Kerala style Pressure Cooker Chicken Biriyani

Initial Preparation:

1. Clean and wash the chicken pieces. Drain the water completely.
2. Take the chicken and the ingredients mentioned in 'For Marination' in a large bowl.
3. Mix well and refrigerate overnight for best results or at-least 2 hours.
4. Wash the Basmati rice thoroughly and soak for 45 minutes. Then drain to a colander. Set aside.
5. Grind together the ingredients mentioned in 'For Ginger-Garlic-Green Chilli Paste' and make a fine paste. Set aside.

Frying Chicken & Garnishing Items:

1. Heat 4-5 tablespoons of oil in a pan, add in the cashew nuts and fry until slightly golden in color on low-medium heat.
2. Then add in the raisins and fry until the raisins are puffed up and the cashew nuts are golden in color on low heat. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
3. Then add in the 50 gms of thinly sliced onion and fry until golden in color on medium heat. Transfer to a kitchen paper towel. Set aside.
4. Now add in the marinated chicken pieces and shallow fry the chicken pieces. Transfer to a plate and set aside. This step is completely optional. But highly recommended.
5. NOTE: If you are not frying the chicken pieces, you can fry the cashew-nuts, raisins and onion in the pressure cooker itself. Do it before the step 2 of 'Biriyani Preparation'.

Biriyani Preparation:

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of ghee and 2 tablespoons of oil in a '5 LITRE' pressure cooker. You can use the same oil, which you used to fry the chicken pieces.
2. Add in the whole spices mentioned and saute for a minute on low-medium heat.
3. Now add in the sliced onion and saute until the onion turns light brown.
4. Then add in the prepared 'Ginger-Garlic-Green Chilli Paste' and saute until the raw smell disappears on medium heat.
5. Now add in the turmeric powder, coriander powder, red chilli powder, garam masala powder and saute until the raw smell goes, for about 1-2 minutes on low-medium heat.
6. Add in the chopped tomatoes and saute until the tomatoes are finely mushy.
7. Now add in the fried chicken and mix well. OR, Add in the marinated chicken pieces, if you had not fried the chicken.
8. Add in the chopped coriander leaves, mint leaves and mix well. Cover and cook for 10-15 minutes on low-medium heat. Stir occasionally.
9. Then remove the lid and cook until the gravy is nicely thick.
10. Now add in the soaked basmati rice, 3 ½ cup water, lemon juice, salt and gently mix everything together. Salt should be little higher than the normal.

PLEASE FOLLOW THE NEXT STEPS AS DESCRIBED:

11. Close the pressure cooker and don't put the weight. Cook on MEDIUM heat until you see the pressure releases through the nozzle.
12. Once you start seeing the pressure releasing through the nozzle, LOWER THE HEAT.
13. Put on the weight and cook until first whistle or 7-8 minutes on LOW-MEDIUM heat.
14. Remove from heat, wait for 30 minutes or until the pressure releases naturally.
15. Then open the cooker, you can see all the liquid is absorbed well and the rice is cooked through.
16. Gently fluff the rice from the bottom of the pressure cooker using a fork. If you see any water content at the bottom, cover the cooker and pressure cook again for 2-3 minutes on low heat.
17. Then transfer the biriyani into a wide dish and spread the biriyani slightly. Set aside for 5-6 minutes.
18. Garnish with fried onions, cashew nuts, raisins , chopped coriander and mint leaves.
19. Serve warm with raita, papad, and pickle on side.