Neighborhood Eats: Chicken Biryani at Awadh Restaurant

UPPER WEST SIDE (WABC) -- We have a new take on Indian in this week's Neighborhood Eats. It's a restaurant with an ancient style of cooking that you may not have seen before.

"You don't have to go to Jaipuer or Agra to be treated as royalty you can come here," Guarav Anand said.

Anand serves up Indian -- Dum Pukht style, a lavish technique that dates back hundreds of years

"I think they've taken a lot of care and the time...didn't rush it," Anand said.

In fact many of the dishes do take a longer time to make like the lamb shank or the biryaani. The chicken version starts with garlic, chilis and nearly a dozen spices. The full recipe is below.

Guarav has two other restaurants, but he opened Awadh on the Upper West Side because he has a loyal following at Columbia University and one student made opening up here easy.

For more information about Awadh, visit the website at www.awadhnyc.com.

Chicken Biryani

Awadh Restaurant

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 cups Basmati Rice (or any long grain white rice)

6 tbsp Ghee

4 tbsp vegetable Oil

Whole Spices (green cardamom, bay leaves, cloves)- handful, half reserved for rice

16 oz Chicken, boneless thigh and leg pieces

1 tbsp Ginger Garlic paste- 1 TBS

1/2 tsp Nutmeg Powder

1/2 tsp Yellow Chili Powder

1 cup Yogurt, whipped and without lumps

1 tsp Cinnamon Powder

1 tsp Black Cardamom Powder

1 tsp Green Cardamom Powder

1/4 Saffron

2 tbsp Fresh Ginger, peeled and julienned

Fresh Green Chilies, cut thin and long, amount to taste

6 - 8 Mint Leaves

1/4 cup Kewra Water (optional)

Salt- To Taste

Naan bread (or you can make your own)

Method: (preheat oven to 400)

1. Soak the rice in water for about 1 hour.

2. In large pan over medium heat place oil, ghee, spices, ginger and chilis. Sautee briefly.

3. Add yogurt and chicken. Add the kewra water and top with mint leaves. Cover with lid or tinfoil and lower heat to low. Simmer for 1-2 hours

4. In a separate pot, cook the soaked rice separately with the remaining whole spices, salt and kewra water (optional) until the rice is about 75% done

5. Once chicken is cooked. Spoon a portion into ceramic, oven proof bowl. Top with rice. If you are making your own naan, roll out enough to cover the bowl and place on top to seal in the rice and chicken. So no steam escapes. (If you are not making your own naan just cover tightly with lid or tinfoil. )

6. Place the ceramic bowl in oven and cook for about 10 minutes. If covered with naan dough -watch that the dough puffs but doesn't burn. (if using premade naan, you can warm some in the oven while the chicken and rice continues to cook.)

7. Serve hot with a side of raita (yogurt)