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
-
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.)
Katharine Poole says
I made this last night, I used 3 chicken legs which I just split into two pieces. Also used the bought fried onions as a mid-week cheat. The results were absolutely amazing. It was super easy to prepare and the flavour is delicate and delicious. Will definitely be making this again and happy that I have lots left over!
Hayley says
Finally made this tonight after literal months of thinking about it! Had a ton of sad, end-of-week veggies so made the veggie version with potato, carrot, zucchini and green beans and for protein just used leftover rotisserie chicken which I added just before putting the rice on top and IT STILL TURNED OUT AMAZING. Mind blown. Literally one of the most delicious things I’ve had in months.
I’m so excited to try it with the chicken thighs now because if what I ate tonight was heaven I can only imagine what all that extra flavour is gonna do… 🤯
Nagi says
I am thrilled you liked it Hailey! N x
Ruth Bradley says
I have never tried any of your recipes before but this is the best Biryani I have ever made. Bursting with flavour, thank you for a great recipe.
Andreea says
The first time I made this I used chicken thighs with skin on and it was deeeelicious. I made it for the second time today and I regrettably used skinless chicken thighs. I burned the chicken!!! I will never again use anything other than skin-on chicken thighs lol
Julie says
This recipe was delicious, like all I’ve tried from Nagi! I did use bone-in chicken thighs with skin removed and did not burn anything; just turned the heat to medium-low to medium (somewhere in between). I also decreased the salt by 1/3 in the whole recipe and used brown rice (par-cooking for 20 min). I cut the ghee in half and added 1/2 cup water when adding the ghee. Family loved it and our daughter made a special announcement that it was outstanding!
Nagi says
All that flavour is in the skin and bones!! N x
Helen Mosedi- Riba says
Wow!!!! This Biryani was just so delicious. Bursting with flavor and truly addictive. Love love love it. Thanks Nagilicious💕
Jen Herr says
Nagi, your recipes are amazing. So well researched, tested and written up, it’s impossible to fail. I made your biryani today and the aubergine bhaji and both were delicious, the biryani was particularly great, I really couldn’t believe how well it turned out. I actually used boneless, skinless chicken thighs (hadn’t read the ingredients list properly!) and forgot the butter/ghee but it didn’t seem to matter. Thank you for all of your recipes, I love cooking and you are a real inspiration (plus all that good food!!!) xx
Wendy says
Can I use whole chicken cut into smaller pieces bone in to cook this?
Nagi says
HI Wendy – yes you can but the breast pieces will cook faster than the thighs so maybe cut them a bit larger. N x
Kelsey says
This was a 10/10 meal for my husband and me! I followed the recipe exactly, and it turned out perfectly. We had an international student from India over, who was THRILLED with the dish and to have something that felt like home. 100% will be making again.
Note: the onions took way longer to fry than I expected, never having done that part.
Nagi says
So glad you enjoyed it, Kelsey! N x
Masroor anwar says
I really love this recipe …
Nagi says
So glad you enjoyed i! N x
Justme says
Made this last night, was a bit apprehensive about the rice cooking properly but the par-boiling worked a treat! The marinade was sooooo good 😊
Nagi says
So glad you enjoyed it! N x
Gordon Tansey says
This was superb! Loved it – only had skinless thighs, some with bones, but still came out great. Probably needed a bigger reminder about Yoghurt for those less spice tolerant, but just a great range of flavors! Yum with latent warmth….
Tamsin White says
Your recipes are the GoAT!
Karen Martin says
If we sub with store bought crispy fried shallots, how much to use?
Will McMahon says
This is the curry of my dreams!! Thanks so much for creating this recipe.
Nagi says
You’re so welcome Will, I’m glad you loved it! N x
Samantha Farrar says
Fabulous dish, rice never tasted so good!
Amber says
Hello, I was planning on making this dish this weekend, it looks so delicious and I’m super excited!!! I was just wondering if you were able to sub the cardamom pods in the rice for cardamom powder. I sadly forgot to pick them up on my last trip to the Indian market which is quite a ways from my house. 🙁
Monica Lumb says
Hi, I’ve made this recipe twice now, worked out beautifully the first time, 2nd was a bit of a sloppy undercooked mess… my assumption is I didn’t let the temp get high enough before reducing to low and simmering for the 25 mins.
My question is this though, if using a crock pot, how do you assess if there’s steam before lowering heat in the last step?
Serious question btw, I was so sad that it didn’t quite work out the last time.
Shannon says
This was probably the best dish I’ve ever made! This was the first recipe I’ve made from your website and I was really impressed! The flavors were amazing!
It took me a while to prepare the dish (frying onions!) and some of the whole spices weren’t cheap, but it was worth it and I’ll definitely be making it again!
GABRIELA says
Hi Nagy, This looks absolutely delicious. Can I freeze it?
Karyn Coakley says
Wow just made this. such a great recipe.so flavourful from all the spices and the chicken delish.. easy directions which is a must for me.love all your reciepes.