The Family Recipe

Chicken Biryani is a savoury rice and chicken dish which includes chicken,
rice, and aromatic layers that are steamed together. The lower rice layer
absorbs all the chicken juices as it cooks, giving it a tender texture and rich
taste, while the upper rice layer turns out soft and fluffy. Buried in the
Biryani, you can find whole slices of succulent chicken overflowing with pot
flavour The Chicken Biryani is our family recipe. Basically, I'm from a place
where the most popular dish is the Chicken Biryani. I’m from Hyderabad
(India) and people call this dish as Hyderabadi Biryani. I chose this recipe,
because this dish is often reserved for very special occasions such as
weddings, parties, or holidays.

https://www.bombaybucketbiryani.com/wp-content/uploads/Hyderabadi-
Chicken-Biryani.jpg
Ingredients:
Basmati Rice:
Basmati rice is believed to have been grown for centuries on the Indian
subcontinent. Heer Ranjha (1766) is the earliest remaining work to mention
basmati rice. Basmati was brought by the Arab and Muslim Indian
merchants to Middle East and Central Asia. It not only remains an
important part of the Indian subcontinent's various cuisines, but is now also
commonly used in Central Asia, Persian, Arab and other Eastern Cuisines.
Those from Indian subcontinent grow and export this type of rice [ CITATION
Wik201 \l 4105 ].

Bay leaves-
Bay leaf as a culinary herb is best known as an ingredient in the French
seasoning mixture called bouquet garni. It is Native to the Mediterranean
and widely cultivated in North America, Central America, India, Russia,
France, Italy, Turkey, Spain, and Mexico.
Bay is also used in Spanish, Italian and Creole cuisine, where fish and
shellfish, such as bouillabaisse, are usually added to flavour. It is also a
perfect addition to various soups, stews, sauces and pickling
brines[ CITATION Baynd \l 4105 ].

Cardamoms-
Cardamom is one of the most ancient spices in the world. It is native to the
East, originating in the western ghats forests of southern India, where it
grows wild. Around a thousand years ago, in Constantinople, Vikings came
on cardamom and brought it to Scandinavia where it remains popular to
this day[ CITATION Carnd \l 4105 ].
Black pepper-
Pepper is native to South Asia and Southeast Asia, and has been known
since at least 2000 BCE to Indian cooking. J. Innes Miller notes that while
pepper was grown in Southern Thailand and Malaysia, its principal source
was India, particularly the Chera dynasty, in what is now the state of Kerala
[CITATION wik201 \l 4105 ].

Cinnamon-
Originally from Ceylon (Sri Lanka), true cinnamon, Cinnamomum
zeylanicum dates back to 2800 B.C., in Chinese writing. And in today's
Cantonese language is known as kwai. Cinnamon used by ancient
Egyptians during their embalming process. Italians named it canella from
their word for cannon, meaning "little tube," which accurately describes
cinnamon sticks[ CITATION Peg19 \l 4105 ].
Caraway seeds- Caraway was well known in classical days, and it is
assumed that its usage originated with the ancient Arabs, who named the
'seeds' Karawya, a name they still carry in the West, and obviously the root
of our word Caraway and the Latin name Carvi, while Pliny would have us
believe that the name Carvi was derived from Caria, in Asia Minor, where it
was originally found according to him[ CITATION Mrsnd \l 4105 ]. 

Ground turmeric-
The use of turmeric goes back at least almost 4000 years to the Indian
Vedic era, where it was used as a cooking spice and had some religious
significance. Today, turmeric is widely grown in the tropics and takes
various names in different cultures and countries. In North India, turmeric is
generally referred to as "haldi," a term derived from the Sanskrit word
haridra, and in the South it is referred to as "manjal" which is also used in
ancient Tamil literature [ CITATION Sah11 \l 4105 ].

Saffron-
Saffron is native to Southwest Asia, but was first cultivated in Greece.
Saffron, a spice derived from the dried crocus stigmas (Crocus sativus),
has been among the most costly substances in the world throughout history
[ CITATION Sch07 \l 4105 ].

Bone in skin-on chicken thighs

Vegetable oil
Large onions
Ginger and garlic paste
Chilli powder
Salt
Plain yogurt

Description:
In a deep saucepan, boil water and add rice, salt, bay leaves, five green
cardamoms, seven to eight black peppercorns, one cinnamon stick, and
cook until the fourth. Drain and put away. Heat enough oil in a kadai, and
fry slices of onion until golden brown. Drain and put on paper which is
absorbent. Grind to a fine powder caraway seeds, one cinnamon stick,
remaining black peppercorns, cloves, and remaining green cardamoms and
set aside. Now, take bits of a Chicken in a tub. Attach the paste of ginger,
the paste of garlic and the salt and mix well. Add spice powder, red chilli
powder, half of the fried onions, yoghurt, leaves of coriander, mint leaves,
and one tablespoon of oil and mix together. Let it marinate around for two
hours. In a pan, heat two spoonful’s of ghee, add cinnamon and black
cardamom and saute. Attach remaining onions, and sauté golden until
warm. Add marinated chicken, stir and cook for three to four minutes over
high heat. Cover, raising heat and cook until nearly finished. Heat the ghee
up in a thick pan. Place half a layer of rice over it. Spread the rice over the
mutton. Sprinkle with leaves of broken mint. Spread leftover food. Sprinkle
the milk with saffron. Cover under a dum and cook. Dum basically refers to
allowing the dish to breathe in its own aroma or juices in order to make it
flavored. Hence large handis are sealed to trap the steam with dough or
cloth, which then cook the meat or rice until tender. Finally, garnish with
cilantro and serve hot.

