Chicken biryani is a rich and aromatic Indian main course dish prepared with chicken, basmati rice, or Seeraga Samba rice, fresh spices, and herbs. It is typically made either in layer (dum style process) or in one-pot. The recipe that I have shared here explains how to make easy chicken biryani with step-by-step instructions and a video to make the cooking process simple. This chicken biryani is typically served for lunch and dinner, or party and tastes great with most chicken, and non-veg curries with raita or just as it is.
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What is Chicken Biryani?
Chicken Biryani is a rich and flavorful meal in which marinated chicken is cooked with basmati rice along with spices and fresh herbs. This Muslim delicacy was introduced by the Mughals and spread across India and its neighboring countries.
Overall, from meat to vegetables there are wide varieties of this meal prepared across the regions based on the food habit and tradition. Biryani is popular around the world and has a special place on many occasions from a birthday party to a wedding or from a festival day to a regular day.
Ingredients
Spices and herbs
- Bay Leaf, Cinnamon Stick, Star Anise, Javitri, Cardamom - It gives a strong aroma and flavor to the biryani
- 4 Green Chili - Gives a special aroma to your non-veg dishes
- Turmeric, Chili, Coriander, and Garam Masala powder - Gives the perfect curry flavors to the dish
- Biryani Masala - Blend of Indian whole spices which deliver exotic flavor and taste to your chicken biryani
- Mint Leaves - Fresh green leaves that give unique taste and flavor to your dish
Other Ingredients
- Chicken, cleaned and cut
- Basmati Rice, soaked for 1 hour
- Oil
- Onion, thinly sliced
- Tomato, chopped
- Ginger Garlic paste
- Salt, as needed
- Curd
- Water
- 1 tbsp Ghee
- Fried Onions, to sprinkle
- Orange Food color, optional
How to make Chicken Biryani?
The chicken biryani I have shared here is prepared with a pressure cooker just to make the cooking process simple but without compromising the taste of traditional Chicken Dum Biryani.
Here in this recipe, I have cooked the chicken with whole spices and masala along with basmati rice and then garnished with mint leaves, fried onions, ghee, and optional food color. Though this chicken biryani is prepared with basmati rice, it can also be prepared with Seeraga Samba rice similar to Mutton(lamb)Biryani. This Seeraga samba rice is popular in South India for its rich flavor and aroma.
To give a clear idea, the process involves two parts.
- Cooking the chicken with spices
- Adding the rice
1. Cooking the chicken
- Sizzle Spices and Onions - First to cook the chicken, let us start with sizzling the whole Indian spices and green chili in the oil. Once they are aromatic, add in the onions and saute until it turns soft
- Add Spice Powders & Tomato - Now add the spice powder and ginger-garlic paste and saute until it turns fragrant. Once you smell the aroma, stir in the tomatoes and cook until it turns mushy
- Mixin Chicken Pieces - After they are mushy, add the chicken pieces and give a good mix. You could also marinate the chicken pieces with spice powders overnight or at least an hour. To make the process simple, I totally skipped the marination instead we are going to cook the chicken nicely until it absorbs all the flavors from the spice powders
- Cook the Gravy - After some time, approximately 5 to 7 minutes the chicken starts to leave the water. At this stage, add curd, and mint leaves and give it a good mix. Let the chicken gravy cook until it turns reddish-brown in color
2. Adding the rice
- Add Rice - Now add the soaked basmati rice and spread it all over the chicken gravy.
- Cook the Rice to 70%- Following that pour the water from its sides and cook the rice to 70% (if you press the rice with your fingers it should break)
- Garnish - Once the rice is 70% cooked, add the mint leaves, ghee, and fried onions. Now close the lid of the pressure cooker with its whistle on
- Slow Cook Again - Simmer the heat to low and cook the chicken and rice for about 15 to 20 minutes. Since we are cooking it in low heat, the cooker does not release the pressure through the whistle
- Time to Taste - After that time, open the lid and now the delicious chicken biryani is ready for you to taste and enjoy
You can also make this chicken biryani in the pot or pan following the same above-mentioned instructions.
Chicken Biryani in Instant pot
This Chicken Biryani is so easy to make in Instant Pot and the best part is it gets ready in under 30 minutes.
