Chicken Biryani
Ever since my 20s’, I’ve been enjoying Indian cuisine. I like its vibrant colorful dishes and its food is very tasty 😋 – there’s nothing boring about it! Using different spices and ingredients, it can be spicy as well as mild and anything in between.
Known for its complex flavor, there’s a wide range of dishes that are my favorites 💖! I think of Butter Chicken, Samosas, Lamb Keema, Bunny Chow, Pork Vindaloo, Aloo Gobi, and more. There’s another one that is incredibly popular in India and is Chicken Biryani!
It’s a comforting meal 🥰 that has serious layers of yumminess in it! The combination of ingredients and spices creates this unique savory dish!
This delicious curry rice 🍚 recipe can be paired with other proteins besides chicken, such as beef, lamb, goat, or even fish. There’s no “right or wrong” recipe because it differs so much from one place to another. It can also be a vegetarian dish as well.
I won’t lie, there are a lot of steps to make Chicken Biryani…
The marinade is made first. I like using full-fat yogurt because it has less sugar than the reduced ones. With the added meat, it’s chilled from 4 hours to overnight 🕓. When ready to cook, it’s removed from the fridge an hour prior so the chicken gets to room temperature.
From there, timing is really important. While the oil for the fried onions is heating up and the water to cook the rice is brought to a boil, we make the saffron mixture and set aside. Next, we fry the onions which takes 2 to 3 minutes ⏳ at the most, and set them aside as well. Then, we move on to the rice.
Let’s talk about the fried onions 🧅…
I normally fry the onions from scratch until recently. When shopping 🛒 in Bellingham WA, I came across a bag of fried onions. I bought one and used it in my Chicken Biryani recipe. It was actually not too bad! I won’t religiously do that every time but it’s nice to have as an option!
The rice is easy peasy to make! In the boiling water 💦 mixed with lemon juice, there’s some whole cloves and cardamom pods that go in along with bay leaves, star anise and a cinnamon stick. These ingredients give such a gorgeous aromatic flavor to the rice. It’s so mouthwatering!
After 6 minutes, the rice mixture is drained into a colander. I like to place a bowl under it just in case some of the ingredients go through. Of course, the water from the bowl is discarded. The rice and all the other spices are set aside to cool while we start cooking the chicken 🐓.
To finish the dish, the meat is cooked is a large pot or Dutch oven. After the chicken (in this case) is done, half of the fried onions and cilantro is added before being topped with the rice and the saffron-broth is drizzled. The pot is transferred to the oven and baked for 30 minutes then rested for 10 minutes ⏰ before serving.
Tomorrow, Ramadan starts and Chicken Biryani is one of the traditional dishes eaten during that time besides Harira, Shawarma, Falafel 🧆, Haleem, etc. Honestly, this is an involved recipe but the results are outstanding! To me, this is the perfect comfort food to enjoy along with a side of yogurt… yum!
Bon Appétit!🍽
Here are more incredible chicken recipes for you to try… 😀
– Chicken Vesuvio
– Chicken Paprikash
– Hunter’s Chicken (Poulet Chasseur)
– Asian Peanut Chicken Curry
– Avgolemono Chicken Soup
– Chicken à la Dijonnaise
– Turkey or Chicken Pot Pie
– Huli-huli Chicken
and for even more poultry recipes 🐓🦃🦆, click on this link… Recipe Category • Poultry
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Chicken Biryani
Hover to scale
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs. skinless, boneless chicken thighs
MARINADE
- 3/4 cup plain yogurt
- 1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 tbsp. canola oil (substitute sunflower oil) tips & tricks
- 3 large cloves garlic, pressed
- 1 tbsp. ginger, minced
- 1 tbsp. garam masala
- 1 tbsp. sweet paprika (substitute mild)
- 1 tbsp. ground cumin
- 1/2 tbsp. ground coriander
- 1 tsp. ground turmeric
- 1 tsp. ground Himalayan pink salt
- 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper, or to taste (I always use mixed peppercorns)
- 1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
- 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper, or more to taste
SAFFRON
- 1 tsp. saffron threads, crumbled
- 1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
FRIED ONIONS
- 2 cups canola oil tips & tricks
- 2 cups onions, sliced (Lyonnaise cut) tips & tricks
RICE
- 8 cups water
- 1 tbsp. kosher salt
- 1 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice tips & tricks
- 4 whole cloves
- 3 whole green cardamom pods
- 2 large bay leaves
- 1 large star anise
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 1/2 cups basmati rice, rinsed and drained
BIRYANI
- 1 tbsp. ghee tips & tricks
- 1 tbsp. canola oil
- 1 cup white onion, finely chopped
- ground Himalayan pink salt, to taste
- 1/2 tbsp. ginger, minced
- 3 large cloves garlic, pressed
- 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped and divided tips & tricks
Directions
MARINADE
- Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and stir until well blended. Add chicken thighs and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours to overnight.
SAFFRON
- In a small bowl, combine saffron and broth. Stir, cover and set aside until needed.
FRIED ONIONS
- In a shallow skillet, heat up the oil to 375ºF.
- Working in batches, fry the onions slices for 2 to 3 minutes or until golden brown, swirling them around.
- Using a spider strainer or slotted spoon, scoop them up onto a wire rack in a baking sheet. Spread them out into a single layer and set aside.
RICE
- In a 4-quart pot, add water, salt, lemon juice, cloves, cardamom pods, bay leaves, star anise and cinnamon stick; stir and bring to a boil.
- Add rice, and when it starts boiling again, cook for 6 minutes.
- Drain in a colander and set aside to cool.
BIRYANI
- Preheat oven to 350ºF
- Add marinated chicken including the marinade. Stir well, cover and cook for 4 minutes. Flip the chicken pieces and cook for an additional 4 minutes.
- Add half fried onions and half cilantro. Top with rice mixture and drizzle on saffron-broth mixture.
- Cover and transfer to the preheated oven; bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and let it rest for 10 minutes with the lid on.
- When ready to serve, garnish with the remaining fried onions and chopped cilantro along with a side of plain yogurt.
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