This recipe comes from my aunt Blandina (I call her Bendo). In our family there are several cooks i.e. every mom, aunt, cousin and grandma cooks. But growing up in our culture there are certain family cooks, that are just better then others. I REALLY want to name my favorite(s) but am afraid of their wrath:) The key differentiators between them all is strictly time/ attention to detail. I can tell you that Bendo is among the top and my favorite! FYI…my mom is a great cook when she cares:) aka not busy!

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 Med yellow onion chopped
  • 4-5 Cloves of Garlic chopped
  • 1/3 cup olive oil or veg. oil
  • 3 Tbs. Curry powder
  • 1 Tbs. Garam Masala
  • 1 Tsp. salt
  • 1 Tsp. black pepper
  • 1-2 whole (Rotisserie) chicken
  • 2-3 cups of Basmati Rice
  • 1/2 lb Green peas frozen
  • 2-3 cups boiling water (for cooking the rice)
  • 1Tbs. salt for rice

 

Cooking: Biryani Sauce and Chicken

In a 3 quart pot sauté chopped onion and garlic in 1/4 until translucent and soft. Reduce heat and add the curry powder, all spice, salt and black pepper, simmer; until you have a nice Biryani sauce. Set aside. ( I usually squeeze a 1/2 lemon in the  sauce).

Take the Rotisserie chicken and pull all the meat off in big chunks, do not shred it. Add the pulled chicken to the Biryani sauce; gently fold the chicken and make sure it’s all covered with Biryani sauce, cover and let simmer for 15 minutes on low heat.

Turn off and let rest.

Basmati Rice:

Rinse the rice and drain.  On medium heat add the remaining olive oil, rice and boiling water. (Rule of thumb water should be above the rice by the 1/2 inch) cover and bring to boil,  when the liquid is gone, lower the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes, do not uncover to check on the rice every few minutes.

Preparations:

Take the rice using a large serving spoon and cover the Biryani chicken mix with Basmati rice, pad it down with your palm or with the spoon. Keep it in a warm place Like an oven or stove top with very low heat until serving time.

To serve this upside down dish, simply put a large round tray or dish on top the pot.

You will need a strong guy to flip the pot and the tray at the same time.  The Basmati rice will be in the bottom and the golden aromatic Biryani chicken mixture will be on top.

(Use the green peas which you should thaw first to decorate around the rice dish).

Chicken Biryani upside down with Basmati Rice