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!
-
Dal (Indian lentil curry)
-
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.)
Gordon Williamson says
Absolutely the best Biryani ever. Thank you.
Zeinab says
Hi Nagi!
If I am tripling this. Would I triple the spices in the rice too?
IRENE says
I cooked this tonight. My house smells lovely – ah! The smell of spices. Yum!
I’ve never tried making briyani and really liked how this turns out. It’s not hard but just getting the different spices out of my pantry. Will definitely make it again. Arigatou gozaimasu.
Amy says
Well, I did exactly what you recommended we don’t do and I used chicken breast, boneless, no less! We only had brown basmati rice too. I had 3 good size breasts that came out to a little less than 2 lbs. I left them whole and followed your suggestion of removing from the marinade before cooking it down a little then added them back to the pot before following the rest of the recipe. I let the rice cook for about 15 minutes because the brown basmati has a cook time of 45 min. Was a little scared to try the chicken fearing it would be dry but it wasn’t! I’ll have to write down how I made this one since everyone wants this in the rotation. The way I made it may not be traditional biryani but it was fantastic.
Terry says
Just cooked this for the family. Really good, everybody loved it and we are Anglo Indian heritage so love a curry
Adele says
Disappointing. Far too much rice in relation to the chicken and the skin left on was unpleasant
Leonie says
I cooked this almost exactly as per the recipe except the not had skinless thigh fillets. My husband said it was the best Biryani he’s ever had. We’ve frozen 3 takeaway containers for work meals. Thanks for another amazing recipe Nagi
Dawn says
Fantastic dish. Easy to make and super tasty. I used chicken fillets and it was still delicious.
Myriam says
Hi Nagi,
Quick one – am having dairy free / gluten free guests over and was wondering what I could sub for the ghee? Was thinking of make half with ghee and the other half separate for the dairy free eater…
Thank you!!
Kimberly says
This recipe was AMAZING! So delicious and relatively easy to make! This is definitely going into my dinner rotation.
Nagi says
Woo hoo!! I am glad that you liked it Kimberley! N x
Phaids says
Nasi, this recipe is always so bomb! I make this quite often. And a friend of mine is Keto and I decided to do it with cauliflower rice instead and holy moly! So delicious. I had to omit the breaded top which I sometimes do – more of a traditional biryani method for steaming inside of the pastry top…but all is delicious! Thank you Nasi – more recipes like this please!
Nagi says
I am glad that you enjoyed the dish Phaids! N x
RH says
Love this! Any tips for rice that is underdone please?
Hailey says
I made this for Mother’s Day and it tasted absolutely amazing!!! Thank you so much 😀
Nagi says
Woo hoo!! That is great, Hailey! N x
Geo says
Excellent. So very tasty. I made it with skinless chicken thighs,added more chilli and finished it off in the oven.
Krystal says
Hi Nagi! When I was younger I worked with a Bangladeshi chef who used to cook Biryani for my family and I, and I had been looking for a comparable recipe for a long time…until yours. Your recipe is perfect in every way and reminds me so much of fond memories. I normally make a few adjustments in recipes, but this one is one of my “perfect” recipes that I’ve saved. I even served it to my parents last night, and got 12/10 remarks. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Nagi says
Awww Krystal – thank you! I always love it when people are able to link my food to good memories! N x
Salima says
Hi there! This looks amazing and I’d like to try making it with ready bought fried onions. How much would I use pls?
Carolyn says
This was really good. I marinated the chicken and par boiled the rice last night, It was so simple to put together tonight for dinner and made the no yeast flat breads to have with it. Delicious!
Amy says
Just made this for dinner tonight – no leftovers! We halved the recipe but it was only enough for the two only us – I don’t think we are big eaters, lol. Thanks Nagi!
Nagi says
The good ones always seem to disappear faster lol!! N x
Emmy says
I make this every few weeks and it’s an absolute winner! I use both thighs and butterflied drumsticks (out of convenience as I buy whole raw chooks to butcher) and every single time it’s delicious!
Thanks heaps Nagi 🙂
Addi says
Can you use Lamb for this recipe 🤔
Nagi says
Yes Addi – see Note 9 under the recipe for instructions for other proteins!! N x