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.)
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!! ☺️
Yum!! I made this using your recipe last Sunday for my fussy nieces. I used one of my pastured birds and it was such a hit, my niece has asked for it again this Sunday. 5 star recipe indeed, a real winner. Thank you Nagi.
That’s great Stheni!!
YUM!!!! Have been wanting to make this for ages and FINALLY I did.
Definitely winner, winner, chicken dinner
Woot!!!
Hi! A report from Japan.
I cooked this tonight and the outcome was superb!
I have tried some biryani recipes and yours is the best by far!
Thank you for sharing it.
Thanks so so so much Kumiko!!
Hi there!!! Just wanna tell you that I tried your recipe today and my oh my the family love it 😍 So easy and yet so tasty. I think I can do this for Eid this year. Thank you 😊
Wahoo!!
Can’t wait to try this! Would there be any changes if instead of thighs we use chicken wings?
Hi Linda, I personally haven’t tried this with wings but it should work the same way!
My in-laws are Sri Lankan, and I am of Arabic background so i used your recipe and eveyone loved it! I made it two nights ago for my husband then he loved it so much I woke up at 6am the next morning and made another for my in-laws! I love your recipes so much!! They definitely said it was great for a first timer burn i peronsally think it was your perfect recipe.
Thank you for this lovely recipe. Tried it last night and it was a huge success!
If I had to change one thing, I’d probably not add any saffron next time. The chicken curry combined with the flavor infused rice already have so many complex flavors, adding saffron on top of that is almost overkill.
Hi Andy, you could leave out if you prefer but saffron is what gives this rice its beautiful colour and unique flavour ☺️
I made this dish yesterday. The smell was great and my family loved it. Thank you
Yessss! So glad it was a hit with your family!
Hello Nagi.
I wanted to do a vegetable biryani using just potatoes probably. In the notes it says to remove the vegetables from heat before adding peas. I do not want to use peas so do I keep the vegetables in the pot and continue with the recipe instead of removing them?
Thanks.
Also, could I know how you did your vegetable biryani? Like what vegetables did you use in your test?
Hi Alexandria, just follow the steps in the notes and omit the peas. If you watch the video, treat your vegetables as per the way I have done the chicken – just cook them to about 50% cooked so they don’t overcook once covered with the rice. You can honestly use any vegetables – I suggest capsicum, carrots, cauliflower, mushrooms, potato or zucchini!
Hi Nagi! Long-time stalker (of your website) first- time commenter 🙂 I cannot wait to try my hand at your biryani recipe this weekend! A question- the salt you use in your recipes: is it kosher, sea salt, table salt? I know the granules differ greatly among these salts, and with a recipe like biryani that doesn’t leave room for a “taste as you go” approach and insists upon blind faith, I’d like to get the flavor just right. Love your recipes btw! I made the shredded lamb with chickpea pilaf yesterday and oh my goodness was it delicious!
I usually use table salt Sana ☺️ Love to know what you think of the Biryani if you try it!
Hi Nagi. If using store bought shallots, approx how much would I need? I woud prefer to make my own, but thought I might keep it simple the first time I try this.
Hi Agnes, are you talking about the garnish?
I am often skeptical of recipes I find online. So often, they seem to be written by five year old children who just walked into the kitchen for the first time.
This was the real deal and was a most excellent New Years Eve dinner. Don’t change a thing!
Thanks! We appreciate a well researched and worked up recipe. We love Indian food, so yeah, we are happy tonight!
Thank you so much Ruth for taking the time to give me your feedback – I truly appreciate it! ❤️
I’ve made this with both chicken & stew beef. Was wonderful! The last time I made it, the rice wasn’t cooked enough even with parboiling. Should I parboil for a bit longer? Or add more water when putting it all together?
hi! looks amazing. one question, could you substitute curry leaves for the bay leaves? I have them lying around in my spices drawer, but have not yet used them in a dish.
Hi there! Recipe looks amazing. I would like to make this for a bigger group. Can I double /triple the recipe and cook in aluminum tray by putting in the oven?
You sure can – just adjust the cook time accordingly Jino! I hope you love it!
Hi – made this last night and it was stunning. My family are still raving about it! I layered the chicken skin-side down at the bottom of my le crueset and layered everything else up as in the recipe, but then stuck the whole covered pot in the oven at 180 for an hour. It turned out perfectly – thanks so much for the recipe.
I’m so glad it was a hit Gina!!!
Your recipe is awesome, easy to follow and so tasty. Even my American husband loves it. Thanks for sharing.
That’s so great to hear Elizabeth! Thanks for sharing your feedback – N x