Kabuli Channa Kofta Biryani is a Biryani made with koftas made with chickpeas. The rice is layered with deep-fried crunchy koftas, gravy and mint leaves and cooked on dum.

For this week I have chosen the Theme Make some Elaborate Biryanis or Simple Pulaos. Obviously, you all know that I love Biryani’s and so I shall be posting three elaborate Biryanis this week. Don’t miss them. The first one is the Kabuli Chana Kofta Biryani.

For this Biryani we need to cook rice 80%, check How to cook perfect Basmati rice for a Biryani. Once the rice is cooked, add some dissolved saffron to the rice and keep aside.

The next step is to make the koftas and the gravy. Chickpeas are soaked overnight and then blended with herbs and spices to get a flavourful batter. Mini dumplings are made from this batter and deep-fried to a golden. These koftas are then dunked into a tomato gravy.

Like every Biryani we now have to layer the Biryani with rice and kofta curry. In between do add mint leaves they lend a special flavour to the Biryani. Once the Biryani is layered we still have to cook, and the best way to do that is to place the layered Biryani pot over a griddle so that the heat is evenly distributed. The flame has to be minimum and the pot should be covered. Place a heavy object over the pot, This is the Dum method of cooking Biryani. If you wish you can use your oven for this too.

Garnish the Biryani with pomegranate pearls, they give a delicious crunch to the Biryani.

Kabuli Channa Kofta Biryani

Ingredients

For the Koftas

(makes 12 Koftas)
3/4 cup soaked Kabuli chana (white chickpeas)
1/2 cup roughly chopped onions
2 tbsp chopped coriander
1 tsp roughly chopped green chillies
1 tbsp roughly chopped garlic
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
salt to taste
oil for deep-frying

For the Tomato Gravy

2 cups roughly chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onions
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp garlic paste
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala
salt to taste
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp fresh cream

For the Rice

1 cup long grained rice (basmati)
2 bay leaves
2 cloves
1 stick cinnamon
2 big cardamom
2 small cardamom
Few peppercorns
salt to taste

Other Ingredients

2 tbsp warm milk
a few saffron strands
1 tbsp chopped mint leaves
1/2 cup green peas , boiled

Method

For the Koftas

Combine all the ingredients in a mixer and blend it to a coarse mixture using 2 tbsp of water.
Heat the oil in a deep pan.
Make lemon sized balls of the batter.
Drop few at a time in the hot oil and fry these koftas till golden.
Drain on absorbent paper and keep aside.

For the Tomato Gravy

Combine the tomatoes and ½ cup of water in a pan.
Cook on a medium flame for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Keep aside to cool.
Blend it in a mixer to a smooth purée and strain it using a strainer. Keep aside.
Heat the oil in another nonstick pan.
Add the onions and sauté on a medium flame for till golden.
Add the prepared tomato purée, ginger paste, garlic paste.
Now add the turmeric powder, chilli powder, garam masala and salt. Mix well and cook on a medium flame for 2-3minutes, or till the moisture evaporates.
Add the fresh cream, mix well and add some milk to adjust the gravy consistency.
Cook for about 2 minutes. Keep aside.

Rice

Cook the rice with the How to Cook Rice for Biryani method.
After draining the water add the dissolved saffron to the rice. Mix gently.

Assembling the Biryani

Add the koftas to the tomato gravy and mix lightly. Keep aside.
Spread of the rice in a greased pan or a baking dish to form an even layer.
Spread the tomato gravy with the koftas evenly over it.
Spread a few torn mint leaves.
Spread the rice and the gravy all over again.
Finally spread all the rice evenly over it.
Place some koftas on the top.
Sprinkle the boiled peas.
Cover with an aluminium foil and bake it in a pre-heated oven at 200°c (400°f) for 10 minutes.

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