"Chicken Bryani"
Ingredients:
Chicken cut into pieces and half cooked
3 medium potatoes (peeled and cut into chunks)
1/4 teaspoon yellow powder
1/2 cup melted ghee
2 big onions, sliced
1 cup yoghurt
1 teaspoon ginger/garlic mixture
1/2 teaspoon powdered cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon powdered clove
4 cardamoms (split)
1/2 teaspoon powdered turmeric
2 tablespoons powdered cumin
4 tablespoons chopped mint leaves
6 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves
2 green chillies
Salt
1/2 Kg Basmati rice (half-cooked in salted water with a cinnamon stick and a few cloves and drained)
Some saffron strands (jaffran)
Method:
Add some salt and half of the yellow powder to the potatoes. Mix well and fry in the ghee for 1 or 2 minutes. Remove.
In the same ghee, fry onions till brown. Keep aside.
In a large pot, put the half cooked chicken pieces, the potatoes and all the other ingredients except onions, yellow powder and saffron strands. Pour in 1/4 glass of water and add some salt. Mix carefully.
Spread over half of the rice. Top with half of the fried onions and ghee.
Dissolve remaining yellow powder in 1/4 glass of hot water. Stir in the saffron strands.
Sprinkle yellow mixture over rice/fish mixture.
Spread remaining rice on top and proceed in the same way with remaining ghee, fried onions and yellow mixture.
Cover tightly and simmer till all moisture evaporates and rice is cooked through.
Serve hot with tomato chutney and cucumber and carrot salad.
NOTE: We would like to say a big thank you to the author of the recipe book called "Mauritian Delights", Mrs Lalita Sookhee, who has kindly given us the authorisation to copy some of the recipes that are in her book. If you wish to buy the "Mauritian Delights" recipe book which contains over 300 absolutely delicious mauritian recipes, please contact Mrs Lalita Sookee at Lsookhee@usa.net or Connect@netcourrier.com. Her address is as follows: 1 Farquhar Street, Quatre-Bornes, Mauritius. Telephone number: 230-425-3803 or 230-750-1860. Fax number: 230-425-3803.