Thalassery Biryani is a rice-based dish and its combination of groovy spices and chicken makes up for an amazing lunch and dinner. It forms the only biryani recipe in Kerala Cuisine. Therefore it can also be called The Kerala Biryani. Its popularity extends to nearby places such as Kozhikode. There it is named Kozhikode Biryani, though it’s exactly the same as the Kerala Biryani. This dish is from Malabar or Mappila Cuisine. Mappila’s are members of the Muslim community in Kerala. Their common language is Malayalam.
Why should you go for Thalassery Chicken Biryani?
The Keralites or the Kerala people always had a great amount of allegiance with this fragrant rice and meat delicacy. When you dive into this dish, it tastes like something much more than just food. It is the taste of celebration, joy, and happiness. It is like Comfort Food best for when you don’t feel happy or have a bad day at work. So when you come back home, this variant of Biryani is your ideal choice for lunch because every bite of it is full of magnificent wonders of peace and harmony. It lifts up your spirit to endure your life with utter confidence by providing inner peace. And if you are feeling creative and craving something spicy, try this Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani recipe too.
What does it include?
It is a culinary treat. The chicken’s fragrance in dense gravy and the rice in authentic spices marry together by slow cooking in layers. The add-on of onions, sultana raisins, and cashew nuts further adds the royal feel to it making it taste like heaven!
A dish, with all the valuables that will literally make you have the feel of Kerala in every savor of it. So you see, you get to experience Kerala without even have to travelling to the place. What’s more fun than this!!
Thalassery Chicken Biryani Recipe
Ingredients
- 1.2 kg of full Chicken cut to medium pieces
- 1 tsp of Turmeric Powder
- 1 tbsp of Kashmiri red chili powder
- 4 tbsp of Yoghurt
- 4 tbsp of Salt
- 5 medium-sized thinly sized Onions
- 1 cup plus 3 tbsp of Oil
- 5-7 Green Chillies (Moderately hot chilies)
- 15 cloves of Garlic
- 2-inch Ginger
- 7 medium-sized ripe chopped Tomatoes
- ½ Cup of chopped Coriander Leaves
- 1 cup of chopped Mint Leaves
- 6-inch Cinnamon Pieces
- 5 Cardamoms
- 1 tsp of Cumin Seeds
- 2 tsp of Fennel Seeds
- 1 Small Piece of Nutmeg
- 4 cups or 800 grams Basmati Rice
- 3 tbsp of ghee
- 1 cup of raisins
- 1 cup of Cashew nuts
- 1 Star Anise
- 1 Mace
- 10 Black Peppercorn
- 1 squeezed Lime juice
Instructions
Chicken Marination Preparation
Step 1: Firstly start with taking the raw chicken pieces in a medium-sized bowl. Then add one teaspoon of turmeric powder, one tablespoon of Kashmiri red chili powder, two tablespoons of yogurt, and salt to the chicken pieces.
Step 2: Mix the above ingredients well, so that the chicken pieces get completely coated with the marinade.
Step 3: Keep the above set up of chicken aside.
Chicken Masala Preparation
Step 1: Now it’s time to prepare the ingredients for the chicken masala. Start with slicing the onions into thin pieces.
Step 2: In a large pan, heat a cup of oil. Once the oil becomes hot, lower the flame and then add the thinly sliced pieces of onions. Stir occasionally.
Step 3: Take the green chilies, the ginger, and the garlic in a small bowl and blend them to a fine paste in an electric blender.
Step 4: Slowly cook the onions till they turn brown. Then add the ginger-garlic-chili paste (which was already prepared from step 3) to the onions and stir them well.
Step 5: After the complete combination of the ginger-garlic-chili paste with the onions, cook the mixture for a few minutes. Then add chopped tomatoes to the mixture and continue cooking.
Step 6: Cook the mixture for a few minutes.
Step 7: Add chopped coriander leaves and mint leaves to the above mixture. Again mix it well for 2 to 3 minutes.
Step 8: Your Onion Masala is ready!
Step 9: Now add the already prepared marinated chicken pieces to the onion masala along with two tablespoons of yogurt and salt to the pan and gently mix it.
Step 10: Cover the mixture with a lid and cook covered till the chicken is cooked to form a soft texture.
Note: The soft texture is an indication that the chicken has been cooked right. So always keep a constant check for the soft texture.
Step 11: Powder 6-inch Cinnamon pieces, 5 Cardamoms, 1 tsp of Cumin seeds, 2 tsp of Fennel seeds, and one small piece of Nutmeg to a coarse powder. Hence, the garam masala powder is ready!
Step 12: Open the lid from the chicken pieces, and add the garam masala powder to the cooked chicken. Mix them well, and cook for another three minutes.
Step 13: Switch off the flame and your first stage of the biryani is complete!
The Rice Preparation:
Step 1: Wash the Basmati Rice and soak four cups of the rice in water. The rice should be soaked for about an hour. Keep it aside for now.
Step 2: Heat three tablespoons of oil and three tablespoons of ghee in a medium-sized pan on a medium flame. Then add two sliced onions, raisins, and cashew nuts and fry them until the onions turn brown.
Step 3: With lowering the flame, scoop the mixture of onions, raisins, and chew nuts out from the pan and place them on a paper towel to soak up the oil. Keep aside this mixture for now.
Step 4: After scooping out the mixture of onions, raisins, and cashew nuts, an appropriate chunk of the mixture of oil and ghee from step 2 would still be left. So add star anise, cinnamon piece, cardamom, mace, and peppercorn, and give them a quick fry.
Step 5: Now drain the water from the soaked rice and add it to the same pan that has ghee and oil. Stir the rice gently until it turns slightly brown and crisp.
Step 6: Then, add boiling water to the pan to cook the rice. Add one squeezed lime and salt and mix well.
Step 7: Once the rice is cooked, switch off the flame.
Layering the Biryani:
This is the stage where the final touch of the biryani is given. Let’s start!
Step 1: Now bring all the elements together to complete the whole Thalassery Biryani.
Step 2: Transfer half of the cooked rice from the pan to a bowl.
Step 3: Smoothly spread the cooked chicken masala on the top of the remaining rice in the pan.
Step 4: Spread the remaining rice from the bowl on the chicken masala. So, now we have a layer of rice, a layer of chicken masala, and another layer of rice.
Step 5: Prettify the whole set up with golden fried onions, sultana raisins, and cashew nuts which were kept aside till now.
Step 6: Close the lid of the pan.
Note: The pan should be absolutely air-tight. So to make it airtight you can place something heavy on top of the lid.
Step 7: Cook it again in low flame for 10 minutes.
Step 8: This is the last and final step for the recipe. Switch off the flame once it is done, open the lid and your Thalassery chicken biryani is ready to be served! Serve it with raita, papad, and green chilly chutney.
Conclusion
This cooking process of Thalassery Chicken biryani is elaborate and detailed. It demands the creator’s tender love and cares. It tastes wonderfully delicious with raita and green chutney. The beauty of Thalassery Biryani is in its masalas. Its engaging flavor of the intricate ingredients of spices is beautifully melded in this Biryani. Sounds amazingly great, right? So, prepare this variant of biryani with all its layers of ingredients merged to perfection that will serve best for a perfect weekend.
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