Dishoom Chicken Berry Britannia (biryani)

[marilynfl]

I had this at the Kings Cross Dishoom restaurant while in London. Finally got a copy of their recipe book from the library and made this today.
Well, yesterday AND today…this is NOT a 20-minute meal. But so, so worth it.

Here is the full recipe. I only had two thighs with skin & bone, so cut it down to 1/3.



Then I added one and a half diced & caramelized onions and 8 oz of sliced mushrooms to bolster the non-rice portion.

I left out the chilies, ginger sticks and mint and it was still delicious. I think possibly even better than London since the mushroom and onions added a lot of flavor to the rice layer.

Here was London dish back in May:



This was dinner tonight: I made their raita (pg 124) as well as their masala chai tea (pg 86) to duplicate the London meal.



I’ll be ordering this book soon.

 

[mariadnoca]

Sounds yummy!

 

[monj]

I had this at the Kings Cross Dishoom restaurant while in London. Finally got a copy of their recipe book from the library and made this today.
Well, yesterday AND today…this is NOT a 20-minute meal. But so, so worth it.

Here is the full recipe. I only had two thighs with skin & bone, so cut it down to 1/3.

View attachment 3899

Then I added one and a half diced & caramelized onions and 8 oz of sliced mushrooms to bolster the non-rice portion.

I left out the chilies, ginger sticks and mint and it was still delicious. I think possibly even better than London since the mushroom and onions added a lot of flavor to the rice layer.

Here was London dish back in May:

View attachment 3900

This was dinner tonight: I made their raita (pg 124) as well as their masala chai tea (pg 86) to duplicate the London meal.


I’ll be ordering this book soon.View attachment 3901

Just reading the instructions' wording is so interesting. Especially #s 3 and 5. Looks like you had a nice dinner!

 

[marilynfl]

I was prepared for a lot of work. I'd made biryani once before and those instructions ran two pages. The concept: a flavorful protein is placed in the bottom of a heavy pot, then covered with rice. The basmati rice must go through several steps to prepare it. A biryani is a test of sorts to see how well the cook handles the dish. The rice grains must be perfectly cooked and separate (not starchy), but also not broken. Basically, handle it with kid gloves.

1. The rice (preferably Indian) is rinsed several times to remove excess starch. 3-4 times at a minimum.
2. Then it is soaked.
3. Then it is par-boiled in already boiling water.
4. Then, after the cooking pot is gently heated with the protein, the rice is placed on top and any additional flavorings are placed on top of the rice. The pot is sealed, usually with a length of dough wrapped around the rim of the pot to hermetically seal it. I followed the "double foil wrap and lid" option.

So...rinse, soak, boil, steam in oven. All to ensure the rice is perfectly cooked while the protein below is still moist and tender.

Bonus, I finally got to use the saffron I've had forever. You dry-roast it for 3-4 minutes, then crush it and add a TBL of boiling water. I used my French rolling pin to crush it. Worked perfectly. However, while it looked pretty, I'm not actually sure my tastebuds are sensitive enough to notice the flavor difference in adding it.