
Add layer of rice. Note that I did not say add ALL the rice.
Layer some cilantro, cashews, and raisins on top of rice.
Add some of the thinly chopped jalapenos if you like your food REALLY SPICY.
Repeat last 4 steps until all ingredients are used. NOM!
Place covered pot in oven for 25 minutes.
Let sit for 10 minutes outside of the oven.Serve with raita.
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