- Marinating Chicken - To make that, marinate the chicken pieces with chili, turmeric, garam masala, and coriander powder, salt, ginger-garlic paste, and yogurt and rest them for at least 30 minutes(Actually, in the pressure cooker method, I haven't done this step since I cooked the chicken pieces along with spice powders for a good amount of time)
- Saute Spices - After marination, saute the cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, star anise, and other Indian whole spices in saute mode until it turns aromatic
- Add in Onions -Then add the onion and saute for 2 to 3 minutes until it turns soft
- Deglaze the Pot - Make sure you deglaze the bottom of the vessels to from burning the dish. You can also cancel the saute mode while deglazing it
- Cook Chicken with Herbs - Following that, set the Instant pot again to sauté mode and add the marinated chicken pieces, mint leaves, and coriander leaves and give a nice mix for 2 to 3 minutes
- Set to Poultry Mode - Now switch the instant pot to Poultry mode and close the lid and cook it for 4 minutes. You can skip this step if you cook the chicken in saute mode for a further 3 to 4 minutes
- Add Rice - Once done, open the lid and add the basmati rice, water, required salt, a handful of mint, and coriander leaves and give a final mix. And make sure you immerse all the chicken pieces and rice in the water which helps to achieve a nicely cooked biryani
- Pressure Cook - Now secure the lid and pressure cook it for 4 minutes on high and once the alarm beeps, switch off the IP and quickly release the pressure. (Note: always make sure to deglaze the pot before pressure cooking to avoid burning the food at the bottom)
- Garnish and Serve - After that, fluff this chicken biryani and garnish it with fried onions
I hope these easy steps help you and save your time a whole lot while not compromising the taste. And it tastes delicious similar to the chicken biryani which I have shared here in this post.
Tips
- Choose good quality rice whether it's basmati or seeraga samba rice. Usually, age-old rice delivers aromatic, long-grain, and non-sticky biryani. Another key to making perfect biryani involves choosing good quality spices and following the process diligently
- For biryani with basmati rice, keep the rice-water ratio to be 1:1.5 to get the best result
- Soaking is an important step to achieve long-grain biryani with basmati rice. Wash the rice thoroughly until the water runs clear and soak it for an hour. Do not skip this step to achieve the best results.
- Always caramelize the onion and allow the tomatoes to turn soft for a perfect flavorful biryani
- I have used oil to make this chicken biryani, you can replace it with ghee for a different flavor
- You can replace basmati rice with Seeraga samba for more soft biryani with a different & unique taste
- This recipe can also be made in a pan or wide bottom pot by following the same procedure
Serving Suggestions
This chicken biryani recipe delivers a soft, fluffy, and long-grain rice meal. Unlike Dum biryanis which are usually prepared in restaurants, this is easy to make at home. It tastes best with raita and most non-veg side dishes. (Note: I have calculated the serving size for the biryani as four, with the understanding that you may choose to add non-vegetarian or vegetable sides or salads to your meal. Please note that the final serving quantity may vary depending on the specific sides or salads chosen by you).
Related Recipes
You could also find similar Biryani Recipes below.
- Ambur Biryani
- Mughlai Biryani
- Chicken and Rice
- Mutton Biryani
- Shrimp Biryani
- Fish Biryani
- Mushroom Biryani
- Vegetable Biryani
- Biryani Rice (Kuska Rice)
More chicken recipes:
Looking for different chicken recipes to cook for your next meal or a party? Then you could also check this collection of Biryani Recipes and Indian Chicken Dry and Semi Gravy Recipes to accompany your main dish and to enjoy with your family and loved ones.
Chicken Biryani Recipe video
I have also shared detailed video instructions below which will help you to prepare this dish easily at home. You could also find the recipe in Story format for a quick reference.
