What is chicken biryani?
Let us cook chicken biryani! It is a South Asian dish, mostly associated with India and Pakistan. Quite a lot would say it is an Indian dish; however, the origin of biryani is uncertain. “Biryani” is an Urdu word derived from the Persian language used as an official language in different parts of medieval India. One theory is that it [biryani] originates from “birinj”, the Persian word for rice. Another theory is that it derives from “biryan” or “beriyan” (to fry or roast). – Wikipedia.
Chicken biryani is a flavorful meat-and-rice dish made from spiced chicken, fried onions, cilantro, and lightly seasoned basmati rice. The pot is covered, and the rice and chicken are cooked over low to medium heat for about 25 minutes, allowing the rice to absorb all the flavors from the curry while maintaining a light texture. Cooking chicken biryani is a labor of love, and the deliciousness you get in return makes it worth the effort. When you lift the lid after cooking, you are greeted with an amazing sight that will make your mouth water! But that moment pales in comparison to when you dig deep into the pot and get a whiff of all those delicious aromas from the curry buried deep under the rice.
I have tasted biryani many times over from its various versions and from different renditions in different restaurants, friends’ houses, you name it! Gosh, I so love biryani, I am shameless. Understandably so, I now cook them in my kitchen. I also have created for you the downloadable book, or a flipbook of 12 biryani recipes from Feastful Fork (previously My Mothers’ Kitchens).
I am sharing with you in this post my main chicken biryani recipe.
Ingredients and spices for chicken biryani
From just the mention of the word biryani, my brain produces images of five sets of ingredients. They are the meat (chicken for this recipe), grain rice, marinate, spices, and garnishing. A good fresh whole chicken that weighs no less than a kilo is basic for me. This will serve 4-5 people.
To start with, we will cook basmati rice or any other long-grained rice, with cloves, cardamom pods, cinnamon bark, and bay leaves.
For the more interesting part – the spices. I love the smell of these spices on their own. When mixed to flavor this biryani dish, their mixture creates wonders. The mere thought of it inspires me to stay in the kitchen although I know that I would get the smell of spices onto my apron, my shirt, and everywhere.
- fresh green chili pepper or chili powder
- ground coriander
- ground cumin
- ground turmeric
- black pepper (optional)
Other ingredients, including garnishing
- yogurt
- vinegar
- sliced onions
- cinnamon sticks
- cardamom pods
- chicken stock or water
- frozen peas (optional)
- currants (optional)
- tomatoes
- pinch of salt
- slivered almonds (toasted)
- fresh cilantro leaves
Garam masala for biryani
Most biryanis call for garam masala as its main spice; in such cases, it refers to the same mixture of the spices above – either in their natural form or powder form – pre-prepared for easier use. I sometimes use garam masala in my biryani dishes as it is easier to deal with. However, the biryani version I am posting here is close to making the dish from scratch.
How to cook chicken biryani
There are two ways to cook biryani. Look up my explanation in this post. However, basically, they are 1) cooking the rice and meat separately and 2) cooking rice and meat together. We are doing the former in this recipe. Below are the major steps in cooking this chicken biryani:
- Mix chicken spices with pre-cut chicken. I usually make 10 cuts from a whole chicken. Refrigerate for at least one hour – overnight is best.
- Wash rice, cover with water, and let stand for 20-30 minutes. Boil with its spices until half done and then drain.
- Cook chicken with the rest of the spices.
- Add rice and mix.
- Cover and cook further for at least 25 minutes over low heat.
- Garnish and serve.
How to boil rice for biryani
Boiling rice for biryani is an important step in the preparation of this delicious dish. To ensure that your biryani turns out perfectly, it is essential to get the rice right. Here are the steps and a few tips on how to boil rice for biryani.
- Start by washing the rice thoroughly in cold water until the water runs clear. This will help remove any dirt or impurities from the rice.
- Once the rice is washed, place it in a pot and add enough water to cover it by about an inch. Add cardamom pods, bay leaf, cloves and cinnamon bark. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook further until the rice is half done. To test: when pinched between your fingers, the rice should feel like it needed a couple more minutes to be fully cooked. This is perfect.
