Monday, March 15, 2010

Chettinad Chicken Biryani

Chetttinad is a region in Sivagangai district of TamilNadu, India. It is well known for its Chettinad cuisine, bungalows and Temples. The capital of the district is Karaikudi . Click to see some beautiful houses of Chettinad.

There are many variations in biryani preparation. Of which the Chettinad version is a more Indianised one. The masala in the biryani with pepper and corinader seeds makes a difference.

Can there be words to describe the flavor and taste of the authentic chettinad chicken biryani available in those Karaikudi / chettinad restaurants? Hubby and myself are glued to the chettinad cuisine and always look for opportunities to visit their restaurants. There is one near our house and they serve the best chicken biryani I have ever tasted. I tried many combination to arrive at their taste and thus got the below recipe for the famous spicy hot chettinad chicken biryani.

Dedicating this Chettinadu chicken biryani to my friend Sheeba Neal.


(Chettinad chicken biryani served with era(Shrimp) thokku and lemon wedges).


Ingredients:
Basmathi rice - 3 cups (600 gms)
Chicken (with bones and skin) - 1.5 lbs (almost equal to rice in weight)
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Red onion - 2 (200 gms)
Tomato - 3 (1/4 kg)
curd -1 cup
Ghee - 5 tbsp
cooking oil - 2 tbsp
curry leaf - 1 sprig (optional)
green chillies (uncut)- 3
Lemon (squeezed) - 2 tbsp
salt - to taste.
bay leaves - 2
star aniseed - 1
cinnamom stick - 3 inch

Masala 1:
Ginger - 3 inch
Garlic - 6 pearls
cumin - 1/2 tsp
Fennel - 1 tsp
black pepper (whole) - 1 tbsp
Dry red chillies - 5
corinader seeds - 2 tbsp
cardamom - 4
cloves - 6

Masala 2:
cilantro- 1 handful.
mint leaf -1 handful.
green chilly - 5

Method:
Wash the rice. Pour enough water to fully cover the rice along with 1 tsp salt , little turmeric powder, lemon juice and cook in boiling water for 2 minutes or till 25% cooked. Drain water completely and keep the rice aside.

For masala 1, dry roast the coriander, cumin, fennel,black pepper, dry red chillies, cardamom, cloves and grind along with other items given.

For masala 2, grind together the items given to a fine paste.Keep aside.

Wash and clean the chicken pieces.(Don't remove the skin unless otherwise you need to, as it will give a nice flavor to the biryani).
Cut it in to big pieces. Apply 1/4 tsp turmeric over it.
Marinate the chicken with 2 tsp salt and 1 cup curd,

Heat 3 tbsp ghee + 2 tbsp cooking oil in a broad bottom vessel.
Add star aniseed , cinnamon stick, bay leaf. (Don't let them char).
Then goes the chopped onion, green chillies and curry leaf.
Add masala 1 and stir well till the raw smell goes (don't fry for long time as it will release pungent smell and it will make us sneeze).
Now add the chopped tomato and cook till the oil oozes out of it.
Also put the masala 2 and cook again till raw smell vanishes.

Now add the marinated chicken pieces and cook till oil starts oozing. (The real taste lies in that frying process).Check and add salt if needed.(We can't add salt hereafter). Chicken should be almost completely cooked now.

Add the rice (25% cooked) and stir well. Add water just enough to cover the rice. Sprinkle the remaining 2 tbsp ghee and Cover tightly with a lid.

Dum process:
Heat a thick iron tawa and place the biryani vessel over it.
Reduce the flame to the minimum and leave for 1 hour to get it completely cooked.

Chettinad chicken biryani is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Serve chicken biryani hot with onion raitha and egg curry or any gravy.
Serves 4 adults.
As it is a spicy-hot biryani version, they generally pair it up with curd rice and kheer.
Click to see my shrimp thokku recipe .

43 comments:

Cool Lassi(e) said...

Awesome Chicken Biryani. I am hooked on Chettinaad cuisine too.

Priyameena said...

Chettinad Chicken Briyani Looks wonderful...Love the side dish too..

Malar Gandhi said...

I am die hard fan of chettinad cuisine, spicy and aromatic always...wonderful biriyani:)

Manju said...

sounds really flavorful!!

Sailaja Damodaran said...

My all time Fav.Tasty

Saraswathy Balakrishnan said...

hmm..very spicy delicious briyani for my vision..

Gita Jaishankar said...

Chettinad chicken briyani with erra thokku! I am drooling over here dear...simply delicious :)

Anu said...

wow mouthwatering briyani.. I am drooling!!! Courier plz...

Tina said...

I want this now dear...Pass that plate... Looks tempting and fabulous...

Hamaree Rasoi said...

My hubby likes eating this very much because it's so spicy ...Biryani looks wonderful
Deepa

Devasena Hariharan said...

that prawn kind of pulls me.. do post that... i luv prawns a lot...

