We got inspiration for this dish as it's South Asian Heritage Month and the beautiful array of flavours from that region of the world. Full of garlic and ginger, cloves and cardamom, our take on a traditional Kolkata style biryani gives you a light and bright rice, rich in the spices! And... is even better deep fried and stuffed with cheeeese.
Cut your boneless chicken into bite size pieces, and add them to a large bowl. Into the same bowl, add all your ingredients for the marinade, starting with the mustard oil, salt, ginger and garlic. Mix well and add your dried spices, followed by the yoghurt, and get those hands in there!!
Once all mixed and marinade covers all the chicken, cover and put in the fridge for 30mins.
Get a large saucepan (heavy duty if pos) on a medium high heat, with your neutral oil, and let come to temperature. Once the pan is hot, add your onions with a pinch of salt, and stir well. Once they have cooked down a little, add your potatoes, along with the turmeric and chilli. Again adding more salt. Cook down for another couple mins and add your garlic. Cook this off for another couple mins mixing well to prevent the garlic from burning.
Set aside the onion and potato mix, to add back into the pan later.
Add a bit more oil if needed, and then place the chicken into the hot pan. Make sure that pan is HOT! Cook for 3 to 4 mins.
Now we’re ready to build the biryani!
Add the onions and potato back into the pan with the chicken, and mix together. Add the rice, mix and fry for a couple min - this adds a deeper toasty flavour to the rice. Add your water, Biryani Masala and mix well.
On the surface of the water, place your cinnamon, cloves and cardamom, and your saffron water, and let simmer with the lid on, on a low flame, for 20/30mins, or until the water has been absorbed and rice is tender and cooked all the way through.
Once cooked, place in a tray to cool down!
Fill a bowl of breadcrumbs and place it on the side. Add 1 small egg to the rice to help bind the rice, and mix together. From here, take a handful of rice and flatten it in your palm. Add your choice of melty cheese, and cover with more rice, pressing together in your hand to make a ball.
Once the balls are done, place them in the breadcrumbs one at a time, covering them with the breadcrumbs.
Place the breaded balls into a pan of oil at 160°c to deep fry until golden brown!
Pull them apart and enjoy that cheeeeeeese pull.
