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Call it culinary construction work. Cooking chicken briyani can be tedious, even arduous, but every morsel in this week's dish is worth the required labour of layering rice and chicken. Madam Salmah (she has asked us not to give her real name), a 59-year-old accounts manager, shares her treasured chicken briyani recipe, handed down by her father. She says that by incorporating Indian, Pakistani and even Chinese styles of cooking, she has made a version of briyani that is a very much more "Singaporean" than the one her Pakistani parents enjoyed . Despite the formidable list of ingredients required, Madam Salmah knows every bit of the recipe by heart. And that's because she has cooked the dish so many times over the years. It has become a fixture of Hari Raya celebrations for her, and friends and relatives "automatically invite themselves" to her home to taste her signature chicken briyani. Even so, Madam Salmah has managed to make an intimidating dish quite achievable for the budding cook. If she has one rule for the dish, it is fresh chicken only. Frozen poultry is not allowed, she insists. Frankly, when I tried out the recipe, I wasn't confident of success. It's always difficult to get the texture right when cooking flavoured rice, especially when it involves cooking in a sealed pot over the stove. I often find the result either too dry or a sticky mush. While her father's original recipe calls for the basmati rice to be soaked and then boiled, Madam Salmah uses a more modern method of cooking. She soaks the rice, then cooks it with spices in a rice cooker before the final stage in a sealed pot. This adds a measure of convenience, plus a near-guarantee of success for anyone attempting the dish. My try didn't go too badly too. My family certainly seemed satisfied, although there were some flushed faces due to my "accidental" addition of extra chilli powder and black pepper into the pot. Aside from the extra spiciness, I also put my own spin on Madam Salmah's recipe by adding in a few star anise with the rice. I also used fresh chicken thighs and drumsticks instead of a whole chicken. You would want to have plenty of room in your belly to properly tuck into this delectable feast of fluffy, rose-fragranced basmati rice and tender gravy-soaked chicken. I strongly advise having a light lunch if you are cooking this for dinner. Ingredients 1 chicken, cut into 8 pieces 1 tbsp ghee 4-5 tbsp vegetable oil 2-3 tomatoes 8 large red onions, sliced 15 garlic cloves, finely ground to a paste 7.5cm-thick piece of ginger, as above 10 raw almonds, finely ground 5 raw cashew nuts, finely ground 2 green chillies, sliced 2 red chillies, sliced 6 tbsp plain yoghurt 10 stalks of coriander, chopped 10 stalks of mint leaves, chopped Briyani spice mix (see below) 6 cups of uncooked basmati rice FOR COLOUR 1/2 tsp orange food colouring Pinch of saffron 2 tsp rose essence or rose water 2 tbsp water (Mix the above in a small bowl and sprinkle on when layering the rice later.) BRIYANI SPICE MIX 3 tbsp coriander seeds 1 tsp fenugreek 1 tsp turmeric powder 1/2 tsp ground 1 tsp cumin seeds 1 tsp fennel 1 tsp ground ginger 2 tsp garlic powder 6-8 cloves 3 dried bay leaves 5 brown cardamom pods Chilli powder, black pepper, salt to taste (You can also use one 65g packet of Shan Bombay Biryani Mix with an additional 2 tbsp of coriander powder instead.) SPICES FOR THE RICE 15 cloves 15 cardamom pods 2 cinnamon sticks 2 tsp salt Method RICE PREPARATION Soak the rice for half an hour. Strain and rinse the rice, then cook it in a rice cooker with the spices (1). For every cup of rice, add 150ml of water. Set aside. CHICKEN PREPARATION Heat the oil and ghee. Add in the sliced onions and fry until golden brown (2). Add in the sliced tomatoes and fry until the mixture thickens. Add in the garlic paste and fry until fragrant. Repeat with the ginger paste. Add in the almonds, cashews, yogurt, briyani spice mix and sliced chillies. Add in the chicken pieces and cook until half-done (3). LAYERING Take a large heavy pot and line its bottom with one or two layers of aluminium foil. Add a layer of cooked rice and sprinkle the saffron mixture on. Sprinkle on a thin layer of the chopped coriander and mint. Arrange a few pieces of the chicken and gravy on the rice. Repeat the layering until all the rice and chicken is used. Seal the pot with aluminium foil and place lid on it. Seal the edges with the foil to prevent steam from escaping. Cook over low heat for 45 minutes. Get The New Paper for more stories.
