Chicken Pulav

Recipe#20 from Mrs.K.M.Mathews recipe series
An awesome pulav recipe worth all the hard work behind it! It tastes so good that it has become one of my favorite pulav.

Ingredients:

1. Biryani rice - 2 cups
2. Mutton/Chicken, cut into small pieces  - 3/4 kg
3. Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
4. Coriander powder - 1 tbs
5. Pepper - 12
6. Cumin seeds - 2 pinch
7. Ghee/Clarified butter - 1/2 cup  + 1/4 cup
8. Onion sliced - 1/2 cup
9. Raisins - 1/4 cup
10. Cashew nuts, chopped  - 1/2 cup
11. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
12. Onion, sliced - 1/2 cup
13. Ginger, thin juilienned - 1/2 tsp
14. Garlic, chopped - 2 tbs
15. Green chilli, slit - 4
16. Coriander leaves, Mint leaves - 2 tbs
17. Cloves - 12 + 6
18. Cinnamon - 2 + 1 x 1inch piece
19. Cardamom - 6 + 3
20. Nutmeg - a pinch
21. Coconut shredded and roasted to brown and powdered - 1/2 cup
22. Curd - 1/4 cup
23. Salt to taste

Method:

1. Powder 12 cloves, 2 cinnamon, 6 cardamom and coconut and keep it aside
2. Make a paste of ingredients from 3 to 6
3. Heat 1/2 cup ghee in a pan
4. Fry 1/2 cup onion to golden brown then move the fried onion to a bowl
5. In the same ghee fry cashew nuts and raisins too and keep it with fried onion
6. Again in the same ghee pan, saute 1/2 cup onion, ginger, garlic and green chilli till onion is transparent
7. Add masala paste made in step 2 and give a toss
8. Once the raw smell goes, add chicken and curd to it and mix well
9. Add coriander leaves and let the chicken cook in medium flame
10. Once the chicken is cooked and gravy is around one cup, switch off the stove
11. Take out the chicken pieces from the above and keep it in a bowl
12. Wash and clean the rice and drain the water
13. Heat a heavy bottomed pan and add 1/4 cup of ghee to it
14. Fry 6 cloves, 2 cinnamon and 3 cardamom in it
15. Add and fry rice in it till rice is roasted. (Rice shouldn't change its color)
16. Add 4 cups hot water in it and add salt to taste and cook rice (Rice shouldn't be over cooked)
17. Take a big oven proof bowl and apply ghee in it
18. Keep all chicken pieces in a single layer
19. Add half of the gravy on the chicken layer
20. Layer half of the rice on the above
21. Layer the rest of chicken gravy on the rice and layer half off the coconut mixture on it
22. Make rest of the rice as the next layer
23. Top it with rest of the coconut mixture and a tsp of coriander leaves
24. Preheat oven to 350F Deg heat
25. Cover the rice bowl with a clean, thick damp cloth
26. Keep a bowl of boiling water in the lower rack of oven. Take care to use oven proof bowl
27. Bake it for 30 minutes
28. Spread the pulav on a flat tray or plate
29. Top it with fried onion mixture and serve warm

Note:

• I have covered the rice bowl with aluminum foil and then made many slits on it. Then it was again covered with damp cloth