Chicken Rice and Raita for lunch

No excuses for not updating my blog again but here I am, trying to revive the blog again with a very simple and yummy recipe for a lazy weekend lunch. Easy to cook and yummy to eat is what I can guarantee from this recipe, the recipe was shared by one of my colleague 'SG' and I made it for lunch yesterday 'Chicken Rice, cooked with curd and kashmiri mirch powder'. This is quite similar to biryani but compared to biryani it's much easier to cook and as tasty as biryani.

Ingredients:

1. 500 gms chicken
2. 500 gm curd
3. 3 tbsp Kashmiri chilli powder
4. Few strands of safrron
5. Green Cardamom- 5-6
6. 1 stick dalchini (Cinnamon)
7. 2 big onion
8. 1 Tomato (Optional)
9. Bay leaves
10. 1 tbsp garam masala
11. 2.5 cups of good quality basmati  rice
12. Salt to taste

Steps:

• Marinate the chicken with the curd, chilli powder and salt. Cover the marinated chicken and leave it for at least 1 hr.
• Wash the rice and keep it aside for about 15-20 mins.
• Heat a Kadhai and add 2 tbsp of vegetable oil, once it's smoking hot add the bay leaves and sliced onion, fry it it turns golden brown. 
• Add the marinated chicken and cook it on medium flame. Also add the cardamom, dalchini , garam masala and the chopped tomato.
• Stir the chicken every 5 mins and cook for about 25 mins. ( Chicken will get tender since it's marinated in curd)
• Since cooking rice on a Kadhai is not advisable, put the rice in a Rice cooker or a flat bottom pan,   add the saffron strands,  cooked chicken and add 5 cups of water (double the quantity of rice).
• Cook till the rice is done and serve hot with raita.

While it may not taste exactly like Biryani but this is easier to cook and as yummy as biryani. Pictures will follow soon.