Chicken Biryani

Canugghead

Indian food is swmbo's forte here 

Saffron and marinated chicken


Parbaked chicken


Sofrito with potato


Layered with parcooked basmati rice


Drizzled with saffron water and ghee before the 1/2 hour bake in covered Dutch oven


Done


Chicken and potato removed, added cilantro and mixed thoroughly. Ate some with hard boiled egg and packaging the rest for pickup/delivery.
Good eat but lot of work.

smbishop

This looks amazing!

caliking

Gary... I have to clean my screen now. That looks delicious!!

loco_engr

WOW!  Great cook

paqman

😳

Canugghead

Thanks guys. Actually considering the number of future meals we get out of this, the time spent was worth it. Love my chamber sealer, I don't think twice about sealing anything since bags cost pennies.

JohnInCarolina

Oh my.  Is the Canadian border still closed to visitors from America?

Mattman3969

Wow!

Foghorn

You're sealing that up so you can freeze it and send it to me - correct?

GrateEggspectations

Canugghead said:

Thanks guys. Actually considering the number of future meals we get out of this, the time spent was worth it. Love my chamber sealer, I don't think twice about sealing anything since bags cost pennies.

Really well done, friend. 

I’ve never seen eggs in Indian. Is this traditional? If so, what dish?

paqman

@GrateEggspectations Eggs are fairly common and biryani almost always has eggs.  I lived in India for a couple of months a few years ago.  It was in the south, Chennai (Madras) so maybe that’s a regional thing?  A plate like this was costing me 25 rupees (less than a dollar) and it was awesome.

caliking

@canugghead - how do the potatoes do after freezing, then reheating to eat? Potatoes freeze kinda weirdly, but those have been more wet items. 

One of my sisters makes a mean "mutton" biryani. I have her make several kilos of it whenever she visits, and freeze it for later too  

caliking

paqman said:

@GrateEggspectations Eggs are fairly common and biryani almost always has eggs.  I lived in India for a couple of months a few years ago.  It was in the south, Chennai (Madras) so maybe that’s a regional thing?  A plate like this was costing me 25 rupees (less than a dollar) and it was awesome.

Yep, its a regional thing. Kolkata biryani typically has eggs and potatoes. Like pizza elsewhere, biryani can be quite different in different parts of India. And obviously, each region claims their's is the best version!



Also, egg curry (dimer dalna in Bangla) is a pretty standard Bengali dish. Most Indian restaurants outside India tend to be North or South Indian (esp Tamil Nadu - think dosa, etc.), so egg curry is not commonly found on the menu at most places.

JohnInCarolina

caliking said:

paqman said:

@GrateEggspectations Eggs are fairly common and biryani almost always has eggs.  I lived in India for a couple of months a few years ago.  It was in the south, Chennai (Madras) so maybe that’s a regional thing?  A plate like this was costing me 25 rupees (less than a dollar) and it was awesome.

Yep, its a regional thing. Kolkata biryani typically has eggs and potatoes. Like pizza elsewhere, biryani can be quite different in different parts of India. And obviously, each region claims their's is the best version!

So... you're saying that Kolkata is kind of like the Kansas City of India? 

Canugghead

JohnInCarolina said:

Oh my.  Is the Canadian border still closed to visitors from America?

Thanks, border crossing at Roxham Rd NY is always open 

Canugghead

@paqman @caliking thanks for chiming in.

@GrateEggspectations yes eggs are common in India, it's also vegetarian friendly for many. 

Two of my favourite street foods...

1) Mughlai Paratha 
https://youtu.be/NdE_OLICeyo

2) Omelette mixed in tin can with fresh onion and chili, fried over coal fire. Almost charred because vendors are stingy on oil!

Canugghead

@caliking Great question, swmbo is reluctant to freeze potato too, IIRC this is the first time, we'll find out. 

Ummm, I'm  drooling just hearing mutton biryani.

Actually here's a question for future: After sealing, will it be safe if I keep it in the coldest zone in the fridge for a week, without freezing?

paqman

I don’t think that vacuum sealing extends shelf life (unless cooking sous vide).  1 week sounds OK to me.

Canugghead

paqman said:

I don’t think that vacuum sealing extends shelf life (unless cooking sous vide).  1 week sounds OK to me.

Not sure if I can totally agree with you, since one of the advertised benefits of vacuum sealing is longer shelf life of perishable food.

caliking

Canugghead said:

@caliking Great question, swmbo is reluctant to freeze potato too, IIRC this is the first time, we'll find out. 

Ummm, I'm  drooling just hearing mutton biryani.

Actually here's a question for future: After sealing, will it be safe if I keep it in the coldest zone in the fridge for a week, without freezing?

It'll be fine. Even without vac sealing.  Indian food seems to be do well in that regard. 

caliking

paqman said:

I don’t think that vacuum sealing extends shelf life (unless cooking sous vide).  1 week sounds OK to me.

It does for some foods. Many foods spoil because of cooties thriving in an aerobic environment. So, vac sealing mitigates that process, to a degree. 

But, yes, the biryani should be fine for a week or so, even without vac sealing. We usually cook a lot on the weekends, and chow through it all during the week. Dry items (rice, veg, etc. ) last longer than stuff with more water content (dal, curries). We try to finish our cooked food within a week, or freeze the excess to eat later. 

eenie meenie

Canugghead, I'm very seldom on the forum anymore, but needed to check out something about chuck roasts and came across your biryani cook.  It looks Just like what I had in India! You've got me drooling.  

In answer to question about vac locking, I don't think that is at all necessary.  You ought to just ship the extras down to the US.  Problem solved.

Canugghead

Thanks guys for the reassurance, I know better now. 

@caliking with just the two of us oldies, and biryani yielded by 8 cups of basmati, we probably can't finish it in two weeks!

@eenie meenie what a pleasant surprise to see your rare post, I feel honoured! Actually last Christmas we were toying with the idea of learning to make panettone; I told my wife about the amazing panettone you made years ago. No, we didn't dare to get into another rabbit hole.