Biryani is a celebration of all that is great about Indian food – the heady aromas, the vibrant colours, the fluffy rice and those addictive curry flavours. Make this Chicken Biryani with your protein of choice – or try a vegetable biryani!
Biryani recipe
One of the most requested recipes is finally here! Another RecipeTin Family effort, it took us seven attempts to get this biryani right.
Seven attempts means seven heated arguments about who would take the leftover biryani because somebody in the RecipeTin family, at any point in time, usually declares themselves to be on a diet to address blog-related weight gain concerns.
And it was worth it. (Belly and all.) Biryani, we can’t get enough of you!
WHAT IS BIRYANI, AND WHY DO I LOVE IT SO MUCH?
Essentially, it’s your favourite chicken curry (or vegetable or other protein of choice) buried under a mound of delicately spiced fluffy rice, all made in one pot. The rice is steamed over a low heat so it absorbs the flavours of the curry bubbling away underneath.
So in a nutshell, it’s every curry loving-carb monsters’ dream come true. It’s got my name written all over it!
ABOUT THIS BIRYANI
You’ll find variations of Biryani all across the Indian subcontinent, from Pakistan to Bangladesh, Afghanistan to India. There are 2 main types – one where the protein and/or vegetables are cooked mixed throughout the rice, and the other version known as Hyderabad-style biryani in India where meat and rice are layered and cook in a sealed pot over fire. The latter is the style of biryani I’m sharing today.
There’s a wonderful Afghani restaurant in my area called Sahar (Newport, Sydney) which serves a Biryani that’s a huge favourite among locals. Hands down, the best ethnic restaurant I know in the upper northern beaches.
HOW TO MAKE BIRYANI
Chicken marinated in a spiced yoghurt is placed in a large pot, then layered with fried onions (cheeky easy sub below!), fresh coriander/cilantro, then par boiled lightly spiced rice.
The crowning glory is to finish it off with a drizzle of saffron infused water to give it the signature patches of bright yellow rice, as well as ghee (or melted butter) for buttery richness.
The pot is then covered and cooked over a low heat for about 25 minutes during which time the rice absorbs the aromas and flavours of the curry underneath, whilst still being beautifully fluffy.
That moment when you lift the lid and are greeted with this sight…
…. that moment is only second to this: when you dig deep into the pot, ensuring you get some of every layer, and the full force of the aroma from the curry buried deep under the rice hits you, and it takes every single bit of will power to gravitate that spoon towards a bowl instead of attempting to shove that entire giant scoop in your mouth….
OK wait. Did you almost lose control too?
I’m almost done. Bear with me – just want to show you a few more things before handing over the recipe!
BIRYANI SPICES
There’s subtle flavourings used for the rice, and a load more used for the curry sauce.
There’s a lengthy list but there’s nothing exotic here, you can find all these spices at everyday supermarkets here in Australia. Some recipes call for Asafoetida which is an Indian spice that requires a trip to an Indian grocer. We tried it with and without, and I swear we could not taste a difference. So we don’t use it. 🙂
CHEEKY SUB FOR FRIED ONION
Thin slices of onion fried until sweet and a bit crispy, this is used as one of the layers in the Biryani as well as a garnish for serving.
If you aren’t a fan of deep frying or are a beginner cook, my cheeky alternative is using store bought fried onion (Asian or Indian stores) or Asian Fried Shallots (pictured below) which are sold at everyday supermarkets. They add the same oniony flavour with the added bonus of extra crunch!
THE ROOTS OF THIS RECIPE
Another recipe ticked off the Recipe Request list, another RecipeTin family effort!!
As always, we love to look to the pros to build a starting point for recipe inspiration. We ate biryani at our favourite specialty restaurants in Sydney, Pakistani chain Student Biryani in Auburn, and the Indian restaurant Paradise Biryani House in North Strathfield.
To learn the techniques, we looked at a few books (love the local library!), dozens of internet pages and Youtube videos from home cooks in India.
Yes the ingredients list is long – but you’ll find everything at the supermarket. And while there are a number of steps to make Biryani, it is actually quite a straightforward recipe. (Video is helpful too!)
And even if yours doesn’t turn out perfect, don’t be put off because even less than perfect biryani is still delicious (we happily scoffed the first few test batches despite the flaws!). – Nagi x
MORE GREAT CURRIES OF THE WORLD!
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Dal (Indian lentil curry)
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Browse the Curry Collection
ON THE SIDE
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Give this Everyday Cabbage Salad an Indian spin by sauteing garlic and cumin seeds in oil before mixing up with other Dressing ingredients
-
No Yeast Easy Soft Flatbread. Perfect to use as naan!
