My Chicken Briyani Rice

We had a great barbeque cum birthday celebration recently and one of the main dishes was briyani rice. We thought of having fried rice or buttered rice for the occasion, but eventually I came with the idea to cook my version of fast, simple and quick briyani rice to come together with the chicken barbeque. So, with a big cooking pot, I had cooked about five kg of briyani rice as early as 11 am so as to avoid hassle in the last minute. What I hate is working at the very last minute as that will make you weary. A good, organised and proper planning is vital for an occasion like this and that will also give you ample of time to rest before the guests keep pouring in. I have simplified the recipe that can serve about 4-6 people. Here we go!

Ingredients
4 cups of basmathi rice, cleaned and drained
1 chicken, cut into 12 parts
2 big onions, chopped
4 garlic, chopped
1 1/2 inch ginger, sliced thinly
4 table spoon kurma curry powder
1 can evaporated milk
1 handful spring onions, chopped
1 handful coriander leaver, chopped
1 handful toasted cashew nuts
1 handful black raisins
3 pandan (screwpine) leaves
4 red tomatoes, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
2 cinnamon stick
5 cardamon pods
5 cloves
2 star anise
salt, to taste

Methods
1. In a pot, pour in some margarine and some oil. Let the oil heat a bit before putting in the cinnamon stick, cardamon pods, cloves and star anise. Stir well.

2. After about five seconds, add in the big onions, garlic and ginger. Stir until lightly brown.

3. Add in the kurma curry powder. Stir well until the oil starts to emerge from the mixture. At this point, you can add in the tomatoes, carrot and pandan (screwpine) leaves. Stir until the vegetable have soften a bit.

4. When all ingredients have mixed well, add in the chicken. Coat the chicken with the curry paste and cook for about two minutes. Add salt to taste.

4. Add in the evaporated milk and cook the chicken until half done. You can add a little bit of water at this stage to tenderise the chicken.

5. When the chicken is half done, add in the rice and add enough water to make it cook. If you put 4 cups of rice, then you have to add about 5 cups of water, and another cup would be from the milk that you had put earlier (and estimation of 1 can of milk) - this also depends on the type of rice you have. Some rice needs more water whereas some need less.

6. After that, let the rice cook in a medium heat until tender. When the rice is ready, you can add in the chopped spring onions and coriander leaves. Also the raisins and toasted cashew nuts. Leave some raisins and nuts for decoration.

7. Mix all the ingredients well before serving while still hot.

*serves 4-6 people