Pressure cooker or dekchi or handi for chicken korma and biryani
Spatula
Slotted Spoon (Optional)
Serving Plates
Ingredients
To Cook the Potatoes
2pcbig size potatoescut in halves and pricked on the sides
1tspturmeric powder
1inchcinnamon stick
2pccardamom pods
1pcstar anise
salt
water
To Cook the Chicken for the Pressure Cooker Kolkata Style Biryani
1/2cupmustard oil
1inchcinnamon stick
2pccardamom
4pcmedium-sized onions
4tspginger garlic paste
1/3tspturmeric powder
1/2tspchilli powder
2tspbiryani masala
800glarge-sized chicken pieces
1/2cupcurd
2cupwater
salt to taste
1tsprose water
1tspkewra water
3-4dropmeetha atar essence
To Cook the Rice
water
saltenough to make the water taste like sea water
2pc1-inch cinnamon stick
4pccardamom pods
2pcbayleaf
1tspcloves
1pcmace
1pcstar anise
1/2tspshah jeera
1tspmustard oil
1/2pclemon
400glong-grained basmati rice
For the Dum
50gkhowa / condensed milk solids
1.5cupmilk
1tspbiryani masala powder
2tspghee
1tspkewra water
1tsprose water
1pinchsaffron or yellow food color or turmeric powder
Instructions
Preparation (15 minutes)
Finely chop all the onions mentioned in the ingredients
Prepare ginger garlic paste or use store bought
Wash the rice properly and soak it for an hour
Cooking the Potatoes for the Kolkata Style Chicken Biryani (15 minutes)
In a sauce pan or pot, take sufficient water
Add salt to the water
When the water comes to a rolling boil, prick the potatoes on the sides and add to the water
Add salt and taste for saltiness. The water should be salty like seawater before you add the potatoes
Drop in all the spices mentioned under "To Cook the Potatoes"
Allow the potatoes to get 100% cooked. You can test using a toothpick or skewer
Separate the potatoes and discard the rest
Cooking the Chicken
If you are preparing your Kolkata style chicken biryani in a pressure cooker, you can use a pressure cooker for cooking the chicken. If you are not using a pressure cooker, you can use a handi that you will use to give dum
Add mustard oil to the pressure cooker or vessel of your choice
Allow the oil to heat up and then smoke for half a minute
Reduce heat to medium
Add the whole spices like cinnamon and cardamom as mentioned for ingredients "To Cook the Chicken for the Pressure Cooker Kolkata Style Biryani"
Carefully add the onions. Cook till they turn golden brown
Add ginger garlic paste and cook till the raw flavor disappears
Add turmeric powder, chilli powder and chicken pieces and give it a nice stir
To the mix, add curd and stir continuously till the curd blends with the spices and chicken
Drop in the powdered chicken biryani masala. Cook till the chicken is cooked to 95% and the masala/spices start oozing out oil
Add a couple of cups of water and bring to a boil
Check for seasonings and add salt if required
Before completing the curry, add in the kewra water, rose water and meetha atar
Cover the pressure cooker or vessel/handi lightly
Boil and Prepare the Milk for the Pressure Cooker Calcutta Biryani
This step involves ingredients mentioned under "For the Milk"
Take a sauce pan and put it on medium flame
Add milk to it as mentioned in the ingredients
Once the milk comes to a rolling boil, put off the flame
Divide the milk in 1:2 ratio. You will have two sets of milk - one cup and half a cup
To the one cup of milk, add the powdered biryani masala
To the half cup of milk, add the saffron/food color/turmeric powder along with ghee kewra water, rose water and meetha atar
Keep both aside
Cooking the Rice for the Kolkata Chicken Biryani Recipe
Take a big vessel, enough to cook the rice properly and add water to it
Put the flame on high and allow the water to come to a rolling boil. This takes some time and you may cover the pot to accelerate the process. Also try adding some salt
Once the water has come to a rolling boil, add salt to it. Check for seawater like saltiness in the water. If it is less, add more salt to adjust
Add the whole spices mentioned in the ingredients for "To Cook the Rice"
As the water boils, the color will slowly change to yellowish-brown. At this point add in the oil and the juice from half a lemon
Add the rice and allow it to cook till 70% done
For the Dum in Pressure Cooker to Complete Kolkata Style Chicken Biryani
In the pressure cooker (or any vessel you are using to cook the chicken) containing the cooked chicken, add the cup of milk mixed with powdered biryani masala
Give it a slow stir. Add the potatoes and khowa (or condensed milk solids)
From the pot, use a slotted spoon to transfer the rice to the pressure cooker in batches
Add the half cup milk mixed with saffron/food color/turmeric, ghee, and essence
Close the lid and put it on medium flame for 10 minutes
After the 10 minutes, put the flame on low for another 15 minutes
Once done, put off the flame and allow to rest for another 10 minutes
Take off the lid of the pressure cooker (or handi) ensuring that there is no steam inside
Use a serving spoon to carefully mix the biryani and serve hot
Notes
Fry the onions till they are golden brown. Once the chicken is cooked, the onions should have dissolved into the gravy/korma
Once the chicken has finished cooking, ensure that there is enough gravy to cover the chicken pieces
While adding whole spices to the rice, you can use a muslin cloth to tie up all the spices, it makes for easy removal if the guests/family members do not like the bite of whole spices while cooking. Even if you do not have a muslin cloth, you can use a ladle or spatula to take the whole spices out, before you add the rice
Rice gets cooked in minutes, so do not move out of the kitchen. Stay there till the rice is done and you have put it on dum
You can replace food color with a pinch of turmeric powder. While buying food color, ensure that they are of food-grade. Better to invest in natural food colors
Use chandramookhi variety of potato for best flavors in the potato
Remember to prick the potatoes on its sides to enable better absorption of the flavors from the salt and whole spices
The Kolkata style chicken biryani cooked in a pressure cooker or handi is served without any accompaniment. You can however, add raita and burhani to this. Or a chicken chaap
You can replace the khowa (or condensed milk solids) with milk powder