Murg Yakhi Pulao

My love for food is evident in my choice of television shows too. Masterchef, Hell’s Kitchen, Cake off, Highway on my plate, Kacha Rasta, Rachel Allen Bake, and so on and so forth. Even my son knows my fondness for these shows and he puts reminders on for them.

One such show that has recently started is “Farah Ki Dawat”. When I saw the promos on television I thought “really!! Is she a cook?” This clearly was more of a advertisement gimmick than a true blue cookery show. But I didn’t realise then that each show calls for a lot of research and if a certain production house is starting a cookery show they must have collected some good recipes. The hostess might be just a face of the show but there can be a lot to learn.

In one such episode she prepared Murg yakhni Pulao. I wasn’t watching the show really. It was just one of those moments when the tv is on and you are doing ten different things. What caught my attention was the fact that she used potatoes in the dish. Now biryani/pulao and potatoes is a very Bengali preparation and my son loves those big chunks of potatoes long with the chicken.

I prepared this dish for my son one day when he was not feeling well. He wanted something light but it had to be chicken. That is when I remembered the show. I didn’t remember the exact recipe but I improvised and kept it very light. The main flavour comes from the chicken stock. This is called the yakhni. There are no strong spices and food colouring. I have just used a little garam masala. Generally the stock is made by boiling the chicken. Yet I feel that doing so makes the chicken a bit dry. What I have done is cut boneless strips from the chicken and used the bones, wings etc for the stock. Do try making the Yakhni Pulao this way.

 

Ingredients

1 chicken ( cut boneless strips and reserve the rest)

For the yakhni

1 onion, quartered

4-5 garlic pods

1 tbsp ginger juliennes

1 bay leaf

1 javitri/mace

2 black cardamoms

2 green cardamoms

2 tbsp whole coriander seeds

2-3 cloves

10 peppercorns

1” cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg powder

1 tbsp salt

For the pulao

1 ½ cups basmati rice, washed and soaked

2 potatoes, quartered

1 tsp cumin seeds

2 onions, sliced fine

2 tomatoes, sliced fine

1 tbsp ginger paste

1 tbsp garlic paste

1 cup curd

1 tbsp garam masala powder

Salt to taste

Wash and soak the rice as you start working on the dish.

Take 4 cups of water in a pan and add the yakhni masalas and the reserved chicken pieces. Boil for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile start with the pulao. Heat some ghee. Add the cumin seeds.

 Add the ginger and garlic paste. Saute. Then add the sliced onions. Cook till the onions brown. 

Add the quartered potatoes and fry on high heat. Lower heat and add the tomatoes and cook till they become mushy. 

Add the garam masala and salt. Now add the curd. Stir for about 5 minutes. 

Add the chicken pieces. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. 

Now add the soaked rice and the yakhni stock. 

Bring to a boil, cover and simmer till all the liquid evaporates and the rice is cooked properly.