Christmas recipe: Chicken Biryani and Macaroons

We'd asked you, dear readers, to share your family's Christmas recipes.

Here, Chitra R shares this special Christmas recipe from her hometown Kanyakumari.

Tamil Nadu style Chicken Biryani

Serves: 3

Ingredients

• 250 to 300 gm chicken (with or without bones)
• 2 cup Basmati rice (or) Seeraga Samba rice (soaked in water for 20 mins)
• 3 medium sized onions finely chopped
• 3 tomatoes finely chopped
• 2 green chilies slit
• 2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
• 1 cup mint leaves
• ¼ cup chopped coriander leaves
• ¼ tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp red chili powder
• ½ tsp coriander powder (or) chicken masala powder (optional)
• 1 cup whisked curd / yogurt
• Salt to taste
• 4 tbsp cooking oil
• 3 cloves
• ½ cinnamon stick
• 2 to 3 bay leaves
• 1 star anise
• 2 green cardamom
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Method

For Chicken Masala 

• Marinate chicken pieces with turmeric powder and keep aside for 10 minutes.
• Heat 4 tbsp oil in a pan or handi.
• Temper cloves, cinnamon, star anise, bay leaf and cardamom.
• Add ginger-garlic paste and saute a while.
• Add 1 tbsp curd and cook for a minute on low flame.
• Add marinated chicken and little salt.
• Cook it covered on low flame for 10 mins. Remember to not add water, since chicken will cook in its own water.
• Add chopped onions and green chillies. Cook for a minute.
• Add chopped tomatoes and mash the pulp.
• Add mint leaves and coriander leaves. Saute a while.
• Add red chilli powder, coriander powder and remaining curd.
• Mix well everything and let it cook for another 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer masala to another bowl.

For rice

• Soak rice for 20 minutes. Boil 9 cup water in a vessel. Once it starts boiling, add washed & drained rice to it.
• Add salt to taste, 2 tsp and sprinkle lemon juice. Cook it on medium-low flame till it is half cooked (may take around 8-10 mins).
• The rice grains will be long & firm but not hard. And the grains will be separate. At this stage, remove from the heat and drain the water completely. Keep it aside.

For Dum

• Take the same pan in which you have cooked chicken masala.
• Pour a ladle full of masala to the pan and spread it nicely.
• Now spread another layer of half cooked rice. This way, prepare layers of chicken masala and rice.
• Heat a flat frying pan or tava.
• Keep the pan on tava and cook on low flame for 20-30 mins.
• Switch it off and remove from tava only at the time of serving. Mix everything well and serve hot.

Coconut Macaroons

Ingredients

• 2 medium sized eggs
• ½ cup granulated white sugar
• A pinch of salt
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 1 ½ cup unsweetened desiccated coconut (shredded/flaked)

Method

• Line a baking tray with parchment paper and keep it ready. If you do not have parchment paper, grease the baking tray with little butter and dust it with flour.
• Powder the granulated white sugar and keep it aside.
• Preheat oven to 180 degrees C for 10 minutes.
• In a large bowl, beat eggs until frothy.
• Add powdered sugar and salt to the egg mixture.
• Add vanilla extract and mix well using a whisk or a fork.
• Add desiccated coconut and mix well.
• Drop ½ tbsp of the mixture, one inch apart on the baking sheet.
• Bake at 180 degree C (bottom coil -- 15 to 20 minutes and finally top coil for just 1 or 2 minutes to give a nice brown shade on the top) for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.
• After 10 minutes, rotate the tray and continue to bake until done.
• Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes.
• Place it on a rack to cool. 
• Macaroons taste best when served warm.
• Once they cool, you may also store them in an airtight container.

Note: For eggless version, mix ½ cup condensed milk with 1½ cup of desiccated coconut and ½ tsp vanilla essence until well combined. The egg less coconut macaroon mixture is ready. Continue baking as mentioned above.

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