Yakhni Pulao is a Kashmiri recipe made using rice, chicken and a lot of Indian spices that is full of essence and flavours. This rice recipe is a flavourful option to serve as a party recipe and even family dinner. This tempting combination of chicken and rice is best served with mixed veggies raita. People of all age groups will love this pulao. While cooking this pulao make sure that you seal the pot with foil or atta dough properly, else the dish will lose its aromatic fragrance.
You can also try this same recipe with mutton. All you have to do is substitute chicken with mutton and pressure cook the mutton as mutton doesn’t cook quickly like chicken.
Try this flavourful chicken yakhni pulao as explained below…..
Ingredients
- 2 cups Basmati rice, soaked
- ½ medium Onion
- ½ tsp. Peppercorns
- 2 inches Cinnamon stick
- 1/2 tsp. Nutmeg powder
- 6 cloves Garlic
- 1 tsp. Coriander seeds
- 4 pinches Salt
- ½ tsp. Ginger, crushed to paste
- ½ Tomato, medium chopped
- 2 Green cardamoms
- ½ cup yoghurt
- ½ tsp. Red chilli powder
- 500 gms Chicken, chopped into cubes
- 2 Black cardamoms
- ½ tsp. Cloves
- 1 Bay leaf
- ½ tsp. Mace powder
- 2 inches Ginger
- 3 cups Water
- ¼ medium sliced Onion
- ½ tsp. Garlic, crushed to paste
- 1 tsp. Cumin seeds
- ½ tsp. Coriander powder
- 1 tsp. Garam masala powder
- 1 ½ tsp. Fennel seeds
Method
- Take a clean muslin cloth and tie the cubed onion pieces, garlic pods, whole ginger, black cardamom pods, black peppercorns, coriander seeds, cloves, cinnamon stick, nutmeg, and mace in it. This is called bouquet garni.
- In a cooking pot, take water, cubed chicken and a teaspoon of salt. Turn on the flame. Add to it, the bouquet garni and boil for around 20 minutes or until chicken gets done.
- Remove the bouquet garni and keep the stock with chicken pieces aside. The ‘yakhni’ is ready.
- In a pan, heat oil and fry onions. Take 1/4 of it and keep aside.
- In the remaining onions, add cumin seeds, ginger garlic paste, tomatoes, salt, red chilli powder, coriander powder and stir fry for 3 minutes.
- Add yogurt, garam masala and green cardamom. Cook on a medium high heat till the tomatoes get tender.
- Add fennel seeds and chicken pieces to the masala and let it simmer for another 2 minutes.
- Add this masala to the prepared yakhni (stock) in the cooking pot, turn on the heat and cook the rice uncovered for 5 minutes or till water dries up.
- Sprinkle fried onions on the rice, add a tbsp of ghee and seal the pot with foil or atta dough so that the flavors do not escape.
- Cook on a low heat for 15 minutes or till the rice is done.
- Enjoy the hot Yakni Pulao with cucumber raita.
