Chicken biryani with alubukhara

Alubukhara is a Persian dish, a Middle Eastern take on an Indian dish, with the addition of eggplants and almonds. The story of this dish is that it is supposed to have originated in the Near East around 3000BC, and is said to have been a favorite dish of the Mughal emperors of the time.

If you love Chicken biryani, you’ll love this recipe. This biryani is rich in flavour, yet light in weight. The recipe is easy to follow and the biryani can be prepared ahead of time. This biryani is perfect to have with roti or naan during a weekend. Enjoy!

Chicken biryani is a dish of rice cooked in chicken stock, that is very popular in Indian cuisine, and “alubukhara” is a sweet and spicy curry relish made out of tomatoes, onions, and garlic. Today I am going to show you how to make a tasty biryani dish, with a spicy chicken and alubukhara relish. This dish can be eaten with any rice and it can be served with plain white rice as well, but I am going to serve it with basmati rice today.

For me, chicken biryani with alu bukhara is uncommon and unique. I’ve used dry fruits and nuts in my biryani before, but never alu bukhara (dried prunes). I had this biryani at a pakistani restaurant near my home in London, and I was shocked to find that dried prune, which made me sweat and had a sour flavor. I assumed it was tamarind since it had a tamarind-like seed and was black in color. Alubukhara (dried prune) is a dried fruit that is used in dishes. Because of the perspiration and sour flavor, I used to drink it while I was pregnant. If you are in Chennai, I believe that if you go to a local grocery store or a muslim grocery store around Triplicane, they would be able to assist you. After eating that biryani at a Pakistani restaurant, I decided to try my hand at making my own biryani using alubukara. Because we all like biryani, we should try a variety of biryani for a change. The spices and other components in biryani are the same; the only variation is the addition of alu bukhara (dried prunes) and potatoes. As is customary for me, I made this biryani hot and masala-style. If you don’t want it to be hot, use less chilli and create a mild biryani to your liking. We often claim that a kilogram of biryani can feed 6 to 7 people, but it all depends on how hungry we are. In the biryani, you may add your own spices and garam masala. If you don’t have any of the spices, you may leave them out and still create biryani; you’ll get a different flavor. My alu Bukhara, as you can see in the photo, is very large, but the size will be much less in India. Prunes from many nations are available. It seems to have been brought from Israil. This biryani was prepared in the manner of pakki biryani, which I previously detailed in detail. It just entails cooking raw beef with additional seasonings and serving it dum.

Ingredients

• • 1 kilogram chicken (medium-sized chunks)
  • a pinch of salt (as needed)

Marinade

• • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • if necessary, salt
  • 2 tbsp ginger and garlic paste
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric powder

Gravy

• • 3/4 cup oil or ghee
  • 4 onions (large)
  • 3 tblsp. cloves
  • 1 – Javithri
  • 2 cinnamon sticks (1 inch size)
  • 3 green cardamoms
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 star for niceness
  • 1 tsp. black cardamom
  • 1/2 teaspoon black cumin seeds
  • 4 tbsp. chopped tomatoes
  • 7 green chillies
  • 2 tbsp ginger and garlic paste
  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 2 tsp chili powder
  • 3 tsp coriander powder
  • 12 alu bukhara (dried prunes)
  • 15 to 20 gms mint leaves
  • 20 g coriander leaves
  • 1 cup of water
  • 1 cup curd (thick)
  • 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
  • 1 tsp. biryani masala (home made)
  • 1/4 teaspoon jaifal and javithri powder
  • 2 lbs. potatoes (big)

Rice

• • 3 green cardamoms
  • 3 tblsp. cloves
  • 1 – Javithri
  • 1 cinnamon stick (1inch)
  • 1 tsp. black cardamom
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon black cumin seeds
  • 1 – Starnice

Layering

• • 1/2 teaspoon masala for biryani
  • a pinch of jaifal and javithri
  • a few mint leaves
  • a few coriander leaves
  • a pinch of color (biryani color)
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 2 tbsp kewra (optional)

raitha’s sake

• 1 onion 1 onion 1 onion 1 onion 1 onion 1 onion 1 onion 1 onion 1 onion 1
• 1 tomatillo
• 2 green chilies
• a couple mint leaves
• a few coriander leaves
• a pinch of salt (to taste)
• 1 cup of curd

Method

Raitha

• • To begin, cut the veggies and place them in a bowl.
  • Mix in the salt and gently crush all of the ingredients together with your hand.
  • I occasionally add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice to give it a tart flavor, mix it well, and then add the curd.
  • Now add the curd and stir thoroughly; if the curd is too thick, a little water may be added.
  • It goes well with biryani.

Biryani

• • Soak dried prunes in hot water for at least half an hour.
  • Set aside the onions, which have been sliced.
  • Remove the stems from the mint and coriander leaves and set them aside.
  • If your curd is thin, use 1 1/2 cup curd instead.
  • Tomatoes and potatoes should be cut into large chunks or simply four pieces.

Marinate

• • Marinate the chicken for 4 hours or overnight in a mixture of chilli powder, salt, turmeric powder, and ginger garlic paste.

