Bachelor Biryani — Donne style inspired

Biryani, Image by Omkar Hande

Do you know that Biryani is the most ordered dish online in India? A big chunk of the food delivery economy runs on it. See Swiggy’s year end stats for 2019 here. So, why do people prefer ordering Biryani? In our opinion, it could be due to these three reasons:

1. Easier to eat, you can eat it straight out of the container. It’s a one-step bite, unlike roti -sabzi -dal and then salad!
2. The general convenience of ordering food today online (at least among the well paid young individuals)
3. Its is too complicated to make at home (we agree too)

There’s also a lesser-known fact, that biryani can be expensive to make at home. Firstly you’ll have to spend a lot on gathering the ingredients, which becomes economical/affordable only if you were operating at a larger scale. Secondly, the quantities you make at home are smaller and we observed that the taste comes out better in larger quantities for certain Biryanis. The good thing is, all Biryanis are not as complicated to make. We found one and modified it so that it can fit your budget and busy schedule. Here it goes.

We will be talking about a modified version of Donne Biryani which is a specialty of Karnataka, similar to the Dindigul style (made popular by Thalappakatti chain) Biryani, which is a specialty of Tamil Nadu. Unlike Hyderabadi or Lucknowi, this Biryani is not really cooked on Dum. It is also not a Kacchi Biryani. The meat is almost precooked in a stock that consists of the spices for the Biryani. Then soaked rice is added to this stock and cooked. This is a great way to extract the flavor of the meat, especially for chicken — which fails to impress in Biryanis otherwise. Other popular preparation of Biryani, be it Hyderabadi, Lucknowi or Calcutta style, which relies on Dum, works best for Mutton or red meat in general as it overflows with juices.

Apart from taste, there are two big reasons one should learn how to make this variation — simplicity, and health. Of all the varieties we tried making, this is by far the simplest. It requires the least amount of effort, time and skills. Also, we felt like this was the only Biryani where it was possible to make a healthier version (less oil and fewer spices) without compromising much on taste.

Although the recipe is a simplified version, it does not compromise on taste. Here it is:

Ingredients

For Biryani masala:

1. 1 tsp Shahi jeera
2. 1 tsp Jeera
3. 2 tsp coriander seeds
4. 2 dried bay leaf
5. 1 black cardamom
6. 5 green cardamom
7. 1 cinnamon stick
8. 1–2 tsp black peppercorns
9. 1 tsp cloves
10. 1 tsp Saunf or fennel seeds
11. 1/2 a piece of Nutmeg
12. Small piece of Dagad Phool
13. 1 piece of Star anise
14. 1 piece of Mace (Javitri)
15. 3 pieces Kapok Buds (Marathi Moggu)

… make your own, or simply get the Biryani Masala from the store 😃. However, the best is fresh homemade masala.

For Green Paste:

1. 1 bunch of Mint leaves (150g)
2. 1 bunch of Coriander leaves (150g)
3. 8–10 Green Chilis
4. 1-inch ginger
5. 7–8 garlic pods
6. 1 Onion

For Biryani:

1. 1kg curry cut chicken
2. 3 tbsp vegetable oil
3. 5–6 medium-sized onions, chopped
4. 2-3 cups white rice, preferably Jeera Samba
5. 4–5 cloves
6. 3 bay leaf
7. 3 green cardamom
8. 5–6 black peppercorn
9. 1 cinnamon stick
10. 1 Kapok bud or Marathi Moggu (optional)

Method

1. Lightly toast all the ingredients of Biryani masala for 1–2 minutes and grind into a fine powder. Set aside. Skip if you have the store-bought powder.
2. Add all ingredients of the green paste in a blender to make a thick paste. Add water if needed, but try to keep the consistency as thick as possible.
3. Heat oil in a large container. Preferably something like a dutch oven. To this add sliced onions and fry them on medium flame till they turn slightly brown.
4. Now add the cinnamon, pepper, bay leaf, Marathi Moggu, and cloves. Fry them till they release the fragrance.
5. To this, add the green paste from step #2. Along with this, add 3–4 tsp of Biryani Masala. Fry 4–5 min till the water content is reduced and the raw smell is gone. Add 2 tsp of salt.
6. Now add the chicken and roast with this masala for 6–7 minutes. By the end of this, the chicken should be about 70% cooked.
7. Now comes a decision point — the amounts of rice and water. We need to add the water before we add the rice. The amount of water should be twice that of the rice. Now, if you want more meat in the biryani, use no more than 2 cups of rice for a kg of chicken. However, if you’re cooking for more people you can go up to 3 cups.
8. Add water accordingly, as discussed in the previous step. Preferably, boil the water before if you add it, to speed up the process. Bring the stock to a boil and simmer on a medium flame for another 5 mins. Now taste the stock. It should taste slightly saltier than your preference as it is also going to accommodate the rice which does not have salt in it. If this is not the case, add salt accordingly.
9. Add the rice (quantity decided in step #7) to the stock. Continue cooking the rice on a medium flame.
10. Now comes a slightly tricky part. By the end of this process, we need to have cooked rice as well as no excess water left. To achieve this, you will have to cover the container with a lid and check for doneness of rice after every 3 min. You may have to do this 3–4 times. At a point where the rice is about 80% done it will easily break with fingers but will be still chewy and not soft. At this point, check the amount of water left in the container. You should see only a little bit left on sides and some puddles in between. If the water is less, you can add half a cup of water. If it is more, open the lid and dry it out a bit.
11. Now, keep the Biryani covered with a lid and on the lowest heat possible. If you have a smaller gas burner, use that. Even better would be if you can keep a Tawa or Pan between the gas and the Biryani container. Leave the Biryani like this for at least 10 minutes.
12. Check if the rice is fully cooked or not, repeat the previous step for another 5 min or till the rice is cooked
13. Done. Serve with boiled eggs, onions and Raita

Bachelor Biryani, Image by Omkar Hande

Some More Tips:

• Healthier version — You can reduce the oil in the recipe. For this, you may have to fry everything for a little longer. If you are watching your carbs intake, add rice just enough to coat the chicken. Say maybe a cup for 1 kg. Using brown rice, however, would be a bold move as it may impact the taste. Brown rice does not absorb flavors as much, but you can still try it out. Remember to soak your brown rice for at least 2 hrs or even better overnight. Also, brown rice needs more water, so you need to add 2.5 times the rice quantity. You can replace broiler chicken with Desi/Country/Naati chicken because it has less fat content and is anti-biotic free. However, pay attention while buying the chicken, as an older chicken (older than 1 year) can be more difficult to cook. Do remember, country chicken always takes a bit longer to cook and is also less meaty.
• Chicken cuts: Use the whole chicken for better flavor as the bones release their juices into the stock. If however, you can compromise on the taste for health — then use the lean cuts (breast). If you are using country chicken, needless to mention, use the whole chicken.
• No Basmati please: If you don’t get your hands on the Jeera Samba rice, use the regular Sona-Masoori. Don’t go for Basmati rice, as its own taste is very overpowering for this dish. Not to mention, it is quite expensive too. This is a more rugged form of Biryani anyway 😄
• Oil and Spice: When you are making the stock for the Biryani and you feel that it’s less spicy, you can add some Biryani Masala to it and boil for another couple of minutes. If you have added the rice and feel that it is very dry in terms of oil, you can always add a spoon of ghee on top and mix.

Inspiration for this recipe:

We fell in love with the Donne Biryani at Shivaji Military Hotel. You have to try it (prefer mutton over chicken). It is the best in town. Usually, Its very crowded, specially on the weekends, but it’s totally worth the wait.

Do follow us on Instagram for more mouth-watering pictures!