Raju gari kodi pulao/ Andhra style chicken pulao

Introduction:

Raju gari kodi pulao literally means King's chicken pulao in telugu.This is a famous restaurant style chicken pulao from Andhra Pradesh, India. I have not tasted this dish from its birth place but, I have tried to cook 3 to 4 versions of this pulao...Among those trials this recipe suited my taste...so I have stuck to this recipe and I have been cooking this ever since..This recipe is from sailusfood blog...

	Cuisine: South-Indian
	Recipe category: Chicken, non-veg, rice
	Prep time: 20 min
	Cooking time: 30 min
	Marinating time: 1 hour
	Serves: 6
Ingredients:
Basmati rice	2 cups washed & soaked in water for 1/2 hour
Oil	3 tbsp
Ghee	3 tbsp
Cinnamon	4 small pieces
Black cardamom	1
Green cardamom	2
Cloves	2
Shah jeera/black cumin seeds	1/2 tsp
Mace/Jathipathri	1 small strand
Bay leaf	2
Few curry leaves
Small Onions/ shallots	25 peeled
Green chillies	2 slit
Green chillies	2 crushed
Ginger garlic paste	1 tbsp
Tomato (medium)	1 chopped (optional)
Handful of chopped coriander leaves
Handful of chopped mint leaves
Garam masala powder	1 tsp
Milk	1 cup
Water	2 and 1/2 cups
Salt	1 and 1/2 tsp
For marinating:
Chicken	500 Gms
Onion (Medium)	1 sliced
Curd/yogurt	1/4 cup
Salt	1/4 tsp
Garam masala	1/4 tsp
Lime juice	1/2 tbsp (optional)
Green chillies	3 slit
Garnish:
Cashew nuts	10 broken into half
Chopped coriander and mint leaves

Method:

1. Wash and soak Basmati rice in water for ½ an hour
2. Heat 3 tbsp oil and 2 tbsp ghee in a cooker pan. When hot add cashew nuts and fry until golden.
3. Drain off and keep it aside. In the same pan add sliced onion and fry until golden brown. Drain off and leave it to cool
4. When completely cooled add the fried onion to a blender jar .To it add curd/yogurt and grind it to a smooth paste
5. Add this ground paste to the chicken pieces. Add salt-1/4 tsp, Garam masala powder-1/4 tsp, Lime juice-1/2 tbsp and slit green chillies.
6. Mix everything together and allow it to marinate for at least one hour
7. In the same cooker pan add cinnamon, black cardamom, green cardamom, cloves, shah jeera, mace and bay leaf
8. When shah jeera seeds begin to splutter add small onions/shallots and curry leaves. Fry until golden brown. Add slit green chillies, crushed green chillies and ginger garlic paste. Fry until there’s no raw smell. Add chopped tomato, chopped coriander and chopped mint leaves (fry 1 min)
9. Now add the marinated chicken pieces and sauté for 2 min (high flame)
10. Pour milk and water .When it begins to boil add washed and soaked Basmati rice and allow it to cook. Stir occasionally
11. When water is almost absorbed close cooker and allow it to cook for 5 min (low flame)
12. Open cooker after steam is released and fluff the rice
13. Garnish with fried cashew nuts, chopped coriander and mint leaves
14. Serve with onion raitha and chicken curry or gravy

Notes:

• This pulao is usually made with country chicken...if available use country chicken
• Marinate chicken over night if possible as it adds more flavour to the chicken and makes it more tender, juicy and tasty (the original recipe doesn’t call for marinating chicken)
• Use basmati rice or seeraga samba rice
• For garam masala powder (grind cinnamon-1/2 inch stick, cloves-2, cardamom-1, a pinch of shah jeera)or use any garam masala powder that you have at home