Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Chicken Pulao

Chicken Pulao is a South Indian Dish in which chicken is cooked along with rice. In Kerala, we make only Chicken Biriyani in which the chicken is prepared separately and then rice and the chicken are arranged layer by layer and then put on dum or baked. I learnt to make Chicken Pulao only after coming to Bangalore. In fact, it is quite easy to prepare and tastes really good. I have used Saffron Essence in this dish. You can substitute it with Saffron strands soaked in little milk.

This is my entry for the Think Spice : Saffron event being hosted by Sunita of Sunita's World.

Ingredients:

Basmati rice -2 1\2 cups
Chicken -1 kg
Onions -3 sliced
Tomatoes -2 chopped
Green chillies -3 slit
Ginger - garlic paste -2 tbsp
Coriander leaves -2 tbsp chopped
Mint leaves -2 tbsp chopped
Biriyani masala powder -2 1\2 tbsp
Turmeric powder -1\2 tsp
Bay leaf -1
Cinnamon -1" piece
Cardamom -3
Cloves -3
Curd -1 cup
Water -3 cups
Salt -to taste
Ghee -3 tbsp
Oil -4 tbsp
Cashewnuts -2 tbsp
Raisins -2tbsp
Ghee -1 tsp
Saffron essence -1 tsp
Juice of half a lime


Method:

Clean and cut the chicken into big pieces. Wash the rice and soak in 3 cups of water for 20 minutes. Heat ghee and oil together in a pressure cooker. Put the bay leaf and whole spices. Add the onions and green chillies. Fry till the onions turn golden brown. Add the ginger - garlic paste and fry for a minute. Now add the biriyani masala powder and turmeric powder. Fry for few seconds. Add the tomatoes and salt. Fry till the oil separates. Add the chicken pieces and chopped coriander and mint leaves. Fry for 5 minutes till the chicken is half cooked. Add the curd and mix well. Then add the soaked rice along with the water. Finally add the lime juice and saffron essence. Mix gently and close the lid. When the first whistle comes, reduce the flame to low. Cook for 4 minutes and put off the fire. Meanwhile, heat 1 tsp ghee in a small pan and fry the cashewnuts and raisins. Keep aside. Once the pressure is gone, open the lid of the cooker. Keep it open for 10 minutes and transfer the pulao to a serving dish. Garnish with fried cashewnuts and raisins. Serve hot with tomato salad, pickle and pappads. Enjoy!

23 comments:

Unknown said...

My.. My... I am damn hungry now... and it has increased after seeing ur pulav....
Delicious!!

FH said...

Slurp!! What a great looking Pulao. Great entry Lissie!:)

sunita said...

Lissie, thanks for the lovely pulao recipe.

Swaruchy said...

Lissie...a nice-looking pulao dear....mmmmmmmmmm :-)

Rina said...

I'm sure this tastes gr8. Thx for sharing.

Kribha said...

Ooo...that looks so yummy. I make chicken biryani only. That plate of pulav has made me so hungry now.

Padma said...

Its exactly 12:00 noon here and I am feeling very hungry drooling over ur Chicken pulav, pls pass some here

remya said...

I'm drooling !!! yumm chicken pulao...i hav tried only briyani...pulao is new to me...looks delicious....

Shobana senthilkumar said...

Hi,
hmmm.....pullav looks yummy i can have some:))

Lissie said...

thank you cinnamon, asha, sunita and rina!

kribha and remya, next time try pulao instead of biriyani. it is easy and tastes delicious!

sirisha, padma and priar's, try it. you don't have to drool!

Mishmash ! said...

Lissie, I used to prepare this immdtly after marriage and this was called bachelor biryani :) mainly coz of the ease of cooking :)

Shn

remya said...

I have tagged u for Fanstatic Four MEME....Plz take it asap...EHJY!!!

Shella said...

The chicken Pulao looks very very good Lissie. Nalla colour

Bharathy said...

yenne ingane kothippichu kollalle da.lissie :)..
whats the dif between biriyani and pulao with chicken??

Lissie said...

Shn, thats the advantage of making pulao.

remya, thanks you very much for tagging me! will come up with one soon.. :))

shella, thanks for visitng! its a long time since i heard from you.

bharathy, pulao is easy to make, thats all. with chicken, both will taste fantastic!

Swaroopa said...

Im droolin as im typing. oh what a delight to c it. wanna make it soon.

Chef Jeena said...

Hey Lissie your picture is amazing I love rice with spices and your recipe sounds yummy. :)

Cynthia said...

Chicken pelau is a dish made often in the Caribbean, especially Trinidad and Tobago. Your version sounds tasty too.

zlamushka said...

Hey Lissie, my first time here. Love pulao, yours has so much flavor in it :-) Any chance of cooking something for me ?

I am hosting my own event A Spoonful of Christmas dedicated to foods as gifts. Have a look to see if you can come up with something :-)

Finla said...

Wow delicious looking pulao.
Hey lissie it seems you are having a party with all these dishes. I am comming over

Saju said...

pulao looks just yum. I love the cashew nuts on the top, I feel like stealing them when no one is looking

Anonymous said...

Hey Lissie,

Tried ur recipe for chicken pulao. It was delicious. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Tried d pulav..We loved it..Thank u.