This is the masala I used. Dalpuri recommended it for an achari curry. I think it's a great product. Also delicious in a biryani. Just need to go easy with additional chilli in recipes though, as the main ingredient is red chilli.
Some more blurb/pics of the achari biryani for anyone interested.
I basically halved everything for Chef Zakir's recipe. For the onions I used some service onions (chopped onions and green pepper) I had already. Plenty of oil here, but this is sieved off later. This is how the current chef at my local TA starts off a wok biryani. He "borrows" the oil from the deep-fat fryer. Doesn't brown the onions as much as I have done here though.
After draining the onions I "started" the dish again, with just under 1 cs of sunflower oil. Essentially just like doing a curry now. Hot pan style. Make sure the spices are cooked properly (no base gravy). Then add the chicken, etc.
Bung the cold rice in. Max heat. Add kewra water. Stir fry for a minute. Trying to avoid mixing in all the white rice fully (tricky) gives perhaps a more authentic (traditional) finish, a bit like the more elaborate layered biryanis. This is just quick and tasty. All the biryanis I've seen made in TAs seem to just with mix powder and, it you're lucky, a pinch of GM. They are still quite nice I suppose, but this is better, I think, especially with additional whole spices (e.g. green cardamom), which I forgot.
Been making quite a few biryanis lately, cutting down on the mid-week curry feasts. I don't feel these biryanis need the usual small tray of curry/veg sauce, which invariably comes with them from a TA/restaurant. Wouldn't do any harm though. All good fun.
Rob
Topic: Chicken achari biriyani (Read 27299 times)
