Chicken Pulao Bombay Style (Ricecooker)

Pulao / Biryani is one of my favourite receipe and I try to include this menu atleast once a week. There is a lot of history about biryanis. Biryani and pulao terms sounds similar but the difference is the way it is cooked. Biryani is used to denote a dish where the rice is cooked separately while pullao may be made by cooking all items together.

Biryanis' /pulaos' are predominantly named after their region of origin owing to the spices and the procedure followed or customized. The world famous biryanis are sindh biryani, hyderabadi nizami biryani, pakisthani biryani and bombay biryani.

For the first time, I tasted this bombay pulao at a north indian friends place here in US. I realised that the basic ingredients for biryanis or pulaos are more or less same with +/- variations.

Bombay biryani masala is made from ingredients like mango, dried plums, peppercorns and mash mellows along with other regular spices like mace, nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom and cloves.

Ingredients

Roasted potatoes - 1 cup

Tomato - 1

Chicken (with bones and medium cut) - 1 pound

Plums (optional) - 5 No

Washed and drained Basmati rice (Tilda brand is recommended) - 2 cups (rice cooker)

Fried onions - half a cup

Coriander leaves - 1 cup

Crushed mint leaves - 1/4 cup

Oil - 2 spoons

Green chillies - 4 long slit

Bay leaves/Biryani pattha - 3 No

Chicken Marination

Bombay biryani Masala - MDH/Shaan - 1 small pouch

Yogurt - half cup

Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 Tspoon

Salt - 1 Tspoon

Turmeric - 1 Tspoon

Red Chilly powder - 1 Tspoon

Lemon juice - 3 drops

Pepper powder - 1 Tspoon

Procedure

• Marinate the cleaned chicken pieces with all the ingredients mentioned above and keep in refridgerator. More the time you allow to marinate greater the taste.
• Take a non stick wide skillet, add oil and heat on a medium flame. Once oil gets heated, add mint leaves, chopped tomato and green chillies.
• Once they fry slightly, add bay leaves and stir well, then add your pre roasted /raw potato pieces, fried onions, coriander leaves and plums (optional).
  Note: For more taste you can
  slightly roast potatoes in oil and add.
• Stir the contents on a very low flame and add the marinated chicken pieces.
  Note: Make sure its on a low flame else you may burn the spices.
• Stir occasionally and allow the ingredients to fry for about 5 minutes.
• Now add your washed and drained basmati rice to the same mixture and stir carefully. Make sure rice is coated well with the spices.
• Fry on a very low flame for couple of more minutes. Now switch off the stove and transfer the contents in to a rice cooker.
• Add water in the ratio of 1.5:1 (one and a half glass of water to one glass of rice) and switch on the cooker.
• Biryani gets cooked in about 20 minutes. Once cooked, add little ghee on top and garnish with coriander leaves and fried onions.
• Your yummy tasty bombay pulao is ready!! serve with raitha/plain yogurt.