Chana Biriyani Recipe
Chana biryani is a flavorful and aromatic Dum-cooked biryani layered with white chickpeas, basmati rice, coconut milk, onions, tomatoes, and a blend of herbs and spices.
Ingredients
- 1 cup Dried Chickpeas (White Kabuli chana)
- 4 medium Onion (chopped)
- 1.5 tbsp Crushed ginger & garlic
- 4 crushed green chilli
- 2 medium Tomato (chopped)
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
- 1/2 tsp Coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp Garam masala
- 1/2 tsp Pepper powder
- 2 tbsp Grated Coconut
- 1 tbsp Chopped coriander & mint leaves (each)
- a pinch Fennel seeds
- 6-8 Cashew nut (soaked in hot water for 10-15 mins)
- 1 3/4 cups Basmati rice
- 1 tsp Ghee
- 1 tbsp Lemon juice
- 1/4 cup Chopped coriander leaves (packed)
- 2 tbsp Chopped mint leaves
- Salt
- Oil (I used coconut oil)
Instructions
- Soak dried chickpeas overnight. Drain the water and rinse the chickpeas 3-4 times. Pressure cook chickpeas with 2.5 cups water and salt. I cook it for 6-7 whistles on high flame. Keep the cooker closed till pressure drops naturally, around 15 mins. Open the cooker and drain the cooked chickpeas.
- Rinse the Basmati Rice a few times and soak for 20-25 mins. Drain the rice and keep it aside.
- Grind together coconut, chopped coriander and mint leaves (1 tbsp each), cashew nuts (discard the soaking water) and fennel seeds with 3 tbsp water to a smooth paste.
- Heat oil in a deep and wide non stick pan. Add chopped onions and cook till it begins to brown. Add crushed ginger, garlic and green chilli. Mix well and cook for 4-5 mins, till the raw smell goes. Add chopped tomatoes and cook till it becomes soft. Add turmeric, coriander, garam masala and pepper powder. Cook for 2-3 mins. Add cooked chana and mix well.
- Add 1/4 cup of hot water to bring everything together. Add ground coconut paste and mix well. Cover and cook for 4-5 mins. Add drained rice and gently mix. Add 3 cups of water, lemon juice, salt, 1 tsp ghee (refer notes) and bring it to boil. Reduce the heat to lowest and add chopped coriander leaves (1/4 cup) and mint leaves (2 tbsp). Cover and cook on lowest flame till the rice is done, around 8-10 mins. Once the rice is cooked, gently fluff it with a fork.
- Serve with Raita, Papad and Pickle
Notes
- For cooking rice, you can add 3 cups of water initially for 1 3/4 cups of rice. Check after 7-8 mins and if you notice that more water is required add 1/4 – 1/2 cup of boiling water. Cover and cook till the water are dried completely and rice is cooked.
- You can also use 2 cups of rice instead of 1 3/4 cups, in that case start cooking rice with 3.5 cups of water.
- You can cook the chana masala in ghee instead of oil, for a richer version or you can increase the qty of ghee from 1 tsp to 1/2 tbsp or so.
- You can store the left over in fridge for 2-3 days.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!