Becoming Biryani

I love this recipe. I love it! It's so good!

I love you; you're so good

Biryani is an Indian rice dish that warriors used to eat before battle. Or at least, someone once told me that warriors used to eat it before battle. There is a large chance this isn't true, but let's continue. Naturally, I made biryani the night before Curtis had a swim test at work.  Swimming in a pool = hand to hand combat, right? Anyway, it only needs one pot which is what really gets me hyped up about it.

A couple of notes:
1. The original recipe calls for white basmati rice, but I sub it out with long-grain brown in the recipe below. This requires extra chicken stock and a full 50 minutes of cooking time. If you'd prefer to use white basmati rice (and I really think you should at least once!) you'll need 14 oz of chicken broth and only need to cook for about 15 minutes, or rice is tender. 
2. You could easily make this vegetarian - leave out the chicken, and sub vegetable broth for chicken broth. Booya!

Let's become biryani

You'll need:
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast cut into 1 inch pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced. Removing the seeds removes most of the spice, so leave the seeds in if you're feeling adventurous!
1 inch piece of fresh minced ginger 
3 cloves chopped garlic
1 1/2 t garam masala (this is a ground mix of a bunch of other spices - definitely don't skip this!)
1 tsp cumin
salt to taste
2 plum tomatoes, chopped 
1/3 c raisins (golden or regular)
2 c chicken broth
1/4 c chopped fresh cilantro
1 c uncooked brown rice (I used long grain - you can use any kind you want. Just follow the recommended liquid to grain ratio and cooking time!)
1/4 c sliced or chopped almonds
Lime wedges

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil over medium high heat. Add chicken and saute 3 minutes before adding onion and jalapeno. After three more minutes add the ginger, garlic, and spices. Let cook through a few more minutes then add in tomatoes, rice, raisins and broth.

It gets better, I swear

Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat. Simmer for about 50 minutes (if using brown rice) and stir occasionally to make sure the rice isn't sticking to the bottom of the pan. At the end sprinkle on the cilantro, layer on the almonds, and serve with lime wedges. Make this prior to battle! Or swim tests!

Successfully became biryani!