Name: Chicken Biryani
Yield: Serves 6
Cuisine: Sri Lankan
Ingredients: ¾ tsp salt; 2.5 cm (1-inch) piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped; 1 tsp cloves; 100 g (3½ oz/½ cup) plain yogurt; 6 saffron strands, soaked in 1 tbsp warm water; 2 tsp black peppercorns; 2 tsp cumin seeds; 50 g (1¾ oz/¾ cup) coriander seeds; 600 g (1 lb 5 oz/2¾ cups) white rice (samba or basmati); 750 g (1 lb 10 oz) boneless chicken; 2 tbsp oil; 4 green chillies, finely chopped with seeds in; 8 fresh curry leaves; 4 cloves; 2 tsp rosewater; 2.5 cm (1-inch) cinnamon stick, broken into two; 4 cardamom pods, slightly crushed; 100 ml (3½ fl oz/7 tbsp) water; 50 g (1¾ oz/⅓ cup) raisins; 50 g (1¾ oz/⅓ cup) cashew nuts, halved; 2 tsp ghee or butter; 25 g (1 oz/⅔ cup) dried red chillies; 1 tsp caraway seeds; 6 garlic cloves, finely chopped; 1 tsp cardamom pods; 2 tbsp biryani curry powder; 1 medium onion, finely chopped

Preparation info

Serves
6

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Sri Lanka

By Prakash K. Sivanathan and Niranjala M. Ellawala

Published 2017

About

The word ‘biriyani’ originates in Persia, and this exquisite meal must have found its way to Sri Lanka through Arab traders. I had my first taste of it during my senior school days, in the Maradana district of the capital Colombo.

A whole team of us descended on a restaurant for dinner after a big cricket match. The match was memorable but the biriyani and the company of my classmates were even more so. What’s so special about biryani?

The rice and chicken are prepared separ