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 substitute for fried onions
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
And serve 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.)
Made this in a giant pot with eight whole chickened thighs, big ones.Doubled the marinade put in extra rice and spices,worried about the chickened not being cooked so i added 10 mins.it was delicous!
Nagi, I made this for my Sri Lankan born parents and they absolutely loved it. It was easy to make and the timing of everything worked perfectly. It was so full of flavour and so authentic. Thank you!!
Woah what a great compliment Sarah – thanks so much!! N x
Do you think I could use paneer in this?
Yes definitely Marjori! N x
Chicken biryani
This was absolutely amazing – i couldn’t find ghee so probably even better with that! I like how you cook the marinade first to make a paste then add the coated chicken after and all the spices added to the boiled rice! This will now be my signature dish!! Thanks
I’m so glad you loved it Mark – try this recipe too for making ghee: https://discountspot.info/how-to-make-ghee-and-clarified-butter/%3C/a%3E N x
Hi Nagi. If I don’t want to layer this dish, is it okay to mix the rice into the chicken pot? Or is it better to serve as a rice topping?
I’m not really familiar with how Biryani should be serve.
Dear Nagi,
For the last 25 minutes of the cooking with the meat and rice combined, is it possible to cook it in the oven instead of over the stove? To prevent the meat sitting in the base of the pot getting burnt by direct fire.
This was a hit! My Grandpa made the best biryani and have missed it since his passing. I’ve been looking for a recipe for ages and this was so easy. I’ve been looking forward to dinner for the last 3 nights. I also used almond yoghurt due to allergies and still worked well. I will be adding the Asafoetida, which I just read about, due to the other benefits it provides lol. Thank you. Definitely looking at your other recipes.
This was the perfect meal for cooler weather here in California. My husband could not stop saying how much he liked it! I told him it was another recipe from Recipetineats and he commented on his love of every recipe I have made from you!
I was wondering how I would make this with brown medium grain rice, how long would you cook the rice for before hand?
Nagi – our family love you 🙂 🙂 our go-to for searching new meals. Restaurant-flavour Indian food is hard to replicate at home but this Biryani recipe is the exception. Do yourself a favour and just make it!! We’ve used chicken thigh, Cauliflower and red onion. The aroma’s just from the rice is incredible. Thank you Naig – we love you!!!
First chicken biriyani I’ve made and it was so delicious. I used chicken drumsticks. Would use less salt next time just to suit our taste but this recipe is definitely getting bookmarked. 🙂
I’ve made this a few times and it tastes just like the biryani that I get from a restaurant. It’s one of those dishes mellows and is better the next day.
I make a burrito wrap by I shredding the chicken into smaller pieces and putting the biryani on a wrap with mango chutney. This is great heated or cold.
I made this dish tonight, and the flavor was amazing. I have a question about the rice, however.
Every type and brand of basmati rice I’ve ever bought (usually brown) requires 35-40 minutes to cook. I’ve come across many recipes that must use some sort of quicker-cooking basmati, and I’m wondering if that may be the case with your recipe, too. I definitely par-boiled my rice longer than 15 minutes, to the point where it was still a little firm inside, but when added atop the chicken, it didn’t finish cooking as I’d hoped it would. So the rice was a bit chewy, not fluffy, when all was said and done.
Can you recommend a modification to the par-boiling process for rice that requires more time to cook, like mine? Would you suggest I cook it as I normally would, only for 30 minutes or so?
Thank you so much! Can’t wait to make this again (and hopefully nail the consistency of the rice!).
Hi Mollie, this recipe is made with white basmati rice – brown has a significantly longer cook time. This post should help you https://discountspot.info/how-to-cook-brown-rice/%3C/a%3E 🙂 N x
Well…it was simply great…the recipe worked like a charm and ended up with a mouth watering prep. I have decided to cook it at home only, never having to buy it from restaurants. Thank you for sharing such a zesty recipe.
Turned out well and was enjoyed by all.
I am done with the marination last night, and planning to cook the biryani later this evening. Super excited and looking forward to the outcome. The recipe sounds and looks real good. I wonder if I can get a response to the question…when the marinated chicken is cooked, should I use the entire marinade (it seems to be quite a bit) or should I scrape it off and cook the chicken as i would grill it.
Hi Vikas, I used the whole marinade mixture.
Hi Nagi, I made this last night – delicious. Although I cooked it for 25 mins, 30 mins would have been perfect. Suppose I increased the amount of rice and chicken by 50%. By what percentage would you recommend me to increase the cooking time (if at all)?
I’ve made this 3 times. Absolutely love the recipe and how it turns out. Wondering what vegetables would you suggest adding if I wanted to add some with the chicken before layering the rice.
Absolutely amazing. My husband said it was the best thing I’ve ever made lol
I made this recipe tonight for the second or third time but it wasn’t as good as before. I can’t remember if your are supposed to add all of the marinade? The skin of the chicken didn’t get crispy this time and when I served the dish, there was a lot of liquid at the bottom of the pot. Maybe I didn’t cook it on a high enough heat? I went with 3/9 for the low heat on a vitroceramic hob. Any tips would be appreciated!
As you can in the video, the bottom became very mushy and watery. It also depends on the thickness of yougurt, the marinade should not be too runny at all.. we also traditionally don’t cook the meat before layering the rice.
Thanks Siri! I will omit or reduce the water from the marinade next time.
Wow, yummy I made this today and it came out like hotel style taste