
Chicken Biryani an elaborate, authentic Indian entrée. There are many more regional variations of this dish but the basics always remain the same which is, by cooking Basmati Rice with succulent chunks of meat marinated with an array of spices. The list of spices may look daunting, but there is nothing to be scared about. It’s better to be planning ahead and then go through each stage (Chicken, Rice, Layering) methodically, and the Chicken Biryani will come together easily.
I make Chicken Biryani, Prawn Biryani, Lamb/Mutton Biryani almost every weekend. Its one pot dish.
I can guarantee that, as soon as you bring this star dish to the table, your friends will be in awe of what you’ve made – and want more!
Here is my take on this world famous Chicken Biryani dish. Over the years with lots trial and error, I zeroed down on a recipe that works out the best for me. It happened with a lot of updates, modifications and alterations to come down to this basic Chicken Biryani recipe. This one belongs to me and it has been serving well to my friends and families for quite some time now. It’s not a traditional Dum Biryani nor did I add potatoes in it to give it a Sindhi/Bengali/Odia touch (though, I don’t mind potatoes in my biryani and many a times I have cooked with potatoes as well), it’s the collection of ideas from here and there and then blended it all together to make it MY CHICKEN BIRYANI.
If you follow this recipe exactly how it’s been set out, you will be anything but disappointed.
INGREDIENTS:
For Chicken
- 1 lbs chicken cut into medium sized pieces. You can use boneless chicken but I prefer chicken with bone.
- ½ bunch coriander leaves, roughly chopped
- 1 bunch mint, roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp garam masala (see below the ingredients for making garam masala)
- 1 tbsp ginger paste
- 1 tbsp garlic paste
- 2 big onions finely chopped
- 2/3 green chili (adjust as per your taste)
- 2 tsp red chili powder (adjust as per your taste)
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 cup yogurt
- Salt to taste
For Rice
- 2 and half cups of basmati rice
- Salt to taste
- 2 tbsp butter or ghee
For Layering
- 1/4 cup fried onions
- ½ bunch coriander leaves, roughly chopped
- ½ bunch mint, roughly chopped
- 1 pinch saffron, dissolved in 2 tbsp warm milk
- Handful of cashews
- 1 tsp Rose water
Garam Masala
- Dry roast the following ingredients and then grind it to a fine powder. Alternatively, you can buy garam masala from Indian Store.
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 cloves
- 2 green cardamoms
- 1 black cardamom
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 star anise
- Few pepper corns
METHOD:
- Soak the Basmati rice for 30 minutes. Then drain it and let it to be dry.
- Heat oil in a pan and cook onion in it till it becomes golden brown in color. (I usually add the chili powder and salt while frying the onion to get a good color)
- Add garam masala, ginger & garlic paste, green chilies, red chili powder, turmeric powder, Coriander powder, jeera powder and salt.
- Fry it well until the raw taste of ginger and garlic is gone and everything is well blended.
- Then add meat, yogurt, mint and coriander leaves and cook on medium heat until the meat is tender and the water has evaporated.
- In a separate deep bottomed pan heat two tablespoon of ghee or butter. Add some bay leaves, cinnamon sticks and black cardamom and fry the soaked and well drained rice for 5 minutes or so.
- Add 2 cups of water to 2 and half cups of rice to cook the rice. Lower the heat and cover the pan as soon as the water starts to boil until the rice is cooked. The texture of the rice will be fluffy and each strand of rice will separate from one another. DO NOT OVERCOOK the rice.
Layering:
- Grease the bottom of a heavy pot with a little ghee. Layer the chicken with the rice in alternate layers. Sprinkle the food color (optional), fried onions, chopped mint and coriander leaves on top of the last layer. On the very top sprinkle some more ghee, cashew nuts and little bit of rose water (again, rose water is optional).
- Close the lid tightly making sure no steam passes out of the pot and cook on low heat for 30 to 45 mins. I usually keep the pot in the oven at 250F for 30 to 45 minutes.
- Gently mix it before serving.
PIN for Later:
love the photos, the food arrangement.., it looks amazing and delicious
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This looks delicious! I love that you made adjustments to traditional recipes to make this one all your own!
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Do you make your own rose water, or is this something that can be purchased at a typical grocery store? I have never looked for it…
This dish looks delicious!
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Ooooh I’ve come to love a good biryani more and more recently and I love the way you did yours here! That definitely looks like a recipe that would bring the whole family around the table (without cell phone distractions too)! Great post!!
Danielle | http://www.FollowMyGut.com ❤
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Wow! This looks absolutely delicious! What would you suggest to go along with it?
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Love this…and I have some garam masala in my pantry too but haven’t used it yet! Can’t wait to try 🙂 You should come up with a handy dandy spice guide and what goes with those spices because I have no clue!
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I love biryani– and these photos are beautiful!
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I love all your recipes. I cant wait to try this one out as well. All your images are so delicious, I want to eat my computer!
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This is a dish that I have never tried making, all tho I am experimenting with Indian food more then ever. Thanks for the recipe.
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Everyone I know seems to have a personal take on how they cook biryani and no matter which way you cook it, biryani is always finger licking good! Thanks for sharing yours, the photos sure look good.
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Although I’m have Indian, I have to admit that I never tried chicken Biryani. Your dish looks delicious so I might give it a go.
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Gosh, this is one seriously tasty looking recipe. Come and cook for me please? 🙂
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I’m not a much fan of Indian food, but this looks really delicious and I think I would love this. It’s always good to try something new & different they say.
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This biryani looks amazing! This is one of my favorite dishes of all time!
Abby of Life in the Fash Lane
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All those spices sound so fragrant and delicious!
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This looks divine! Have you thought about doing an e-cookbook? You really should!
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October cooking challenge found! I even have all the ingredients in my pantry, so hee I come Biryani!
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Chicken biryani can be time consuming, but so worth it! I made it some time ago for the blog so I know what I’m talking about 🙂
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This looks absolutely delicious! Love all of the spices and the cashews. I’m pinning this to make it this weekend!
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This looks delicious! Perfect for a nice dinner with family.
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This looks simply delicious! So colorful! I love the list of spices!
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This looks so delicious. I wish we could smell it cooking!
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I love a good chicken biriyani and this recipe looks like a great one with all the lovely spices!
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This looks so amazing! I need to try it out.
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Oh yummy I love dishes that are full of flavour. I’m sure this would be a hit with my whole family.
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I really want to try this recipe. It looks so good and has such exciting flavors and textures!
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That looks really good. I am always looking for new dishes to make for dinners. I am going to try this out for sure. Thanks for the receipe.
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That looks amazing, thanks for sharing x
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Lovely to know an Indian dish! This will really be a star on any table!
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I have always wanted to learn how to make this!! One of my favorite Indian dishes!
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This looks so, so flavorful and fragrant! Also, your food photography is stunning 🙂
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Sounds like a yummy recipe! I would love to give it a try. Glad you share this
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I love chicken so I would love to try it!
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Ooh! Yum I love biriyani, especially when it is an authentic home cooked recipe like this one!
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Your Biryani looks incredibly delicious. Thanks for sharing the recipe with us!
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This dish looks really lovely and I’m sure it smells amazing as well with all the spices, you can’t go wrong with this one! It’s packed with flavor!
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This looks so good! I have never heard of this dish but I now really want to try it.
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Oh this just looks so mouthwatering. I don’t eat meat so I would discount the chicken for sure, but cant wait to try this.
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Reblogged this on mamabatesmotel.
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