Chicken biryani

Good

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Step 1

To a bowl, add yogurt, ginger garlic paste, salt, garam masala, turmeric, lemon juice & red chili powder.

Step 2

Mix up well and taste the marinade. Add more salt and spice if needed.

Step 3

Make slits on the chicken pieces. Add it to the marinade & mix well. Cover and set aside for 1 hour to overnight.

Step 4

Rinse basmati rice thrice and soak for 30 mins. Drain to a colander after 30 mins.

Step 5

Heat ghee or oil in a pot or pressure cooker.

Step 6

Add whole spices – bay leaf, cardamoms, cloves, cinnamon, star anise, shahi jeera & mace. Skip them if you do not have.

Step 7

When the spices begin to sizzle, add onions & fry them evenly stirring often until uniformly light brown but not burnt.

Step 8

Add chicken & saute until pale for 5 mins on a medium heat.

Step 9

Cover & cook on a low flame until the chicken is soft cooked or tender. Saute to evaporate any excess moisture in the pot.

Step 10

Taste test and add more salt if needed. Add yogurt (curd), half of the chopped mint leaves, slit green chili, red chili powder & garam masala.

Step 11

Mix everything well and layer chicken evenly at the bottom. (check video)

Step 12

Spread drained rice in a layer over the chicken.

Step 13

To a separate pot, pour water. If cooking in a pot use more water.

Step 14

Add salt and mix. Taste the water. It must be slightly salty. Bring this to a rolling boil.

Step 15

Pour 2 cups of this water across the sides of the cooker or pot. Gently pour the rest on top of the rice. (check video)

Step 16

Level the rice if needed. Sprinkle the rest of the mint leaves. Optionally add fried onions & saffron soaked milk if using.

Step 17

If cooking in a pot, cover and cook on a medium flame until the rice in the chicken biryani is cooked completely but not mushy or undercooked. If the rice is still under cooked or hard & there is no water at the bottom, pour ¼ to ½ cup more boiling water depending on the kind of rice used and cook further. When done it has to be fully cooked, yet remain grainy but not mushy.

Step 18

Set the flame to medium high. Cover & place the whistle. Cook until you hear 1 whistle. Move the cooker away from the burner to stop cooking further.

Step 19

Rest until the pressure drops naturally. Fluff up the chicken biryani with a fork.

Step 20

Serve from top to the bottom layer. Each serving gets biryani rice from top and chicken from the bottom layer.

Step 21

Enjoy chicken biryani with raita and sliced veggies, papad and shorba (biryani gravy).

Step 22

Water: The amount of water to use depends on the brand of basmati rice. Not all basmati rice need the same amount of water. So for pot method, start with 3 cups water. Towards the end if the rice is undercooked, pour ¼ to ½ cup boiling water and cook further. You will need to experiment a bit with the right amount here.

Step 23

Tomatoes: An authentic biryani never uses tomatoes, so I have not used in the recipe. It does not add any taste infact alters the flavor. If you still want to use you an follow the second recipe I have posted below.

Step 24

To make biryani masala or garam masala – Powder together very small piece of nutmeg, 5 cardamoms, ½ tsp pepper, 5 cloves, 1 to 2 inch cinnamon, ½ tsp fennel seeds, ½ tsp stone flower.

Step 25

Yogurt or curd: Do not use sour curd. If the curd is slightly sour then skip using lemon juice.

Step 26

Rice: I have used lalquilla basmati rice, old malai. Any other basmati rice may need less or more water. Make sure to use as needed.

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