Thai Beriani

Ingredients A

365gm chicken pieces
32gm ginger
29gm (4nips) garlic
20gm fresh turmeric roots (cut 2 to 3 inches from the bottom)
2 tbsp fresh yoghurt
18gm chicken curry powder (I used Faiza Chicken Curry Powder)
2gm turmeric powder

Ingredients B
506gm basmati rice
50-52gm cherry tomatoes (can use normal tomatoes also)
70gm onion, chopped
1 small rock sugar
1 anchovy cube
1 large bay leaf
3 cardamom
2' cinnamon stick
20gm shallot crisp
4 1/2 cups of chicken stock
salt to taste

Garnishing
1 tbsp shallot crisp
3 tbsp of chopped coriander and mint leaves

Wash the rice and soak it for 20 mins. Drain in a colander. Keep aside. 
Pound ginger, garlic, turmeric roots until fine with some salt. Then in a bowl, mix the pounded ingredients with chicken curry powder, yoghurt, salt, and turmeric powder.  Marinate the chicken pieces in the batter for about 2 hours. 
Shallow fry the chicken pieces until well done. Dish out. In the same oil, add more if needed, throw in the dried spices (bay leaf, cinnamon stick) and once aromatic, saute the onions until brownish.add in chopped tomatoes and cook further until tomatoes turn mushy. 
Then mix in the washed rice into the spice mixture. Saute until the spices are well coated with the rice. Then slowly pour in the chicken stock. Crumble the chicken cube, rock sugar (rock sugar will help to make the rice not sticky) and add salt to taste and stir the rice with the stock. Place the chicken all around the rice. Sprinkle with some shallot crisp. Cover with a banana leaf and close with a lid. Leave to cook until the water evaporates. Then garnish with chopped coriander and mint leaves. Sprinkle more shallot crisp.  Stir with a fork before serving. 

The dish goes well with cucumber raita, dalca or vegetable curry or with some onion sambal. 

Adapted from Marion Gasby