Biryani rice is without a doubt one of the most tantalizing, mouth watering and savory rice dishes. Biryani rice recipe traces its history all the way to Persia, now Iran, in Southwest Asia. The recipe later spread to South Asia, specifically India, and to Swahili speaking communities along the East African coastline, in countries which include Kenya, Tanzania, and Zanzibar.
Kenyan Biryani Rice
Over time, the Biryani rice recipe has been borrowed by other cultures and communities, and is prepared slightly differently, in each community. Some choose to substitute the chicken with lamb or goat meat, while some prefer their biryani spicy, some don’t.
One such country that borrowed this recipe is Kenya. In Kenya, Biryani rice is very popular with the Swahili speaking communities, who live along the East African coastal line, as a matter of fact, it is referred to, as a Swahili dish. In my recent trip to Nairobi, Kenya’s capital popularly known as the green city under the sun, I had a chance to watch this aromatic chicken biryani being prepared, and I savored and enjoyed it.
Lets dive into the preparation of this mouth watering Swahili dish. Its simple, you can try it, and tell us what you think.
Chicken Biryani rice recipe
Requirements:
1 kg chicken pieces chopped
1/2 kg long grain basmati rice
6 medium sized red onions chopped
4 tomatoes
Half chopped green and red bell peppers(this is optional)
500 ml plain yoghurt or sour milk
1 teaspoon garlic paste
1 teaspoon ginger paste
6 pieces medium sized peeled potatoes
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1 pinch egg yellow food color
4 tablespoons of ghee
1 teaspoon of mixed whole pilau spices(cumin seeds, cardamoms, cloves, black pepper, cinnamon sticks)
Procedure
I assume we all work with washed vegetables, so I will skip this part…
PRO TIP: THIS RECIPES SUCCESS SECTRET LIES IN THE AMOUNT OF FRIED ONIONS USED(USE A LOT) AND PLAIN YOGHURT.
Deep fry the peeled potatoes and set a side
Fry the chopped onions till brown and set aside. Be careful not to burn onions, it will spoil everything
Bring rice water to boil in low heat, when it boils, add the pilau masala spices, add the rice, the rice:water ratio is 1:2, add a pinch of salt and 4 tablespoons of ghee.
When almost cooked, in a small bowl, add a pinch of yellow food color to 4 tablespoons of water, mix, add droplets of it to different parts of your rice, making a pattern off yellow and white patches of rice, cover and let it cook, when cooked, set aside.
Fry onions till brown, add garlic and ginger paste, be careful not to burn garlic, it tastes awful when burnt.
Add tomatoes, let it cook till the tomatoes make a thick consistency.
Add garam masala and curry powder.
Add your chicken pieces, mix together, cover, let it simmer in low heat, the chicken will cook with its own juices for like 10-15 minutes, be careful not to burn your chicken.
After 10-15 minutes, pour in your plain yoghurt into the chicken, until it covers the chicken.
Add your deep fried potatoes into the chicken
Add the deep fried onions on top of your chicken and yoghurt stew mix. Save 2 tablespoons of the fried onions for use on the rice.
Throw in your chopped red and green bell peppers.
Cover, let it cook in low heat for about 15 minutes, or until cooked depending on how soft or tough your chicken is.
When everything is cooked, you can serve from its separate pots, or mix the rice to the chicken stew, cover it up and let it simmer and let the rice soak into the chicken stew for 10 minutes on low heat.
Serve while hot
Accompany it with cold fruit juice.
In kenya they say: ‘Karibu tule’: meaning, welcome, lets eat, or simply dig in!
When almost cooked, in a small bowl, add a pinch of yellow food color to 4 tablespoons of water, mix, add droplets of it to different parts of your rice, making a pattern off yellow and white patches of rice, cover and let it cook, when cooked, set aside.
Fry onions till brown, add garlic and ginger paste, be careful not to burn garlic, it tastes awful when burnt.
Add tomatoes, let it cook till the tomatoes make a thick consistency.
Add garam masala and curry powder.
Add your chicken pieces, mix together, cover, let it simmer in low heat, the chicken will cook with its own juices for like 10-15 minutes, be careful not to burn your chicken.
After 10-15 minutes, pour in your plain yoghurt into the chicken, until it covers the chicken.
Add your deep fried potatoes into the chicken
Add the deep fried onions on top of your chicken and yoghurt stew mix. Save 2 tablespoons of the fried onions for use on the rice.
Throw in your chopped red and green bell peppers.
Cover, let it cook in low heat for about 15 minutes, or until cooked depending on how soft or tough your chicken is.
When everything is cooked, you can serve from its separate pots, or mix the rice to the chicken stew, cover it up and let it simmer and let the rice soak into the chicken stew for 10 minutes on low heat.
Serve while hot
Accompany it with cold fruit juice.
In kenya they say: ‘Karibu tule’: meaning, welcome, lets eat, or simply dig in!
