Erivum Puliyum: Donne Biriyani(Chicken) | Bengaluru Biriyani (Step by Step Pics)

Donne biriyani is Bengaluru's signature biriyani, served in these leafy pouch/ cups. Donne, the word, literally means a pouch/cup made with areca nut palm leaves and so is the name. Back in history, Bengaluru has been a strategic military hub and so this biriyani dates back to the early military hotels in the city and the Shivaji Military hotel are the famous hotels that serve donne biriyani the best. Those days this biriyani was made with mutton and these eateries were a quintessential part of city life. This biriyani is mildly spiced, unlike the Hyderabadi Chicken Biriyani.

However, this biriyani is made with jeeraga samba rice / kaima rice like in the Dindigul Thalapakketti Biriyani(Tamil Nadu). Though this biriyani is easy to make, but there are two pastes to be prepared in this biriyani. The first paste is an onion, green chillies and whole spices paste. Second one is the green leaves paste which include mint, coriander and fenugreek leaves which imparts a colour and unique flavour. Curd is added in the marination of chicken. I have referred this You tube video for making this biriyani and this biriyani tasted almost similar to the authentic one served in the city. The amount of water added to cook the rice shouldn't be more, else the rice may turn mushy as the rice is cooked with the chicken. Do give this biriyani a try and enjoy !!

Few sides that you can try with biriyani-

Preparation time ~ 25 minutes

Marination time ~ 30 minutes - overnight

Cooking time ~ 40 minutes

Author ~ Julie

Serves ~ 4-5

Ingredients

chicken 750 g

hot red chilli powder 1 tbsp

turmeric powder, a pinch

ginger-garlic paste 1 tbsp

curd/ yogurt 1/2 cup

to grind 1

cinnamon 4-5

cloves 10-12

cardamom 5-6

peppercorns 1/2 tbsp

green chillies 3-4

onion 2 big sliced

to grind 2

mint leaves / pudina, 1/2 handful

coriander leaves/ malli ela, a big bunch

fenugreek leaves/ uluva ela, a small bunch

for making biriyani

jeerakashala/ kaima rice 1/2 kg(500 g)

cinnamon 1' piece

cloves 4-5

cardamom 5-6

mace / jathipatri 1

star anise 1/2

stone flower 1/4 tsp

shah jeera 1/2 tsp

bay leaf 1

kasuri methi (dry fenugreek leaves) 1 tbsp

onion 1/2 sliced

ginger-garlic paste 3 tbsp

turmeric a pinch

*water 3 cups

ghee 3tbsp

oil 1/2 cup

lemon juice 1/2 of 1

salt to taste

boiled eggs 4-5

Method

Wash and clean the chicken pieces, if the pieces are big then make gashes. Add the chilli powder, turmeric powder, ginger-garlic paste, curd and salt to make a paste. Add to the chicken pieces and mix well. Leave the chicken marinated for minimum 30 minutes to overnight. If you are marinating overnight, then refrigerate the chicken pieces and thaw before use.

Wash and soak the jeeraga samba rice for 15-20 minutes.
Heat oil in a pan (2 tbsp), add the cloves, pepper corns, cinnamon, cardamom pods (REFER TO GRIND 1 LIST). Add the sliced onions 3, 4-5 green chillies. Fry the onions till lightly browned. Switch off flame and let it cool. Add this to a blender jar and ground to a smooth paste by adding little water. Remove to a bowl.
To the same pan, add a tbsp of oil and add the mint leaves, coriander leaves and fenugreek leaves(REFER GRIND 2 LIST). Fry lightly for a minute(don't over do as the greens may lose colour). Switch off the flame and add the greens to the same blender jar and make a smooth paste. Add a little water as needed.

Heat oil in a pan and all the ingredients of whole spices for the masala making. Then slide in one sliced onions. When the onions turn translucent, add the ginger-garlic paste. Then add a pinch of turmeric powder, followed by the marinated chicken. Mix this well and add the onion paste. Combine the mixture well, chicken may leave out water. Add water as required, add salt, cover and cook for 5-7 minutes on medium flame.
Then, add the green colour paste. Mix well, check salt. Cook covered for 10 minutes on medium flame. To this, add the lemon juice and add water (3 cups) as the gravy is remaining. Add salt and bring the water to a boil.

When the water starts to boil, add soaked jeeraka shala rice. Mix well and cook covered. To keep the lid tight, either seal the edges or place a weight on top, as I did in the pic. Slow cook for 20 minutes until the water is absorbed and rice gets cooked.

Fluff with a fork and then add ghee(3 tbsp). Switch off flame. Keep covered for another 5 minutes and serve warm with boiled egg, raitha, Lemon Pickle and pappadam.

NOTES

* Adding fresh fenugreek leaves gives a nice green colour and imparts a unique flavour to the biriyani. Omit if you don't like it, but I would say you must try adding. There is also use of dry fenugreek leaves too, unlike other biriyanis.

* Use any neutral oil to make the biriyani. Ghee is added for flavour towards the end of biriyani making.

* I added only 3.5 cups water to cook the rice (2.5 cups). As per the measure of the rice, the water amount should be 5 cups (1:1.5 ratio of rice to water). However, the gravy amount roughly was 1.5 cups, so reduced water as per that. You can also decide the amount of water as per the quantity of gravy.

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