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Kurnia took notes and Sally, Oumatie, Vibha, Eleanor and Wan
(another Malaysian) tasted! And of course, Kurnia and Farida enjoyed
the leftovers for lunch the next day!
A. Prepare this at least an
hour before cooking time.
8-12 pieces chicken (from 1
whole chicken) – in a big bowl
For the marinade (keep adding to the chicken):
2 grated tomatoes
1 tsp. chili powder
4 small green chillies (more or less, to your liking)
2 tsp. salt
? tsp. tumeric
2/3 tsp. coriander powder
1/3 tsp. cumin
2/3 cup yoghurt
2 in. cinnamon (crushed or just break into small pieces)
About 15 cloves
? tsp. black pepper (about 15 whole peppers)
2 tsp. garlic (crushed)
1 tsp. crushed ginger (or ginger paste)
10-12 cardamoms (crushed)
a tiny pinch saffron – soaked in about 2 tblsp. hot water : this
goes in last
Mix well and cover.
B. While the chicken is
marinating, prepare these:
8-10 whole potatoes – deep
fry (do not cut) until golden (or you can bake the potatoes)
8-10 boiled eggs
2 cups green lentils – boil until ? cooked – with 2 in. cinnamon
and ? tsp. tumeric
4 cups Basmati rice, 2 in. cinnamon, about 10 whole cardamons
and 1 tsp. salt – boil until ? cooked – drain excess water.
3 big onions – slice and fry with 2 tblsp. cumin (fry in 1 stick
melted butter or 4 tblsp. liquid ghee, do not drain the oil/fat)
– take about 2 tblsp. of this and mix into the chicken mixture
just before the next process)
C. The process of "layering":
In an oven proof big pot,
with about 4 tblsp. vegetable oil, put the ingredients in the
following order:
About 2 tblsp. lentils
All the marinated chicken (pour everything in the bowl into the
pot)
The rest of the lentils (covering the chicken)
Potatoes
Rice (about half the amount, covering the potatoes)
Eggs
Remaining rice (covering the eggs)
Fried onions/cumin (with the oil/fat; covering the rice)
Cover the pot and heat on the stove (low fire/heat) for about 5
minutes.
Cook in 350F oven for about 1 hour.
Alternative for vegetarians:
substitute chicken/lamb with peas, carrots, beans (not leafy
vegetables that can get mushy); Use only ? cup of yogurt to marinade
the vegetables.
If using lamb, double the amount of yogurt.
Kurnia's footnotes:
I made it when I was home in summer and then again on the second day
of Eid. My family and friends at home loved it. So many people in
Malaysia now have Farida's recipe. It is different from the briyani
that we are used to in Malaysia. The variations, I think, differ
according to the origin - which part of India the recipe came from -
so, the geographical region as well as the socio-economic status of
the people would affect the recipe...interesting isn't it? My Indian
friends in Malaysia explained this to me. Farida's recipe came from
the Gujerati region, the 'richer' people (the landowners), and
that's why it has so much 'stuff' in it. Saffron for example is a
very expensive ingredient. |