Chicken and Prune Biryani

Name: Chicken and Prune Biryani
Yield: Serves 6
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: 5 chicken breasts each cut into four pieces; 4 garlic cloves crushed; 50 g (2 oz) fresh ginger finely grated; 450 g (1 lb) natural yoghurt; 6 onions sliced and fried until golden; 1 generous tsp garam masala; 3 oranges; 100 g (3½ oz) dried prunes stoned; 450 g (1 lb) basmati rice; 4 green chillies; bunch fresh coriander stalks and leaves separated; bunch fresh coriander stalks and leaves separated; salt; 2 bay leaves; 200 g (7 oz) Puy lentils cooked; 150 g (5½ oz) butter; 2 black cardamoms; 6 green cardamoms; 2 x 5 cm (2 inch) cinnamon sticks; 4 cloves

Preparation info

Serves
6

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Rice, Spice and All Things Nice

By Reza Mahammad

Published 2006

About

During filming for A Place in France, I prepared this meal for the our first honeymoon couple, chiefly to distract them from the numerous shortcomings of the B&B at the time. I pulled out all the stops, along with my seven veils, and produced this lavish biryani. By the end of the meal, they had both proposed to me!

Ingredients

5 chicken breasts each cut into four pieces
450 g (1 lb) natural yoghurt

Europe
Asia
France
India
Main course
Mediterranean
Gluten-free

Method

Blend the yoghurt, half the fried onion, the garlic, ginger, chillies, coriander stalks, salt and garam masala in a food processor until smooth. Combine with the chicken in a bowl, cover and leave to marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, or overnight if you prefer.

Grate the zest of two of the oranges and put to one side. Squeeze the juice from all three oranges into a bowl