The Laziest Chicken Biryani.

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Now, I'm not usually in favour of being lazy but I think for this biryani, we'll make an exception.

It's not strictly a recipe - more a technique. For those days when you have leftover curry and boiled rice in the fridge.

All we do is layer them with water and plenty of the usual biryani suspects. I'm talking fried onions, dried plums (my absolute faves!), lemon slices, fresh coriander, green chillies and anything else you fancy.
Then, it's just a matter of a quick steam followed by a gentle toss and we're having biryani for dinner tonight!

Now .. if you would be so kind as to send me a plate too! :)

Biryani, previously: Pakistani Chicken Biryani // Chicken Sindhi Biryani // Keema Biryani // Chicken Tikka Biryani

A Simple List of Ingredients:

1. Water
2. Cold Chicken Curry
3. Dried Plums
4. Jalapeno Chillies
5. Cold Boiled Rice
6. Lemon Juice
7. Lemon
8. Fried Onions
9. Salt
10. Fresh Coriander
11. Yellow Food Colour Powder

Bismillah, let's begin!

First and only job - layering everything! We begin with approximately 240ml Water. You can use more or less depending on how saucy your curry is.

Take a deep saucepan with a tight-fitting lid and pour a splash of Water into the bottom. This will prevent the bottom of the biryani from burning.


Next, the curry. We used 900 grams Cold Chicken Curry - made with one whole chicken, cut into pieces. As you can see, it's not too saucy.

Add half the chicken curry to the water.


Next, I'm going to list the full amounts of these ingredients here as we'll be using them in each layer. So, all together we used:
40 grams Fried Onions
Salt, to taste
Juice of 1/2 Lemon
1/2 Lemon, sliced into rounds
12 Dried Plums, washed
2 Jalapeno Chillies, sliced
Yellow Food Colour Powder, as needed

To the chicken, throw on a few Dried Plums. I love these - they bring a tangy, sourness to all biryanis.

Then, scatter on some chopped Jalapeno Chilli.


Next, the rice. Altogether we used 800 grams Cold Boiled Rice.

Begin to spoon the rice over the chicken.

Until you've used half the Cold Boiled Rice.

Squeeze over a little Lemon Juice.

Add on sliced Lemon Rounds.

Followed by a good sprinkle of Fried Onions. We used the ones from a packet - super handy!

Throw on more Dried Plums.

Next: Salt, to taste. We used 1/2 teaspoon here.

More sliced Jalapeno!


Next, we'll need a small bunch of Fresh Coriander.

Sprinkle on a good handful of chopped Fresh Coriander.

Onto our next and final layer which goes something like this: the rest of the Chicken Curry.

More chopped fresh coriander!

The rest of the Cold Boiled Rice.

Fried Onions!

More fresh coriander!

Then, drizzle over the rest of the Water.

Like I said before, add as much or as little as you like but do remember the water will help everything to steam together.

Finally, a final addition of Salt - another 1/2 teaspoon for us.

Finally, more dried plums.

A last squeeze of lemon juice.

And, more lemon rounds.

Finally, the yellow food colour.

All you do is dot the food colour over the top of the rice.

At this point, you can cook it straight away or leave it to cook when needed. We assembled this one in the morning and then steamed it at night for dinner.


To steam the biryani, cover with a tight-fitting lid.

Place over a high heat and bring to the boil. Once you can hear it bubbling, turn the heat right down and let it steam for about 15-20 minutes or until everything is piping hot.

All that's left to do now is remove the lid.

Give it a very gentle toss and dig in!

As with all biryanis, this tastes even better the next day once all the flavours have developed. Enjoy!

Full Written Recipe:

The Laziest Chicken Biryani.

Prep Time: About 10 minutes.

Cook Time: About 20-25 minutes.

Serves: About 4-5 people.

Ingredients

Approximately 240ml Water

900 grams Cold Chicken Curry - using one whole chicken

12 Dried Plums, washed

2 large Jalapenos, sliced

800 grams Cold Boiled Rice

Juice of ½ Lemon

½ Lemon, sliced into rounds

40 grams Fried Onions

Salt, to taste

Small bunch Fresh Coriander, chopped

Yellow Food Colour Powder, as needed

Method

Take a deep saucepan with a tight-fitting lid. Pour a little of the water into the bottom. Spoon in half of the chicken curry.

Throw on a few dried plums and chopped jalapenos. Then, put on a layer of half the rice. Squeeze a little lemon juice and add a few sliced lemon rounds.

Sprinkle on fried onions and more dried plums. Followed by salt and chopped jalapenos. Then, a good handful of fresh chopped coriander.

The final layer goes something like this: rest of the chicken curry - fresh coriander - rice - fried onions - more fresh coriander.

Then, drizzle over the water - you can add as much or as little water as you like depending on how saucy your curry is.

Sprinkle on more salt, dried plums, fried onions, chopped jalapenos, lemon juice, lemon rounds and fresh coriander.

Finish with a sprinkle of yellow food colouring powder. Cover with a tight lid.

To cook the biryani, place it over a high heat and bring to the boil. When you hear it bubbling, turn the heat right down and cook for about 15-20 minutes or until everything is piping hot.

Enjoy hot! Be warned - this tastes a million times better the next day!

This Time One Year Ago:

The Chocolate Cake

This Time Two Years Ago:

White Bloomer Bread

This Time Three Years Ago:

Cranberry and Clementine Biscotti

Keep me in your duas please, and enjoy your biryani,

Wasalaam!