Biryani..a different one Viki..I loved the link in the post that leads to Karaikudi houses.

Anonymous said...

gimme the veg version:)

Sashi said...

Am hungry, drooling here. Very flavorful Vicky !!

Ash said...

THAT is SHEER EXCITEMENT!!!!! Oh! how deliciously tempting it is.... I would love to taste that viki..... It's okay you savor it in my name too.... I would be happy from here.... :-) GOD BLESS YOU!!!! HUGS))))))

Ash...
(http://asha-oceanichope.blogspot.com/)

Malar said...

this briyani is tempting me pa :)

Aparna said...

i love chettnad recipes.. this one is temptng me to make this..

Cham said...

Biryani and era thokku u make me drool :)

Siddhi Shirsat said...

wow very tempting biryani viki...loved the recipe...vl try soon

gtyuk said...

haaaaaa, russiyaana chettinadu briyaniya kaati yenna kollureenga Vicky!!! looks absolutely perfect, oru muttai in the middle, correct-aana alavu briyani with chicken piece and that wonderful yera thokku, Mmmmmm, yenakku passiyey vandhidichu !!!!

Rina said...

Thanks for this delicious biriyani ..dear..will surely try it..

Unknown said...

gud work ...i am a beginner in cooking, was looking for some good reipes....atlast i got it from vikis blog....thank you....hope ma hubby likes ma preparation 4m now onwards

Vikis Kitchen said...

Vidhya: Thanks for liking my cuisines and for the thoughtful comment. Enjoy cooking and Happy new year dear.

Unknown said...

I tried this recipe and the biriyani turned awesome.

Thanks viki.

Vikis Kitchen said...

Amirthambigai: Thanks for trying this Chettinad chicken biryani dear. I couldn't get a good recipe from cook books. So I tried many times with so many combination to arrive at this recipe. This recipe gives a closer taste of that chettinad briyani we get in restaurants. Happy cooking. Enjoy!

Kannan U said...

We tried this dish yesterday and it tastes fantastic and awesome. Thanks

Vikis Kitchen said...

Kannan: Thank you Sir.

Madhavan said...

Hi, I tried it today.. it was jullufying!!!! I missed my hometown vellore/ambur biriyani for past 1 year as I am all alone in Boston.. but today I had it!!! I called all my family / relatives and said I had biriyani and it is like our ambur biriyani... I am taking this tomorrow to my office to all my american colleagues.... Sure they will love it!!! Thank you very muchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!

Madhavan said...

I tried it just now!! hmmmmm... slrupppp!!!! jollufying!!! I missed my hometown vellore/ambur biriyani for a year as I am all alone in Boston... Today I called all my family/ relatives to say that I had a nice biriyani... I am taking it to american colleuges in office tomorrow.. Sure they will love "The taste of INDIA".. thank you very muchhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!

Vikis Kitchen said...

Madhavan: Thanks Sir. I never thought this gives a closer taste of Ambur biriyani. May be Chettinad briyani and the Vellore one has the same perfection and I am glad that you liked it. Hope all your colleagues too liked it:)
(As u are from Vellore, If possible check with another blog, Malar Gandhi's Kitchen Tantra. It is based on Vellore specialties. I am sure you will like hers too).

Magie said...

Hi Viki, I tried this recipe yesterday and it turned out to be very delicious. We enjoyed chettinad biryani very much...thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe.

Magie said...

Hi Viki, I tried this recipe yesterday and it turned out to be very delicious. We enjoyed chettinad biryani very much...thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe.

Vikis Kitchen said...

Thanks Magie. I am so happy to see your comment and encouragement. Have a nice day!

Meena said...

Viki ... I feel like appreciating your enthusiasm in cooking and your interest in sharing your knowledge with others... gr8 applause !!!

Vikis Kitchen said...

Thanks Meena.
Thank you Anonymous.

Vikis Kitchen said...

Anonymous: Thanks for trying my briyani recipe. I am also looking forward to publish the shrimp recipe....in course of time I missed the photo. But now I wanna post it for you with this photo itself:)

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Vikis Kitchen said...

sangamitra: I don't think so, it was perfectly delicious for us and I always get applause for this recipe from people of different cultures. Chettinad foods are known for their higher spicy level. I pair it with tomato jam or lassi while serving. I always stick to authentic versions rather than modifying them. I suggest you to adjust the spicy level according to your preference if you like. But you won't be getting the real taste if you vary from the recipe.

Unknown said...

Wow this looks so yummy ...can you post the era Thokku recipe as well please

Vikis Kitchen said...

Thanks for the encouragement Devi. I will post the era thokku soon. Please keep visiting. Have a nice day!

Vikis Kitchen said...

Dear friends, Here is the shrimp thokku recipe you all asked for. It is a very successful recipe of mine. Please try this and enjoy :)

http://elitefoods.blogspot.com/2012/12/spicy-shrimp-curry-era-thokku.html

Anonymous said...

:)

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