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.)
My first time trying this recipe and I made it very successfully. It is a marvelous authentic Biryani flavour. Nagi, the way you wrote the recipe is so detailed and easy to follow. Chicken skin side down is a good idea and I just used half the amount of Cayenne and Saffron, store bought crispy fried shallots and butter instead of ghee. Thank you.
So pleased to hear that Harold! Thank you for letting me know you enjoyed this! N x
I’m a huge fan of Indian food but I’ve never tried Biryani. I now realise I’ve been missing out. This was so delicious. My five year old came back for seconds (quite a large serve of seconds).
I have to admit I took the spices out of the rice but I squeezed the cardamom seeds out of the pods and put the seeds back in the dish.
Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Wow! 5 yo coming back for seconds?? HIGH PRAISE! 😂
I made this last night along with the tomato salad, both were given a big thumbs up from my ‘better half ‘ and chief taster. Thanks again for the excellent recipes.
Roddy
Oh WOW! I’m so happy this was so enjoyed Roddy, thanks for letting me know! N x
I love hearing that!!! I’m so glad you enjoyed this, thanks for letting me know Roddy! N x
What if I was not able to find green cardamom pods for the rice – cabbage I just leave out or would I need to add ground cardamom? Making this tonight, can’t wait!
A pinch of ground would be a great sub Rachel! N x
Nagi! Just made this for dinner. I’m Indian, and my husband says this is the best Hyderabadi Biriyani he’s had outside of Hyderabad. Delicious!
I scaled up the recipe to 12 servings for 3 adults and 1 two-year-old, hoping for leftovers for lunch. We only have 1 tiny lunchbox left, and that’s after having shown tremendous restraint.
Thanks so much for transforming my kitchen!
OMG what an amazing praise!!! SO GLAD to hear that Neetha! N x
I have been cooking Indian food for years, but never has the fortitude to try biryani. You have a huge grasp of the ingredients and cooking styles to make it easy, and I use so many of your recipes because of this. This is fabulous.
I made this last night and it was delicious! My partner loved it and he usually doesn’t eat Indian food; he’s now been converted. I think I had the heat too high so the chicken dried out a bit but it was still unbelievably yummy. It looks like a complicated recipe but it wasn’t hard at all. Can’t wait to make it again 🙂
Yummy! This dish is really divine. Normally I prefer using boneless chicken parts so that I don’t have to remove the bones while eating, it’s kinda annoying 😅
– Natalie
I hear ya Natalie! 😂
I am gonna try this recipe tomorrow. Looks like I will finally be able to replicate the best Hyderabadi biryani I devour at an Indian restaurant called Gazebo here in the Middle East.
I wanted to ask whether it is okay to double the amount of chicken and obviously all the spices but not the rice? We are a family of 6 and each person usually has 2-3 pieces of chicken but not much rice. I coulf increase the rice to 3 cups but 4 and a half cups would be way too much for my family.
Thanks a lot for your hard work in giving us these recipes.
Hi Sadaf! Yep that will be fine to double the chicken and the sauce 🙂 Hope everyone loves it!
I love the way she explains, I recommend that site to everyone, it is amazing. It is the best explanation I have found so far for any recipe, and I use to compare them. Congrats. Never leave us.
Hi Nagi
Thank you so much for all those great recipes! I tried so many different recipes from you and everything is a success. It is so helpful to have all those explanations, ideas for subs and different measurements. I absolutely love your videos!
Yesterday I tried out this Biryani recipe. I followed exactly like written in the recipe and it turned out soooooo good… the 4 of us ate all of it! Unfortunately, because I thought we would have a lot of leftovers…; )
By the way, my husband bought your book about food- photography and loves it.
Lots of greetings to you from
Mady
Switzerland
Please thank your husband for purchasing the book! That’s very kind of him! And I’m so thrilled you enjoyed this, I’m very proud of this recipe! It was hard work to document all the steps, filming it and the recipe testing so I’m especially pleased! N x
Best ever biryani recipe and so simple. Thank you very much.
Hi Nagi!
I love curry, but hate cilantro. What could I substitute for the cup of cilantro in the biryani?
Thanks in advance! Xxx
Hi Mimi! Chives would be great!
Alright!
Tried this dish for the first time
I like the way u made recipe description- very clear. Thank u!
And we enjoyed our meal.
Have searched so long for a simple and tasty biryani recipe and at last I have found it. Even my 76yo neighbor loved it. I did halve the salt as my neighbour has high blood pressure. I know you said the rice sweats out the salt when it cooks with the chicken, but does this means it evaporates? The chemistry of cooking is always fascinating. And thank you for doing all the research and leg work. You have the knack of perfecting a recipe so that it can be cooked as simply and quickly as possible.
That’s great to hear Anne! Thanks for letting me know you enjoyed this! N x
Hi!
This recipie worried me so much!
I worried it would burn on the bottom, i worried the chicken wouldnt cook and worried it would be salty!
I had nothing to worry about it was beautiful! And the smell in the house was wonderful!
I just have one question!!!
The spices that are boiled with the rice, do you remove them, leave them in and eat them???
I left them in but found we were picking them out as we ate… wasnt a problem but have never had this meal before so can’t compare!
Will definitely make again!!
Thank you!!
Glad you enjoyed it Kel! I know it’s a bit odd the spices are in there but they are, Indian cooking doesn’t wrap spices in cloth or similar to make it easy to fish out later 🙂 N x
Is the cooking time the same if we use chicken breasts instead of thigh pieces?
Yes it needs to be the same but the meat won’t be as juicy 🙂 Just cause breast has less fat! You could add more oil into the marinade to compensate 🙂 N x
Absolutely delicious! Beautiful flavours! Thank you.
p.s. If you have a chicken korma recipe – Indian restaurant style – please let me know. :O)
Glad you enjoyed it Simone! Thanks for letting me know – N x
This was PERFECT. Made exactly as instructed. So good! Thank you Nagi. Lots of us fans here in Boston, Mass.
Glad to hear you enjoyed this Pinky!! Thanks for letting me know 🙂 N x ❤️ PS Boston! Been wanting to visit for years!!
I made this recipe over the weekend. I left out the cardamom because I am not a fan of the flavor. While cooking I was not paying attention to the time and accidentally burnt the bottom of my chicken and sauce. Despite this it was still absolutely amazing. I will be making it again. Next I will set a timer just to be safe. 🙂
Glad it still tasted great though!! It is actually quite forgiving – I’ve overcooked by 20 minutes and it was still great, and actually I got crispy skin!! N xx