Easy Chicken Biryani

The colder nights are closing in, it’s time to batten down the hatches and start cooking that comfort food. Over the Summer (yep, that did happen) it was all about delicious salads, whereas now that the seasons have shifted, the leaves are falling and the winter coats are making an appearance, there’s the need for warmer, tummy filling food. I do love a curry, especially if I’m feeling run down with a cold as the added ginger, garlic and spice make me feel like I’m helping kill any germs. I made this dish for the first time a few weeks ago. It’s a super quick,mid week meal to make. It’s a good ‘left-overs’ dish if you’ve cooked a chicken and got a few random veggies in the fridge that need eating, and the added bonus is if you use one of those packets of microwavable rice, you can have this on the table in about 30 minutes. Winner, winner, chicken dinner 😉

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Chicken Biryani
Feeds: Two adults

Ingredients:

  • 1 Tablespoon oil (I use Coconut oil)
  • 250g Chicken fillets, cut into chunks
  • 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
  • 1/2 chilli, seeded and minced (You can leave this out if you don’t like spicy)
  • 1 Tablespoon of prepared ginger paste (or grate a large chunk of fresh ginger)
  • 1 Teaspoon Garam masala
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Chilli powder (depending on how hot you like it, you can leave this out)
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Cumin
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Turmeric
  • A pinch of salt
  • One clove of crushed Garlic
  • 2 Medium Tomatoes
  • 4 or 5 Chopped Chestnut mushrooms (or any other type)
  • 1 Small/medium Courgette
  • 1/2 Yellow pepper
  • 1/2 Tin chopped Tomatoes
  • 125ml Chicken stock
  • 1 Packet microwave rice (I used Tilda Pilau rice)
  • Fresh Coriander, 1 Lime sliced in two and a few sliced Almonds to garnish
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Instructions:
  1. Heat the oil over a medium-high heat in a large frying pan. Boil your kettle and get the stock ready.
  2. Once the oil has heated, add the chicken and let it cook for 3-5 minutes until golden brown. If it starts sticking on the bottom of the pan, add a dash of the stock and give everything a good mix.
  3. Add the onion, chilli, ginger, garlic, salt, garam masala, cumin and turmeric. Fry everything for about 5 minutes, until the onions have softened. Add a dash more stock again if the ingredients are sticking.
  4. Add the tomatoes (chopped and tinned) and all the remaining vegetables to the pan. Stir well, then add the remaining stock. Allow the mixture to come to a boil, then turn the heat down to simmering.
  5. Let everything cook for about 10 minutes. Ideally you want some of the liquid from the stock and tinned tomatoes to have cooked away before you add the rice so it’s not too watery. Once this has happened, add the rice, stir and cook for a further 5 minutes.
  6. Once ready, plate up and garnish with coriander, almond slices and a squeeze of lime over the top. YUM!
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