Servings : Serves 4-5
This chicken biryani is the type where you cook the masala separately and the rice separately, then serve the two together. Very aromatic and flavourful!
Ingredients
- 1 chicken, without skin, cut into 8-10 pieces (1 to 1.5kg)
- 500 gm onions, sliced and fried to golden
- 4 tbsp tomato paste/puree
- 1/2 tbsp garlic paste
- 1 tbsp ginger paste
- 1 tsp tandoori masala (optional)
- 1 tsp red chilli flakes (optional)
- 250 ml plain yoghurt (whipped till smooth)
- 1 pinch of orange food colouring
- 2 pinches of saffron
- 4 tbsp oil (for marinating)
- 4 tbsp oil (for cooking)
- 4-5 potatoes, peeled, cut in half then fried until a knife can pierce them easily
- salt to taste
- 1-2 slit green chillies
- 2 cardamom pods
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 2 cloves
Ingredients for Rice
- 3 cups basmati rice, washed 2-3 times then soaked for half an hour
- salt
- saffron & food colouring
- oil
- whole spices
Instructions
Masala/Gravy
First marinate the chicken in the ginger, garlic, whole spices, half of the yoghurt, half the fried onions, 3 tbsp. tomato paste, oil, tandoori masala, pinch of orange food colouring, salt, 1 slit green chilli and a pinch of the saffron. Mix everything together and marinate overnight for best results, or at least 4 hours.
Heat the remaining 4 tbsp. of oil, then add the remainder of the fried onions, tomato paste, saffron, green chilli and yoghurt. Add the marinated chicken with its marinade, and cook on medium heat for 10 minutes, then lower the heat to low and cook for another 10 minutes.
Keep the pan covered and give the mixture a stir after every few minutes. Adjust salt, chilli to taste. Add the fried potatoes once the chicken is tender and cook together on low heat for 5 minutes so that the potatoes take on a nice colour. Sprinkle garam masala and set aside.
Rice
Wash then soak 3 cups of rice in water for about 20-30 mins. Soak a few saffron strands in some water and set aside. Bring a big pot of water to boil, add salt, 4 cardamom pods, 2-3 cinnamon sticks and 2-3 cloves plus about 2 tbsp. of oil.
Drain the soaked rice and add it to this water when it is boiling. Cook until the rice is about 3/4 done, remove and strain out all the water. Put half the rice back into the pan, drizzle about 2-3 tbsp. of oil and the saffron water. Add a bit of orange colour on one side and mix it up a bit with a spoon then cover the pot tightly. Steam this on low heat for 15 minutes or put in a 180 C preheated oven for about the same time. Serve the rice with the Biryani Masala on top.
Alternatively, you can layer the two in the pot by placing the cooked masala at the bottom of the pan and the rice on top, then steam as directed, for about 15 minutes on low heat. This tends to infuse the lovely biryani flavour into the rice as it steams.
Hey dear, could you please
Hey dear, could you please tell me how do i add the sour flavor to the biryani , all the rest is great Mashallah
Hi, normally the touch of
Hi, normally the touch of sour flavour comes from the yoghurt.
Assalamu alaykum
Assalamu alaykum
What is the size of the cup that you measure the rice? Is it the same size of a rainbow milk can ?
Your recipes are so good, jazakallah.
W/Salaam, it is a regular
W/Salaam, it is a regular measuring cup. 1 cup of rice is 185 gm. Thanks.
If I want to make biryani of
If I want to make biryani of 6 cups, should I simply double all the ingredients?
Yes if you double the rice,
Yes if you double the rice, double everything else.
If we use fried readymade
If we use fried readymade onion, then how much should I use?
I normally fry my own onions
I normally fry my own onions so it is hard to say but about 2 cups or so should be fine I guess.
Assalamoualaikoum, I wanna
Assalamoualaikoum, I wanna try this recipe but I want to know if I can cook all together not separately?
Thnx
W/Salaam, no this recipe
W/Salaam, no this recipe requires to the rice and gravy to be cooked separately, you can then layer them during steaming of the rice. For a all in one recipe use the hyderabadi chicken biryani recipe.
Hi. If I omit the potatoes
Hi. If I omit the potatoes altogether, will I have to reduce any of the other ingredients?
Hi, no need to reduce other
Hi, no need to reduce other ingredients, you can just omit the potatoes.
Can u also please tell
Can u also please tell approximately how much salt? I know it’s to taste but I’m not experienced enough yet to make estimations!
Start with 2 level tsp, then
Start with 2 level tsp, then once done give it a taste and adjust if needed.
I made my first biryaani with
I made my first biryaani with this recipe and it felt like such a milestone! Thanks for making everything so easy!
Can i know if we can use
Can i know if we can use boneless chicken will it be ok
Yes that is fine. 🙂
Yes that is fine. 🙂
Can i use fresh tomatoes
Can i use fresh tomatoes insstead of paste.thanks
It will change the taste
It will change the taste somewhat, it will be more ‘curry’ flavoured. The paste gives it a distinctive colour and consistency that fresh tomatoes will not give.