Using chicken to make gravy

• • Now, in a large saucepan, heat the oil/ghee, then add the sliced onions and cook, covered, until golden brown and tender, around 15 to 20 minutes. In the meanwhile, keep stirring the onions in the oil/ghee.
  • After thoroughly frying the onions, set aside 1/4 of the fried onions (for layering or garnishing).
  • Now add the chopped tomatoes, ginger and garlic paste, and all of the entire spices, mix well, and simmer until the tomatoes are soft and crushed thoroughly. In between, give it a good stir.
  • Now add the chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, green chilies (2) cut, alu Bukhara, and 1/2 cup water to avoid burning the spices.
  • Allow it to simmer for 5 to 7 minutes, or until it forms a thick masala-like consistency and begins to release some oil. It should be thoroughly roasted.
  • Now add 1/2 cup curd, 1/2 cup mint leaves, and 1/2 cup coriander leaves, stir well, and simmer for 10 minutes, or until it becomes a sauce and all the spices are thoroughly cooked.
  • Mix in the marinated chicken pieces, curd, and remaining slit chillies.
  • Then add the remaining mint and coriander leaves, reserving a few for the rice’s final stacking.
  • After adding the chicken pieces, mix in the garam masala, biryani masala, 1/2 cup water, jaifal, and javithri powder, and cover the pan.
  • Cook until the chicken is well cooked and resembles gravy, and the oil begins to float on top. It should be thoroughly mixed.
  • Cook for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent the gravy from burning underneath the pot.
  • Now add salt to the sauce and continue to cook until the rice is done, around 10 to 15 minutes.
  • As you can see, the chicken is thoroughly cooked, and the gravy is ready to be combined with the appropriate rice.
  • The alu bhukhara has gotten extremely soft and nicely mixed with the gravy, as you can see in the photo.

preparing rice

• • Meanwhile, while the gravy is simmering, boil the rice 3/4 with whole spices, water (5 to 6 cups), and salt, then set it aside.
  • When you push the rice between your two fingers, it will still be firm, not mushy, and the grain will be longer than normal while cooking; at this point, drain the rice and set it aside. It’s still in its infancy. The entire duration will be 10 to 12 minutes (cooking with cold water).
  • Rice may be cooked at the same time as the gravy or prepared ahead of time and set aside.
  • The layering is now complete.

(layering/dum stage) combining gravy with rice

• When the gravy and rice are both done, check to see whether the gravy is sufficient for the half-cooked rice.
• If there is a lot of gravy, simmer for a while with the lid open to decrease the liquid and maintain stirring; otherwise, the rice will become extremely mushy and crushed.
• If the gravy is insufficient, mixing the rice will be difficult.
• Place the rice on top of the gravy, spread it out, and cover it with fried onion.
• Place the other ingredients in the pot, then add the color, biryani masala, jaifal and javithri powder, mint leaves, coriander leaves, milk, and stir to combine. Cover firmly and cook for 25 to 30 minutes. We also refer to this procedure as a dum since the rice is cooked at a low temperature. Turn it off and leave it closed.
• To prevent rice from burning when providing dum or simmering, place a flat tava underneath the pot and simmer it. After a while, remove the cover and remove the biryani using a broader spoon, gently mixing from one side alone. Mix it from the bottom up, from the sides, to ensure that the gravy and rice are well combined. As soon as you lift the cover, you’ll notice that the biryani has a strong flavor and fragrance, even though the rice is still in dum.
• Serve with raitha (curd mixture), brinjal curry, and chicken 65.

Notes

• If you don’t like spicy cuisine or if your chilies are extremely hot, you may cut down on the chillies.
• Only 3/4 of the rice should be cooked. The grain may have grown longer than normal, but it is still uncooked when pushed between fingers. You may add a few drops of oil or vinegar to the rice while it’s cooking. Wash it in cold water while draining to keep the rice grains separated. Cook the rice and add it to the gravy during layering if the chicken is nearly done and is simmering. There’s no need to set aside the rice as well. This may be done just after the rice has been cooked.
• You may purchase biryani masala or make your own by powdering 1 starnice, 2 green cardamoms, 3 cloves, and 3 teaspoons dagad phool (optional). It will resemble kasoori methi leaves with the addition of few tiny sticks or just garam masala. My biryani masala recipe may be found here.
• When you combine the rice with the gravy, there should be enough to cover the rice.
• When preparing gravy, you may also skip using water since when marinated chicken is added, it releases water, which causes the gravy to thicken.
• If you want to save oil, go ahead and do so; it’s your choice. However, the onion must be thoroughly cooked in oil or ghee.
• Add salt to the gravy and rice with care. It would be simple for you to split the salt amount and place.
• I use entire spice to crush 300 grams of ginger and 300 grams of garlic paste. See my recipe for ginger and garlic paste. However, I used simple ginger and garlic paste in my biryani.
• Color is mixed with 2 tbsp of water or milk, and then applied on rice. Saffron may be used as a substitute for color or simply sprinkled over biryani. If desired, a few drops of lemon juice may be added.
• When making biryani, always use the same quantity of chicken rice, or 1 kilogram chicken for 500 g rice.
• You may skip this step if you don’t have jaifal and javithri powder (I use crushed jaifal and javithri powder with a few green cardamoms).
• You may skip the biryani masala if you don’t have any, since we’ve used whole spices and garam masala in the biryani, but the flavor will be different.

 

This is a recipe from the Keralite cuisine, a typical Malay dish. Alubukhara is a typical Malay side dish which is usually made while cooking chicken. It is known as the Kerala (Kerala, India) recipe, but not known in other parts of the country. The dish is popularly known in Malayalam language also. Alubukhara is also known as alookkara or oothappam. Alubukhara is made using black gram, which is the main ingredient for the dish. Blanching the gram helps to soften it and makes the dish to remain soft. Alubukhara is also known as a side dish to be eaten with Pongal (. Read more about plum in biryani and let us know what you think.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why Alu Bukhara is used in biryani?

Alu Bukhara is a type of rice that is used in biryani.

Is Dahi necessary for biryani?

Dahi is a type of yogurt that is used in biryani. It is not necessary for the dish, but it does add an extra layer of flavor and creaminess to the dish.

What is Aloo Bukhara called in English?

Aloo Bukhara is a type of curry dish that originated in the Indian subcontinent.