Yakhni Pulao: Make this Kashmiri delicacy at home in just 5 simple steps

Pulao is a one-pot rice dish that is made with basmati rice and fragrant spices. It is best for occasions when one wants a one-dish meal that can be prepared within minutes. Yakhni Pulao is a famous Kashmiri dish that is made with rice, chicken and aromatic spices. The word “Yakhni” means stock or broth. 

To prepare this dish, the rice is cooked in the broth, which is usually chicken along with vegetables and spices. So if you want to try this authentic Kashmiri delicacy at home, then follow this easy recipe to make scrumptious Yakhni Pulao at home in just 5 simple steps. 

Step 1

Pour 3 cups of water into a pot and add 500 gram of chicken, roughly chopped into cubes. Add a pinch of salt and let the chicken cook. Take a muslin cloth and wrap some chopped onion, garlic cloves, bay leaf, mace, nutmeg, ginger, black cardamom, peppercorns, cloves, coriander seeds and cinnamon stick. This is known as bouquet garni. Put this in the pot of water. 

Step 2

Once the chicken is cooked, remove the bouquet garni and take the chicken pieces out. Keep the chicken stock aside, this is the Yakhni in which rice will be cooked. 

Step 3

Heat some oil in a pan and add 1 tbsp cumin seeds, chopped onions and 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste to it. Add finely chopped tomatoes, coriander powder, red chilli powder, garam masala and salt to taste.

Step 4

Add ½ cup curd, 2 tbsp fennel seeds and 2 green cardamom pods to the pan. Cook till the tomatoes become soft. Now add the boiled chicken to it and cook for 2 minutes on medium heat.

Step 5

Add 2 cups of soaked rice and the prepared mixture to the yakhni and let it cook for 5-7 minutes. Top with some fried onions and a tbsp of clarified butter and seal the pan with foil to let the rice cook and absorb the flavours. Cook for 15 minutes on low heat and serve hot.

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