Chicken Biryani with Onion Raita

Biryani is a regal dish that comes in many regional varieties, all with rich flavors, colors, and textures layered one on top of another—chicken, basmati rice, fresh herbs, saffron milk, and ghee. If your recipe calls for a hundred different spices, you’re doing it right! Many believe biryani originated with the Mughal empire, which once stretched from the Indus basin in the west and Kashmir in the north, to the highlands of present-day Assam and Bangladesh in the east, and the uplands of the Deccan plateau in south India.

I learned everything I know about biryani from Swasthi Shreekanth’s blog. Below, I’ve adapted her amazing recipe, using more plant-based ingredients like Lavva’s pili nut creamer and yogurt—it works beautifully! The burnt lemon was an idea I borrowed from another great Pakistani food blog, Tea for Turmeric.

Also, here's an idea, while you’re cooking, listen to this useful episode of The Daily to better understand what is happening with the Covid-19 crisis in India.

Chicken Biryani with Onion Raita
Makes 4-6 servings

Chicken Marinade

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
3 tbsp original Lavva plant-based yogurt (plain yogurt will also work)
1.5 inches of ginger, peeled and grated
5 garlic cloves, minced finely
1 tbsp garam masala
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp red chili powder (you can substitute paprika)
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tbsp lemon juice

Mix the marinade ingredients in a medium-sized bowl until you have a smooth paste.
Make a few slits in the chicken breast, cutting against the grain, then cover thoroughly with the marinade (make sure lots of the marinade gets into the cuts). Cover and refrigerate for anywhere from 1 hour to overnight.

Biryani

2 bay leaves
5 green cardamom pods
6 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 star anise
1 tsp caraway seeds
1 strand of mace (or 1/4 tsp ground mace or nutmeg; if using ground spice, add it with with the garam masala later)
1 whole onion, sliced very thinly
2 cups basmati rice
3 tbsp ghee (if you want to make this fully dairy-free, substitute oil)
1/2 cup mint leaves (I chiffonade, but finely chopped is also fine)
1 green thai chili
1/4 cup original Lavva plant-based yogurt
1/2 tsp red chili powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 pinch of saffron
1/4 cup Lavva plant-based creamer
3 cups water, chicken broth, or coconut milk
3/4–1 tsp salt
Lemon, sliced thinly (optional)
Handful of fresh cilantro, finely chopped

Rinse rice thoroughly (my grandma always said at least three washes). Soak in cool water for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, add 2 tbsp ghee to a dutch oven, over medium heat. Add bay leaves, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon stick, anise, caraway, and mace, heating the spices through until they become very fragrant.
Drain the rice for another 30 minutes.
Add sliced onion, and sauté until translucent.
Add chicken, and sauté for about 7 minutes or until the outside is thoroughly cooked. The chicken doesn’t need to be cooked through as it will continue cooking with the rice, but you want to minimize any raw flavor getting into the rice.
Add 1/4 cup of chopped mint leaves, green chili, yogurt, red chili powder, garam masala, (this is when you’d add the nutmeg if you were substituting it for mace), mix thoroughly. Sauté out as much moisture as you can.
Bloom the saffron by heating hot milk or creamer (I just microwave) and soaking the saffron strands in the liquid.
Layer drained rice over the chicken, and even out the surface. Top with remaining mint leaves, 1 tbsp ghee, saffron cream.
Dissolve salt in water/broth/coconut milk and pour down the sides of the biryani to avoid disturbing the surface.
Bring to a boil and cook uncovered for about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, caramelize the lemon slices in a little melted ghee until they’re evenly browned. The thinner they are, the better!
Top with lemon slices, cover, lower heat and steam for an additional 15-20 minutes. This “dum” stage can be quite finicky and depends on how much liquid you sautéd off, how much steam your dutch oven lets out, how aged your basmati rice is, etc. Getting this right takes practice, and my best suggestion is to keep a kettle of boiling water on hand, and taste your biryani periodically. If it’s not cooked through, add a little more water, steam another 5-10 minutes, repeat if necessary. It’s worse to add too much liquid than too little, because while you can always add more, it’s tough to fix a biryani that is too soggy. When finished, remove from heat, top with cilantro to serve.

Onion Raita

1 cup original Lavva plant-based yogurt (or full fat Greek yogurt)
1/2 cup onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup cucumber, thinly sliced or grated (box grater works better than a microplane for this)
1/4 tsp salt
1-2 green chilis
1 tbsp cilantro, chopped finely
1/2 tsp ground cumin

If you don’t like raw onion (like me), soak them in 1 cup of cool water mixed with 1 tbsp of baking soda for 15 minutes. This process neutralizes the thiosulfinates in raw onion that are responsible for days-worth of onion breath :)
Mix all the rest of your ingredients together and top with a little fresh cilantro as a garnish. Serve chilled with your biryani!

GIVE INDIA

I have family and dear friends who are terrified for their loved ones in India right now. If you love Indian food or anything about Indian culture, please consider making a donation to a mutual aid fund for Covid relief. What is happening in India is unconscionable—that a country that is the world’s largest producer of vaccines hasn’t been able to vaccinate its own people.

For the spices to make this biryani, check out Diaspora Co, a wonderful, woman of color-owned business. They have a great, up-to-date, vetted list of ways to donate with organizations that are providing non-discriminatory aid (ones that are not pro-hindutva, for example).

Read Arundhati Roy’s piece in The Guardian to learn more about what is happening with India’s COVID-19 crisis.