Marina Cafe’s Grilled Chicken Biriyani:

Tandoored Chicken Biriyani. Slow Cooking Recipe. Extra Hot Biriyani. Tandoori Chicken Biriyani.

Once again Biriyani recipe!!! I know you guys are pulling my leg there! Can’t help it! Though we taste this common food at any place now! People have become really skilled in making it! Its no more ethnic food! Infact I have taught Biriyani recipe to all my American friends! Even then…..a slight twist in the recipe…its like…Oh I need to try this! I happend to taste this wonderful Biriyani…..in this small eat area(restaurant)” Marina Cafe”! Just opposite to Marina Beach(Chennai)! Yeah…the same old dirty beach for couples(so called lovers). Anyway….my Aunty and family took me to this restaurant! And uncle said…being a Biriyani fan…I should probably taste this and give some opinion on it! It was Awesome! Very hot version! One good speciality to this recipe is….they have used grilled chicken….so extremely flavourful and slo…slow…slowest cooking! Wow….it has become so hard to hear these words today “Slow Cooking”! Sounds nice to me!

Ingredients:

For Marianation:

Chicken 2 leg piece
Red hot peppers 1-2
Onion 1 bulb
Ginger 2″
Garlic 4-6 beads
Tomato 1
Mint few leaves
Cilantro few leaves
Salt
Lemon juice 2 spoons
Yogurts
Ghee 1/4 cup.

For Biriyani:

Basmati rice 2-4 cups
Cinnamon 1 stick
Cloves 5
Cardamom 7 crushed
Birinji flower 1
Bay leaves 2 crumbled
Marati Mokku 1
Rose petals few
Saffron few strands
Green/Red chilies 6 sliced
Onion 1 sliced
Tomatoes 2 chopped
Mint leaves 1 handful
Cilantro leaves few
Salt
Chili powder 1 spoon
Ghee 1 cup.

To Garnish:

Green chilies 2 sliced(deseed)
Red chilies 2 sliced(deseed)
Curry leaves few
Ghee 1/4 cup.

Method:

Blend all the ingredients mentioned under marination(except chicken). Now marinate chicken in this for about 7 whole hours(best to do it overnight).

In a charcoal oven….slow grill these chicken. Often coating with the excess marination liquid. When the skin turns slightly crisp and chicken is almost done…remove from the griller.(Well…not necessary for thorough cooking here).

Heat ghee in a wide mouthed vessel. Add all the spices(cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, birinji flower, rose petals, saffron, bay leaves and marati mokku). Allow them to pop up.

Then add sliced chilies….wait till it crackles.

Now add onions and fry real good. Maybe till it turns to golden color!

Add tomatoes too. Once they wilt and oil shows up on top. Add grilled chicken to it.

Further add mint and cilantro leaves. Fry for about 2 minutes. Let these spices and oil coat to the chicken.

Now add rice…fry till rice coats oil all over!!

Transfer the content to oven safe container. Add 1:2 cups of water(1 part rice, 2 parts water). Now cover with aluminium foil. Slow cook in the conventional oven. Maybe for 3 hours under minimum possible temperature. Temperature….setting is up to you…how slow you want it!

In a seperate pan, heat ghee and fry these garnishing items one by one…till crisp! Set aside.

When the biriyani is done…top them with above garnish! Enjoy!!!