The most important thing to take care of when cooking biryani chicken is to
always use a heavy-bottomed pan as you wouldn't want the chicken to be
fried. And also if you want chicken biryani to be juicier, use the bone(leg).

Analysis of the recipe:

The word Biryani is derived from the Persian word Birian, which means
‘fried before cooking’ and Birinj, the Persian word for rice. There are
various theories related to the origin of this scrumptious dish. Many
historians believe that biryani originated from Persia and was brought to
India by the Mughals. Biryani was further developed in the Mughal royal
kitchen[ CITATION Ven17 \l 4105 ]. It's got a long preparation but it's definitely
worth the work. Always use long grain rice for biryani. Basmati rice is the
best variety to use, with its long, fine grains. Ghee is butter that has been
gradually melted to remove the milk solids and golden wax, which can be
used instead of vegetable oil to provide a more authentic taste [ CITATION
Naz03 \l 4105 ]. It was after Emperor Aurangzeb appointed Niza-Ul-Mulk as

the new ruler of Hyderabad that the famous Hyderabadi Biryani emerged.
His chefs are believed to have created nearly 50 different versions, using
fish, shrimp, quail, deer and even hare meat. The highlight of this dish is
the aromatic Safran[ CITATION Ven17 \l 4105 ]. Spices also plays important role
in this dish. Clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, allspice, ginger, cardamom,
black pepper, and apiaceous “seeds” (achenes) such as fennel, anise, dill,
coriander, and caraway are among the spices whose volatile oils have
made them important items in international commerce, used throughout the
world, by cooks of literally hundreds of cultures [ CITATION ENA05 \l 4105 ]. The
biryani is a meal in its own right. These spices originated in different parts
of the world, sometimes quite obscure and remote parts. Typically served
with a raita, or gravy on the side, like a salt which tastes great with the
meal. We also serve pickled onions and sliced cucumbers along with the
biryani meal. Most often the biryani is a popular weekend meal made for
lunch on Sunday afternoons in my house. My mother makes the perfect
and delicious Biryani and she learnt from my grandmother. When I was
interviewing my mother about the recipe she says, "It's a new challenge
every time I make a biryani, because this is one dish that can throw you out
every time, from the quality of the rice to the quality of the meat and its time
to cook. It's still game of wait-and-see.” I have tried this recipe a lot of
times, but it's always been a great flop, maybe one day I'll learn to cook it
for sure. Experience certainly helps you get it right but it's a nail-biting
finish. But when the lid is opened it is such a treat, and the rice is fragrantly
separate and well cooked. Biryani is indeed a masterpiece of India's
culinary heritage, consumed with love by the wealthy as well as poor.
Works Cited
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Biomolecular and Clinical Aspects. 2nd edition. (p. chapterv 13). CRC Press.

Anderson, E. (2005). The senses. In E.N.Anderson, Everyone Eats (p. 304). NY: NYU Press.

Cardamom. (n.d). Retrieved from theepiccentre.com:

http://theepicentre.com/spice/cardamom/#:~:text=It%20is%20native%20to

%20the,used%20it%20as%20a%20perfume.

contributers, w. (2020, july 13). blackpepper. Retrieved from wikipedia.org:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_pepper#:~:text=Pepper%20is%20native%20to

%20South,now%20the%20state%20of%20Kerala.

Contributors, W. (2020, july 13). Basmati. Retrieved from wikipedia.org:

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?

title=Special:CiteThisPage&page=Basmati&id=967533676&wpFormIdentifier=titleform

Filippone, P. T. (2019, August 19). origin and historical uses of cinnamon. Retrieved from

thespruceeats: https://www.thespruceeats.com/history-of-cinnamon-

1807584#:~:text=Cinnamon%20Origin%20and%20History,amomon%2C%20meaning

%20fragrant%20spice%20plant.

Grieve, M. M. (n.d). Caraway. Retrieved from Botonical.com:

https://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/c/carawa20.html#:~:text=Caraway%20was

%20well%20known%20in,name%20Carvi%20was%20derived%20from

Nazia. (2003, january 1). Chicken Biryani. Retrieved from allrecipes.com:

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/16102/chicken-biryani/
profile, B. l. (n.d, n.d n.d). Bay leaf profile. Retrieved from herbco.com:

https://www.herbco.com/t-bay-leaf-profile.aspx

selection, S. W. (2007). History of Saffron. Retrieved from mcgill.ca:

https://www.cs.mcgill.ca/~rwest/wikispeedia/wpcd/wp/h/History_of_saffron.htm

Venugopal, M. (2017, january 16). From persia to your plate: Origin, History and types of

biryani. Retrieved from News18.com: https://www.news18.com/news/lifestyle/food-

from-persia-to-your-plate-origin-history-and-types-of-biryani-1336569.html