Biryani

Meghana Chicken Biryani

1. Marinate the chicken with (for 1kg) — 2 eggs, 3 tbsp chilli sauce, garam masala, salt, ginger garlic paste, turmeric, chilli powder, 2 tbsp corn flour. Mix well and store in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
2. Add oil liberally and fry the chicken on high until it is just cooked and soft.
3. Separately fry thinly sliced onion, tomatoes pureed, slit green chillies, ginger garlic paste, salt, turmeric, chilli powder, fist full of mint and coriander, 4 tbsp cream.
4. Add the fried chicken and cook until it leaves oil.
5. For the rice, add oil, ghee, dry masalas, 1/2 cup curd, green chillies, orange food color and fry well.
6. Add the rice and the mixture from the above step and cook in a rice cooker.
7. Serve with gravy on top.
8. Used Vidyascooking as a reference

Nagarjuna chicken biryani

1. This recipe is for 2kg Chicken. Got the big pieces from Licious.
2. In a big cooker, add oil and ghee. Add 2 thinly sliced onions, 6–7 green chilies, salt and fry until onions turn golden brown.
3. Add ginger garlic paste and curry leaves and fry until the raw smell goes away.
4. Add 2 medium sized tomatoes chopped into big pieces. Fry until tomatoes turn soft.
5. Add 3/4 cup curd, chilli powder, turmeric, garam masala and fry until the gravy starts leaving oil.
6. Add the washed chicken, and mix until all the pieces are coated with the gravy.
7. Cook on medium flame with a closed lid (not the cooker lid) until the pieces are just cooked.
8. Turn to high flame until the water evaporates. There should be just about 1/2 glass water left.
9. Add 3 cups (the normal rice measurement) of washed rice. Add 2.5 glasses of water, adjust the taste.
10. Cook for 3 whistles and on simmer for 5 mins. Wait until the steam completely settles before removing the whistle.

Nagarjuna Mutton Biryani

1. Make a coarse paste of green chillies, pudina and coriander. Pudina should be half the quantity of coriander.

2. The mutton should be with bone and pieces medium sized. Marinate it for atleast an hour with ginger garlic paste, salt, turmeric, curd, lemon and 3/4 th of the paste from step 1.

3. In a pressure cooker, add oil, dry masala and fry for a bit. Add the marinated mutton and toss for a bit a cook with a closed lid, until the mutton starts leaving water.

4. Add a cup of water and pressure cook for 6 whistles. The mutton should be almost done i.e. can be cut with a spoon but should not be falling off the bone.

5. In a kadai, add little oil and fry the mutton pieces with coriander powder until it leaves oil. Keep aside. There would be some water in the cooker. That will be used later.

6. In the same kadai, add some oil, some butter, add bay leaves and some more dry masala.

7. Add finely chopped onions, fry a little. Add roughly chopped tomatoes, fry until tomatoes are soft. Add the 1/4 paste from step 1 and coconut milk and fry until the gravy starts leaving oil.

8. Add the washed rice into the rice cooker. Add the mutton pieces, the gravy from step 7 and the residual water from the cooker. Because there is gravy, the water added should be one glass lesser than usual.

9. Adjust the salt, add slit green chillies if spice is less. Add some ghee, juice of one lemon and cook.

Royyala Biryani (Prawns)

1. Marinate the prawns overnight with lemon juice, salt, turmeric, chilli powder and ginger garlic paste.

2. In a kadai add oil, slit green chillies, curry leaves and fry.

3. Then add thinly sliced onions and fry. Add ginger garlic paste and fry until raw smell is gone.

4. Add finely chopped tomatoes, pudina, coriander and cook until they turn soft.

5. Add the marinated prawns and cook until they leave water and firm up.

6. The prawns should be just cooked. There would be a lot of residual water.

7. Scoop out just the prawns into a separate dish.

8. Measure the water and onion tomato gravy and add to the rice.

9. In the empty kadai, add ghee and fry some dry masala. Add this to the rice.

10. Now add oil to the kadai, and fry the prawns on high by adding salt, chilli powder and garam masala. The prawns should lose all the fishy taste and smell and turn nicely coated with the masala.

11. Add the prawns also to the rice, adjust the salt and spices and switch on the cooker.

Prawn biryani

1. Wash the prawns with salt and turmeric.
2. Add the prawns to a kadai. Cook until the prawns are just cooked.
3. Remove the prawns and the residual water. In the same kadai, add oil, thinly sliced onions, green chillies, salt and fry until the onions are fried.
4. Add ginger garlic paste and fry until cooked.
5. Add tomato pulp and cook until the gravy starts leaving oil.
6. Add just the prawns, add Kashmiri chilli powder, garam masala, coriander powder, chilli powder and fry well.
7. Add cream, curry leaves, coriander leaves, food color, little water cook until gravy thickens. This is served separately.
8. Meanwhile in another kadai, add oil, ghee, green chilies, ginger garlic paste and fry well.
9. Add this, rice, water from prawns to a rice cooker. Adjust the salt, garam masala, coriander leaves, curry leaves and cook.
10. Serve the rice with the prawn gravy on the side

Dum biryani

1. Marinate the Chicken or mutton overnight with curd, ginger garlic paste, salt, turmeric powder, coriander powder, garam masala, chilli powder, green chilies, coriander, mint, oil, and lemon. Mix well and also add the deep fried onions and mix. Leave in the fridge

2. Soak basmati rice in water for at least an hour. Soaked 2 measures (rice glass).

3. Cook the meat either on stove top or pressure cooker. Fry the pieces in oil, adjust the spices and add the gravy too. Cook until the gravy thickens and leaves oil.

4. Take a large bowl of water ( took the big cooker vessel). Add some oil, 5 spoons of salt, some dry masala, some lemon juice, coriander and mint leaves and green chilies and bring to boil.

5. Add the soaked rice and cook for 5 to 7 mins until the rice is 80% done.

6. Take a thick bottomed vessel (copper bottom sambar vessel). Layer rice, add good amount of meat with gravy and fried onions. Repeat 1 more time and put rice again on the top. Add more fried onions, coriander and mint, 4 tbsp of milk with yellow food color and ghee. Cover with aluminium foil and then put the lid. Put a vessel filled with water on top.

7. Heat the tawa on high for 3 mins. Put the biryani vessel on top. After 5 more minutes of high flame, reduce to low and keep for 30 mins.

Coconut Rice

1. Add oil to a kadai and roast dry masala like cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, saunf, black cardamom.

2. Add slit green chillies and fry. Add thinly sliced onions and fry a little more. I added about 3/4 cup of onions for 2.5 cups of rice. Add salt and fry until onions are caramelised.

3. Transfer the onions to the rice cooker. Replace 1/2 the water with coconut milk. Add ghee and adjust the salt.