Biryani

Serves 6

 
Ingredients:

Rice
2 cups long grain rice
3 cups of water
1 tablespoon salt
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon biryani spice

Meatballs
1 pound ground meat
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt

Other
2 ½  cups cooked chicken
4 Med-large potatoes peeled and cubed
3 Med-Large onions sliced
12 oz package frozen peas
1 ½ teaspoons biryani spice
7 Tablespoons vegetable oil
½ teaspoon salt

Directions
For the chicken – you can boil a whole chicken with some salt for about 45 minutes or until done.   Once the chicken cools off a bit, pull off the meat and place it in a bowl.  If you are short on time you can buy a premade rotisserie chicken and pull of the meat.  We boiled a medium size chicken and we got about 2 ½ cups of chicken after we pulled off the meat.

Mix ½ teaspoon of biryani spice with the chicken pieces.

Rinse the rice a few times to remove excess starch.  Soak in warm water for about 20 minutes.

While the rice is soaking start the following:

Note:  You can use the same pan or multiple pans for the following steps depending on how much time you have or how many dishes you want to wash.  We were using 2 pans at once.

Mix the ground meat with the salt and pepper and form into small meatballs.  Heat one tablespoon of oil and sauté the meatballs until they are brown.  Set aside.

Heat 4 tablespoons of oil.  Add ½ teaspoon of the biryani spice and ¼ teaspoon of salt to the potatoes and mix.   Fry the potatoes until they are crisp and golden on the outside.  Set aside.

Heat one tablespoon of oil.  Add ½ teaspoon of the biryani spice to the onions and mix.  Sauté the onions until they are golden and caramelized.  Set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil.  Sauté the frozen peas until the shell is soft and they have browned a little.  Set aside.

For the rice -heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a pot.  Add rice and stir for the a few minutes.  Add the water, salt, and biryani spices.  Let the rice boil for a few minutes.  Then put the burner on medium-low and cover.  Cook for about 10 minutes.  Fluff the rice with a fork then cover again and cook for 5 more minutes on medium-low.

In a large bowl, pour ½ of your rice and ½ of the potatoes, onions, meatballs, and peas.  Mix with 2 spatulas gently.  Then add the other half of your rice, potatoes, onions, meatballs, and peas and mix gently with 2 spatulas again.