Kuwaity Chicken Biryani

Biryani is a popular dish not just in India, and Kuwaity cooking is heavily influenced by Indian expats who live in Kuwait and form history long before the discovery of oil. The most interesting part of the Biryani is not just the colors and flavors but also the aromatic small that wake up all your senses.

Ingredients

• Whole chicken cut in to 8 pieces with or without bones

• A bunch of mint chopped finely

• Ginger garlic paste ( some for the marinate and some for the cooking

• two cups of rice soaked in water

• Potatoes, zucchini and carrots chopped in to cubes

• Chopped onions

• 3 table spoons of tomato pasta

• 170 ml of plain yogurt

• 2 table spoons of lemon juice

• 2 table spoons rose water

Spices ( use the spices both in marinating the chicken and cooking the chicken

• Garam masala or Biryani mixed spices

• Cumin powder and whole

• Turmeric

• Chili powder

• Coriander powder

• Cinnamon powder and cinnamon sticks if available

• Cardamom 3 to 4

• bay leaves 2 to 3

• whole cloves 4

• salt and paper

• Pinch of saffron (added only in the end of the cooking)

Garnish or (hashow) this is optional

• Onion sliced thinly

• pin nuts soaked with water

• resins also soaked in water

• some spices like salt and turmeric

• (optional) something that Kuwatie's love use crushed dry lemon powder if you manage to buy it from Arab or Indian ethnic food stores called (loomy powder) and it has very distinctive sour smokey flavor.

Instructions

• First marinate the chicken with all the spices listed, yogurt and the ginger garlic paste, then leave it in the fridge to marinate for 30 minutes or overnight if you prefer.

• In a big pot add the cooking oil to start cooking the marinated chicken, then add the chopped onion with some of the left garlic ginger paste.

• Keep turning the chicken then add all the spices, mint, chopped tomato and tomato paste. it is important to add salt over the tomato when you cook them so they will get softer.

• After a while add the vegetables if you prefer the biryani with less vegetables you can also do that. Same say it important to keep adding spices if you add new ingredients to build flavor.

• keep turning then add water generously and let it summer while it is covered for 15 minutes or more and add more water if necessary. It is important that before adding the rice the vegetables and the chicken are nice and tender. (note for those who like to have some of the vegetable chicken stew on the side you can keep some for later).

• In a big pot of boiling water add the soaked rice with proper salt and seasoning. after ten minutes or so when the rice looks almost but not fully cooked at this time it is ready to transfer it to the chicken pot. Transfer the rice after straining it to the cooked chicken stew.

• Keep the rice cooking in very low heat until the liquid from the stew evaporates.

• prepare a very aromatic saffron and rose water for the rice by adding few table spoons of hot water to a pinch of saffron then add rose water. if you have saffron color powder you can also add it to give a nice yellowish color. now you can pour the aromatic saffron rose water on top of the cooked rice.

• to prepare the garnish fry the sliced onions in cooking oil until it is nice and golden brown and add the spices, pines and resins and keep turning for about a minute or so.

• You can serve the biryani with the hashow or garnish on top