Name: Thalapakatti biryani recipe by Jayanthi Padmanabhan at BetterButter
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 5
Ingredients: Seeraga Samba rice - 3 and 1/2 cups; Chicken - 700 gm; Red chilli powder - 1-2 tbsp; Salt to taste; Oil - 1/4 cup; Ghee - 4 tbsp; Water as necessary; Bay leaves/Biryani leaves - 2; Black cardamom - 1; Marathi moggu - 2 pieces; Pudina leaves -; 1 cup loosely packed; Yogurt 1/2 cup; Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp; Salt to taste; Shallots/Sambar vengayam- 150 gm peeled (the easiest, fastest way to peel them is to drop them in a bowl of water and let sit for 15 minutes. Then lop off the top and bottom portions and then peel); Green chillies 10-12 (stalks removed); Cloves - 4; Green Cardamom - 4; Cinnamon - 3 inch piece; Garlic - 1 head peeled; Ginger - 2 inch piece peeled and chopped roughly

Ingredients Serving: 5

Seeraga Samba rice - 3 and 1/2 cups
Chicken - 700 gm
Red chilli powder - 1-2 tbsp
Salt to taste
Oil - 1/4 cup
Ghee - 4 tbsp
Water as necessary
Bay leaves/Biryani leaves - 2
Black cardamom - 1
Marathi moggu - 2 pieces
Pudina leaves -; 1 cup loosely packed
Yogurt 1/2 cup
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Shallots/Sambar vengayam- 150 gm peeled (the easiest, fastest way to peel them is to drop them in a bowl of water and let sit for 15 minutes. Then lop off the top and bottom portions and then peel)
Green chillies 10-12 (stalks removed)
Cloves - 4
Green Cardamom - 4
Cinnamon - 3 inch piece
Garlic - 1 head peeled
Ginger - 2 inch piece peeled and chopped roughly

Instructions

Clean chicken well. Pat dry. In a large bowl whisk together turmeric powder, salt and yogurt. Dump the chicken pieces in the yogurt marinade and use your finger to rub the marinade all over the chicken pieces. Refrigerate overnight
Rinse and soak seeraga samba rice for about 20 minutes.
Grind together all ingredients under biryani masala to a fine paste adding only as much water as necessary (starting from shallots to ginger).
Heat a large cooker/flat bottomed vessel. Add the oil and ghee. When the oil and ghee are hot, add the whole spices - bay leaves, Marathi moggu and black cardamom and wait till they turn fragrant.
Pour in the ground masala paste and stir. Cook on medium-low flame, stirring every now and then for about 3 minutes or till it no longer smells raw.
Add the marinated chicken pieces along with the marinade and stir to combine the chicken and the masala. Add red chilli powder and salt and mix well. Cover and cook on low till the oil separates and floats for about 15 minutes.
Drain the soaking liquid and ladle the soaked rice into the chicken masala. Once all the rice is in, pour in the soaking water little at a time, till your index finger inserted into the liquid hits the rice.
The liquid level above the rice should be about an inch. Taste the liquid and adjust seasoning. Mix well.
Use a large flat plate to cover the cooker/biryani vessel. Turn heat to low. Place a large pan of boiling water on top of the plate. Cover the pan of boiling water.
Leave this set-up to work its magic. In about 20 minutes, the aroma will beckon you. Turn off, open, fluff with a fork, cover again, replace the pan of boiling water on top to keep the biryani hot. Serve hot with raita and boiled eggs.

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