- Drain the rice in a colander to remove excess water and set aside.
How to fry onions for biryani
Slice the onions into thin uniform slices. Thin cuts of onions cook faster and become crispier faster. The uniform cut ensures that the onions cook at the same time. Cover the sliced onions with milk for about 10 minutes then drain. Heat oil (enough to cover the sliced onions) in a pan over medium-high heat and add the sliced onions to the pan. Fry until they are golden brown, stirring occasionally to prevent them from burning. Drain on paper towels.
Storing leftover biryani
Leftover biryani can be stored in a container with a tight-fitting lid in the fridge and consumed within 4-5 days. You can place the same container in the freezer and the dish can last up to a month.
There are two ways to reheat leftover biryani:
- on the stove on low-medium fire for about 15 minutes, stir once, and leave for another 15 minutes.
- in the oven at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for about 25 minutes.
Cooking tips
- Check the list of spices in the garam masala you are buying, if you were to use this option. They come in regular and hot mixtures.
- To achieve fluffy rice, cook it halfway, and drain. Do not wait until the rice is cooked before draining as it could become wet and too soft for the dish.
- The absorption of spices in this recipe mostly comes from the length of marinating time. Also, depending on the chicken pieces. Smaller pieces tend to absorb more of the spices. Chicken thighs also seem to absorb more flavor.
- Adding whole peeled potatoes and boiled eggs is a good option.
- Use a flat griddle under the cooking pot, rather than direct heat, to avoid burning the bottom of the dish. This is best if your lowest heat is not dependable, i.e., you are not sure if it is low enough, it could be just medium heat – I had this experience numerous times if I were using a stove away from home. Yes, I had burned biryani numerous times. It is almost always perfect when done at home as I am familiar with our stove.
- As you cook this dish repeatedly, you may decide on your cooking time to achieve uniformity.
- If you want to achieve some variation in the color of the rice, you can add a pinch of food coloring at the end of the cooking. I use yellow, orange and red. Just sprinkle them over the cooked biryani. They’d be beautiful at serving time.
- You can serve the dish with lemon wedges for an additional ting, and quartered yellow onions.
Enjoy this recipe, it is one of my family’s favorites!
Magida
Super Easy Delish – Let’s Cook Chicken Biryani
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Category: Main dish
- Method: cooking
- Cuisine: Indian
Description
This fragrant, spiced rice dish with tender chicken is ideal for a delicious homemade meal. This is also a presentable dish during special occasions.
Ingredients
1 kg chicken (cut up)
2 small fresh green chilies (finely chopped)
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground turmeric
2 tbsp white vinegar
1/3 cup yogurt 1-1/2 tbsp salt (I omit salt whenever I cook this biryani)
2 cups basmati rice
2 tbsp ghee
2 large onions (sliced)
2 cinnamon sticks 4 cardamom pods
6 pieces of cloves
¼ cup chicken stock or water
2 tomatoes as ganishing
1/2 cup slivered almonds (toasted) as garnishing
fresh coriander leaves as garnishing
Instructions
- Combine chicken, chilies, ground spices, vinegar and yogurt in a medium bowl. (Do not add salt here yet if you are using salt). Cover, refrigerate for at least 1 hour; overnight is best.
- Remove the sliced chilies and discard if you prefer your biryani lighter than hot.
- Place rice, cinnamon sticks, cloves and cardamom pods in medium bowl, cover with water. Cook until half done and then drain well. Set aside.
- Heat ghee in a large pan, cook onions while stirring, until lightly browned.
- Add the spiced chicken mixture, chicken stock and salt (if using). Let this mixture reach a soft boil, then lower the heat. Simmer covered until chicken is tender.
- Layer rice and chicken in a medium pot (the same pot you used to cook the chicken is okay). Cover and cook further for another 15-25 minutes.
- Just before serving, garnish with toasted slivered almonds, sliced tomatoes, coriander leaves. You can add fried onions as garnishing as well.