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
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Chicken Biryani
Ingredients
- 750g (1.5 lb) chicken thighs , skin on, bone in, halved along bone (Note 1)
Marinade:
- 2/3 cup (150 ml) yoghurt , plain
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) water
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil (or other plain oil)
- 6 garlic cloves , minced
- 2 tsp finely grated fresh ginger
- 1/8 tsp ground turmeric
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp cayenne (adjust spiciness to taste)
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
- 2 tsp garam marsala (Note 2)
- 2 tsp coriander
- 1 tbsp cumin
- 2 tbsp paprika , sweet / ordinary (not smoked)
- 1 3/4 tsp salt
Par Boiled Rice:
- 2 tbsp salt
- 10 cloves
- 5 dried bay leaves
- 1 star anise
- 6 green cardamon pods
- 2 1/4 cups (450g) uncooked basmati rice (Note 3)
Crispy Onions (Note 4):
- 2 medium onions (yellow, brown) , halved and finely sliced
- 1 cup (250 ml) oil , for frying
Saffron:
- 1 tsp saffron threads (loosely packed) (Note 5)
- 2 tbsp warm water
Biryani:
- 1 cup coriander / cilantro , chopped
- 1/4 cup (60g) ghee or unsalted butter , melted (Note 6)
Garnish:
- Crispy onions (above)
- Chopped coriander / cilantro
- Yoghurt (Note 7)
Instructions
- Mix Marinade in a large pot (about 26cm / 11" diameter). Add chicken and coat well. Marinade 20 minutes to overnight.
Par Boiled Rice:
- Bring 3 litres / 3 quarts water to the boil, add salt and spices.
- Add rice, bring back up to the boil then cook for 4 minutes, or until rice is just cooked still a bit firm in the middle. Rice will taste salty at this stage, disappears in next stage of cooking.
- Drain immediately. Set aside. (Note 10 re: leaving whole spices in)
Crispy Onions:
- Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Cook onion, in batches, for 3 to 4 minutes, until golden brown. Don't burn - they become bitter.
- Remove onto paper towel lined plate. Repeat with remaining onion.
Saffron:
- Place in a bowl, leave for 10 minutes+.
Biryani:
- Place pot with chicken in it onto a stove over medium heat. Cover and cook for 5 minutes.
- Remove lid. Cook for 5 minutes, turning chicken twice.
- Remove from heat.
- Turn chicken so skin side is down - it should cover most of the base of the pot.
- Scatter over half the onion then half the coriander.
- Top with all the rice. Gently pat down and flatten surface.
- Drizzle saffron across rice surface in random pattern, then drizzle over ghee.
- Place lid on. Return to stove over medium heat.
- As soon as you see steam, turn down to low then cook for 25 minutes.
- Remove from stove, rest with lid on for 10 minutes.
To Serve:
- Aim to serve it so you get nice patches of yellow rice, white rice, the curry stained rice + chicken (rather than all mixed up). To do this, use a large spoon and dig deep into the pot, and try to scoop up as much as you can in one scoop.
- Turn out into bowl - or onto platter. Garnish with remaining onion and coriander with yoghurt on the side (see Note 7 for Minted Yoghurt)
Recipe Notes:
* Scaling recipe (click on servings and scale) - must scale pot size up/down
* Salt - yes you really need 2 tbsp salt to par boil the rice. The rice will taste salty at this stage but the salt comes out of the rice during the second stage of cooking. Trust me, you need that much salt in the water!
* Spiciness is mainly from cayenne, a bit from garam masala. So adjust to taste.
* Fresh spices - use fresh spices, not ones that have been sitting around in your pantry for years!
* Whole spices - the whole spices are typically left in the rice. They soften when cooked so to me it's not a big deal, I've never found it off-putting. If you're really concerned, either pick them out just before layering in the pot or wrap the spices in a small muslin or cheesecloth. 11. Storage - Leftovers keep well for 3 to 4 days in the fridge. Reheat in microwave. As rice is not quite as moist with leftovers, best to serve with yoghurt (even plain is fine). Even freezing should be fine, haven't tried it but rice and curry both freeze great so I see no reason why this wouldn't freeze well. Make Ahead - These are the things that can be done ahead: Par Boil the rice up up to 24 hours ahead of using. Marinate the chicken and cook it per recipe up to the point before rice covers it up to 2 days ahead. OR leave the marinated chicken in the freezer for up to 48 hours. Make saffron water and onion. Then on the day of, assemble the biryani layers and cook per recipe!
LIFE OF DOZER
This is how he spent most of today. (And yesterday. And the day before.)
Can i use brown basmati rice with this recipe?
Made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious! Even my 5 and 2 year old sons gobbled it up. Definitely a keeper!
