Hara Masala Chicken Biryani- Green Masala Biryani- Kali Mirch by Smita

Hara Masala Chicken Biryani is an interesting yet insanely delicious variety of Chicken Biryani and has been my new favorite in recent past.

Dear readers, if you have followed this blog for any length of time, you must be well aware of my passion for Biryanis which is evident from the extensive variety of Biryanis that you can find on this blog. In this post, we will talk about how to cook Green Masala Chicken Biryani in an easy and step-by-step way (video below).

Biryanis have always evoked a feeling of child-like fascination and excitement in me. This could be possibly due to the dish bearing a close connection with the royalties. The royals and their folklore has always been a part of Indian tales and we have all grown up listening to these stories. Biryani is a dish that supposedly originated as a princely dish and migrated from royal kitchens to commoner’s kitchen or a dish that is described in words of noted author of ‘Biryani’, Pratibha Karan, as God’s food and is as enigmatic as any dish could be. Biryanis require an elaborate preparation that has made it attain a distinction of being a complex dish.

Biryani is one of those revered dishes that finds itself equally popular amongst the elites and the general masses. Just as you would need an eye of a fine art connoisseur to appreciate the work of Picasso, magic of biryani needs to be discerned by an ardent food connoisseur.

Biryani has always been my favorite one-pot meal, one that I prefer cooking on a special occasion notwithstanding the exhaustive list of ingredients and elaborate preparation steps. A special occasion calls for a specialty dish and what could be more special than a well-cooked Biryani.

Hara Masala Chicken Biryani, this particular Biryani has remained on my list of favorite dishes for quite some time now and I realized that I have yet to share this recipe on my blog.

As it must be evident from the name, this Biryani recipe has a dominant flavor of Green Masala or Hara Masala- which is made by combining Green Chilies, Coriander Leaves, Mint leaves, Coconut and Lime Juice. Chicken is marinated in this green masala with some other additions like curd, garam masala, brown onions and Oil.

Marinated Chicken is now cooked until it is perfectly-done. This well-cooked chicken pieces are then layered along with cooked rice and cooked following Dum method. Now comes the hardest part of the recipe- patiently waiting for 10 long minutes. If you could bide this with patience, what waits on the other side is nothing less than a true magical experience.

Treat you taste buds to some real culinary magic with this awesomely delicious Hara Masala Chicken Biryani. Make this lip-smacking Biryani for your family over a weekend and share your feedback with us in comment section below.

Save Print

Hara Masala Chicken Biryani- Green Masala Biryani- Kali Mirch by Smita

Cook time:  55 mins

Total time:  55 mins

Serves: 4-5

Ingredients

• 750 gms Chicken-cut into medium pieces, washed and cleaned
• 1 Cup fresh Coriander Leaves
• ¾th Cup fresh Mint Leaves
• 1.5 inches Ginger root
• 12 Green Chilies
• 12-15 Cloves of Garlic
• 2 Large=200gms Onions-thinly sliced
• ¼th Cup=30gms fresh Coconut pieces
• ½ Cup=125gms Curd
• 1¾th=350gms Long Grain Basmati Rice
• 2 Bay Leaf
• ¼th-tsp Green Cardamom
• 1 Star Anise
• 1-tsp Black Cumin Seeds
• ¼th-tsp Cloves
• ½-inch Cinnamon stick
• Salt to taste
• 1½-tsp Garam Masala Powder
• ¼th-tsp Mace Powder
• 1 Lime juice
• 1-tsp Screw Pine water (Kewra Jal)
• Cooking Oil

Instructions

1. We will start making Birista-Brown Onions. Add enough Oil that will be required to deep fry the Onions. Deep fry the Onions on medium heat and fry until it becomes brown in color.
2. We have fried Onions for 15 mins. As you can see it has attained a deep brown color. Remove from Oil and spread on a kitchen tissue paper.
3. Grind Coriander Leaves, ½ cup Mint Leaves, Green Chilies, Garlic, Ginger, Coconut pieces, Lime Juice into a fine paste. Fine Green Masala is ready. I have used ½ cup water while grinding.
4. Take a large bowl. Add Curd and whisk it well to get rid of lumps. Add Garam Masala Powder (https://youtu.be/GrTIElqh1O4), Green Masala Paste, Salt to taste, half of brown onions (crush and add). Add 3 tbsp Oil. This is the same Oil that we have used for frying of Onions. Mix well.
5. Add Chicken pieces to this marinade and coat well. Keep chicken in this marination for 2 hours in refrigerator.
6. After marinating chicken for 1 hour, wash and clean rice. Soak rice in ample amount of water for 30 minutes. After 30 mins, boil 2-liter water in a pan. As water begins to boil, we will season the water. Add spices- Cloves, Black Cumin Seeds, Green Cardamom, Star Anise, Cinnamon sticks and Bay Leaf. Add 1-tsp Cooking Oil and Salt to season the water. Add enough Salt else your rice would taste bland in Biryani.
7. Add soaked rice and stir well. We will cook rice uncovered. I have cooked rice for 5 mins on medium-high heat. Rice is now 90% done. Remove rice from water and spread in a plate. After 2 hours of chicken marination, heat 3-tbsp Oil in a pan. Add marinated chicken pieces. Mix well. Cover and cook chicken on medium heat. Do not add any water. Let the chicken cook in its own juices.
8. We have covered and cooked chicken for 20 mins. Uncover and add Salt to taste. Mix well. Cover and Cook. We have cooked Chicken for 35 mins on low heat. It is well cooked now. Turn off the heat.
9. Now, we will layer the Biryani. We will remove whole spices from cooked rice. Take a large pot and smear the base and sides with Oil. Add cooked chicken, mace powder, brown onions. Add layer of cooked rice on top of chicken layer. Add mace powder, mint leaves, brown onions and screwpine water. Seal the pot with aluminium foil. Place a lid on top.
10. Cook following Dum method. For 2 mins cook on high heat. Place a heavy weight on lid. Meanwhile I have put an Iron griddle on high heat. After 2 mins we will transfer the pot on Iron griddle. After 2 mins, transfer the pot on Iron griddle and cook Biryani on low heat for 10 mins.
11. After Biryani is cooked, give few mins of standing time and now let's unseal the pot. Chicken pieces and the rice both are well cooked now. Let's serve the Biryani while it is hot.
12. Hare Masala Ki Chicken Biryani is ready. This is my personal favourite. Serve this Biryani with some raita and/or Salan.

3.5.3251