📖 Recipe
Chicken Biryani
Ingredients
- 2.25 lb Chicken, cleaned and cut,(range ½ to 1 kg)
- 1½ cup Basmati Rice, soaked for 1 hour
- ¼ cup Oil
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 1 Cinnamon Stick
- 1 Star Anise
- 1 Javitri
- 4 Cardamom
- 4 Green Chili
- 2 Onion, thinly sliced
- 2 Tomato, chopped
- ¼ tsp Turmeric Powder
- 1½ tsp Chili Powder
- 2 tsp Coriander Powder
- 1 tsp Garam Masala
- 1 tsp Biryani Masala
- 2 tsp Ginger Garlic Paste
- Salt, as needed
- ¼ cup Curd, yogurt
- ½ cup Mint Leaves
- 2¼ cup Water
- 1 tbsp Ghee
- Fried Onions, to sprinkle
- Orange Food color, optional
Instructions
To make Chicken Biryani
- In a pressure cooker with medium heat, pour oil, add bay leaf, cinnamon stick, star anise, javitri, cardamom, and green chili. Saute until it turns aromatic
- Now add the thinly sliced onions and saute until the onions are caramelized. Caramelizing the onions gives a nice flavor to the Chicken Biryani
- Add turmeric, chili, coriander, biryani masala powder, garam masala, salt, and ginger garlic paste and saute everything well until the raw aroma leaves
- Add chopped tomatoes and ¼ cup of mint leaves and saute them until the tomatoes turn mushy. Sauteeing the tomatoes to smooth gives a slightly tangy flavor to the Chicken Biryani
- Add chicken pieces to the gravy and mix well until all the masala coats thoroughly on the chicken
- Allow the chicken to cook for 7 to 10 minutes by stirring it on and off until the chicken leaves water
- Add curd to the chicken gravy and mix well
- Allow the chicken to cook for about 12 to 15 minutes by stirring it on and off. Stirring the gravy often gently avoids the gravy getting burnt at the bottom. Cook the gravy until it leaves oil on its sides
- Add the soaked and drained basmati rice to the chicken gravy and spread the rice evenly
- Add water from the sides of the rice
- Allow the rice to cook to 70% and pat the rice evenly (if you press the rice with your fingers it should break)
- Add remaining ¼ cup of mint leaves, fried onions, ghee, and orange food color and simmer the stove to low medium heat
- Close the lid of the pressure cooker with the regulator(whistle weight) and cook for about 15 minutes(don't expect for the whistle to release the pressure since it is in low heat)
- Switch off the stove and allow it to rest for 5 minutes and then open the lid
- Fluff the biryani gently and now the chicken biryani should be ready for you to taste and enjoy
To Serve
- Serve the delicious Chicken Biryani with raita or with non-veg curry of your choice
Video
Notes
- The key to getting a perfect long-grain, fluffy biryani is by soaking the rice for an hour. So make sure you don't miss it
- For Biryani with basmati rice, keep the rice water ratio to be 1:1.5 to get the best result
- Always caramelize the onion and allow the tomatoes to turn soft for a perfect flavorful biryani
- We have used oil to make this chicken biryani, you can replace it with ghee for a different flavor
- You can replace Basmati rice with Seeraga samba for more soft biryani with a different & unique taste
- This recipe can also be made in a pan or wide bottom pot by following the same procedure
Nutrition
FAQ
Chicken biryani is a rich and flavorful rice dish. It is usually prepared with marinated chicken pieces and basmati rice cooked with caramelized onions, spices, and fresh herbs in dum or one pot. The juice released from tender marinated chicken pieces spread all over the parboiled rice in layers. It is typically served as lunch, dinner, celebrations, parties, or buffets.
The term biryani has its origin in the Persian language birani or biriani. Since it has no origin in the English language, the pronunciation differs from region to region even though it means the same. Biriyani is a term mostly used in the southern part of India.
Pressure cooker chicken biryani is one of the simpler forms of traditional chicken dum biryani. It does not require layering instead the chicken and rice are cooked all together in one pot usually in a pressure cooker.
Choose good quality rice whether it's basmati or seeraga samba rice. Usually, age-old rice delivers aromatic, long-grain, and non-sticky biryani. Another key to making perfect biryani involves choosing good quality spices and following the process diligently.
Soaking is an important step to achieve long-grain biryani with basmati rice. Wash the rice thoroughly until the water runs clear and soak it for an hour. Do not skip this step to achieve the best results.
The perfect water-rice ratio for fluffy, long-grained biryani with basmati rice is 1:1.5. This may vary if the rice is new. Usually, aged rice works best for any kind of biryani.
Hope you enjoyed the recipe and let us know how it turned out for you!
If you have any other questions, please feel free to post them in the comment section below and we will try to get back to you as soon as possible.
Happy Cooking!
More recipes: Mutton Chukka
Vathana
This recipes looks fantastic. I want to try to make this, but only have an instant pot. When it says to cook rice until 70% done, approximately how long is that? How do you modify this recipe to make in the instant pot (especially how long to cook for the final step)?
Yellow Chili's
Hi Vathana,
Thanks for your time and visit to my blog. Sorry I couldn't respond early enough. But to answer to your questions, I have added a separate section(CHICKEN BIRYANI IN INSTANT POT) in this post to prepare the recipe in instant pot method and updated it. Pls do check out and let me know if you have any other questions. Thanks.
Vathana
Thank you for your reply and the modified recipe for the Instant Pot. I am going to try it out tonight.
Yellow Chili's
Sure, love to hear how it tuned out for you 🙂