Being Pakistani I love a good biryani, although my mum is an amazing cook, oddly enough she doesn’t make biryani much, Up till now I have totally struggled to make a nice one and followed various recipes. This recipe is AMAZING, I always increase the quantity of the spices but I LOVE this. It works every time and my family and friends think I’m some amazing cook (I’m not!) – thank you for this Nagi – love it x
That’s a winner!
I would like to do this in slow cooker. How long should I cook it for and would there be any other changes in this recipe? Love looking at your recipes and slowly collecting ingredients for various recipes.😊.
Hi Libby, sorry this one isn’t suitable for the slow cooker ❤️
And of course once again 100 out of 10 i just love all your recipes same as my family. 3 year old can’t stop eating this thx so much once again
Wahoo! Great!
Chicken and rice is a classic combination of flavor and taste. You can’t deny it. All glory from chicken juice is passed down to rice; and of course flavor slowly passes down to the rice. At the end the explosion of the flavor is unbelievable. Thanks for sharing.
We made this over the weekend and it was spectacular! Fantastic on the day; just as good as dinner leftovers. Can’t wait for work tomorrow to have thus as lunch leftovers. A wonderful recipe, thank you!
I’m so glad you loved it!!
Hi Nagi,
Just a quick question, Im going to make this recipe for 12 people, do I need to adjust my pot size ?
Hi Lel, yes use a slightly larger pot – N x
The most flavoursome curry iIhave ever cooked. The BEST recipe.
Thanks so much!!
Hi Nagi, I’m cooking this for family this coming weekend but I was just wondering why so much salt is required when cooking the rice?
Thank you!
Hi Nathalie, I talk about this in point 10 of the recipe notes 🙂
Nagi, you’ve done it again. Another favorite recipe!
Wahoo, thanks Heather!!
I just made and ate this and IT WAS WONDERFUL. I only used a pinch of cayenne, and used boneless skinless thighs. At first I thought oh no…too many new spices too get used to at once. But when I layered everything together and started cooking it, oh my….the smell in the kitchen made my soul melt. The flavors were subtle but distinct. This is the ultimate in flavour and comfort food. Fyi, i was able to get all of the spices and herbs at an Asian grocery store. MAKE THIS!
This was the best indian dish I’ve ever cooked at home, and I LOVE indian cuisine. Hands down amazing; the chicken was so full of flavours, the rice so fluffy. Thank you Nagi for this incredible recipe !!
Sounds like you nailed it Manon!
Hi.Nagi!
Report from Japan. I cooked this last night and my family loved it very much. I thought Biryan is the dish you have to go to restaurant to eat. But thanks to your recipe we can eat at home! I will do it again definitely!
I made this today. It was so good that the whole pot was polished all off throughout the day. It was also quite easy to make too.
That’s so great to hear Sally!
Hi Nagi! I am just marinating my chicken over night now!
I only had one hang up: my grocery store doesn’t have fresh coriander for garnish or to lay over simmering chicken with onions… Will the dish still turn out if I skip this step? Do you recommend another substitute in its place?
I’m so excited to try this dish tomorrow! Thanks!
If you’re in the US, coriander is more commonly known as cilantro.
Hi Nagi! Love your website!
Can I use greek yoghurt instead of plain yoghurt in this recipe?
Hi Greta, yes I use Greek yogurt ☺️
I have made this 3 times now and always comes out amazing, my husband loves this dish and the flavours and also enough for leftovers. Thank you
Wahoo!
This dish was easy to prepare, good instructions, super tasty. Rich flavours; we used brown basmati rice and will cut back a little on the salt (heart healthy). We also used boneless chicken thighs.
I’m so glad you loved it Rick!
Just finished dinner, chicken thighs so tasty and tender. I loved this dish and look forward to making more dishes by Nagi,
Thanks so much Kathleen!
Thighs were unbelievably tender and tasty. I didn’t follow the marinade recipe exactly and used less cumin and paprika (by 50%), but added 1 tsp curry power instead. Don’t make the mistake I did by using less salt, use the amount the recipe calls for! The onions can be finicky to make and unfortunately ended up with a bitter taste (over fried) which I believe did impact the taste of the meal. Overall, my sweet husband said he ‘liked’ it, but didn’t ‘love it’. I think I’ll make this recipe again, but will try to source the fried onions from a grocery store or use a friends fryer to make them (this was the most time consuming part of the meal). To increase the veggie content I added a sliced green and red bell pepper on top of the meat layer which was very nice. Feel free to emulate your favorite biryani from your local Indian restaurant and add currants, nuts, or whatever toppings you like!
I’ve made this several times now. It’s always such a hit. I follow your directions exactly and it always turns out perfect.
Awesome to hear Courtney!! ☺️