Servings : Serves 4-6
The simplicity of this one-pot meal recipe is just unbelievable, especially considering the fantastic results in the end! A definite family favourite and a must-try recipe!!
Ingredients
- 1 medium chicken, skin removed then cut into 8-10 pieces (1 to 1.5kg)
- 3 cups basmati rice, washed 2-3 times then soaked for half an hour.
- 4-5 onions, sliced and fried until golden brown
- 2 cups yoghurt
- 2 cardamom
- 1/2 tsp whole black pepper
- 4 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
- 1 tbsp chopped mint leaves
- 1 tsp red chilli powder
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 cloves
- 1/2 tsp cumin powder
- 1/2 tsp coriander powder
- 2 tbsp garlic paste
- 2 tbsp ginger paste
- 2 chopped green chilli
- 1 tbsp javetri/mace (optional)
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 1/4 cup oil
- 1/2 tsp saffron
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 2 tsp salt
- 3-4 potatoes, peeled quartered and fried until tender (optional)
Instructions
First, marinate the chicken in all the ingredients (aside from the rice and reserve half the fried onions and half the chopped coriander/mint leaves). You can marinate for 6 hours, but it's preferable to marinate overnight.
When ready to cook, take the marinated chicken out of the fridge at least an hour before you start cooking so that it comes to room temperature. In the meantime, 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 halfway done (about 6-7 minutes), remove and strain out all the water.
Now take a heavy pot/pan and add the (uncooked) chicken with all its marinade and spread it out in the bottom of the pot (I also added fried potato quarters during this stage on top of the chicken). Then add HALF of the semi-cooked rice, sprinkle some chopped coriander/mint leaves, the remaining fried onions, saffron color, then add the remaining rice over it all, cover tightly with the lid and cook for 30min. First 5 minute at high flame, next 15 minutes at medium flame and last 10 minutes at low flame.
If your pot/pan is thin, make sure you place a tava (the flat pan for making chapatis/parathas/rotis) under the pot so that your biryani doesn't burn. You can place this tava after the first 5 minutes
Serve with raita and green chutney. Enjoy!
mashallah
Mashaallah …..
How many does this recipe feed? JazakaAllah Kheir.
Feeds 4-6 people.
How long should you marinate the chicken?
Marinate overnight.
How much time do we marinate the chicken.
Overnight is best.
will d chicken get cooked well if v just mix d chicken without leaving it for cooking for sumetime with the half cooked rice..
If you follow the recipe EXACTLY it will be perfect.
Can u suggest any accompaniments?
Raita, Kachumbar and Green Chutney.
Salaams Fauzia 🙂 This is a wonderful recipe mashaAllah – I’m making this tomorrow again for 8 people so wanted to double the recipe (so I have leftovers). Should I just double the amounts of everything? Also, I’ve only got baby chickens, am I okay to double that to two or should I add a third and if so will the spice amounts change? Sorry to be a bother! Just want to get it perfect 🙂 JazakAllah! x
W/Salaam, thank you. Yes, simply double the recipe, it should be fine. A 1 to 1.5kg chicken (as used in this recipe) which is cut into 8-10 pieces is normally enough for 4-5 people. Adjust the chicken amount according to the sizes/weights of your chicken.
Salam fauzia. I simply love ur recepies. And I so wanna try all of ur recepies as they all look great mashaalllah. I was thinking to try biryani but I am not sure that whether I will b able to cook rice nicely. Actually I’m far from home n have never cooked rice except for once when I ruined my chicken pulao. Can u give me some tips on boiling rice n steaming thing( dum) in plain white rice and whether strategy changes in pulao and biryani. I will b very thankful dear 🙂
W/Salaam, make sure you wash then soak the rice for at 20-30 minutes, then boil in simmering water with salt, 1-2 tbsp oil and whole spices of your choice for about 8-9 minutes. Drain the rice and put it back in the pot, cover and steam on low heat for 15 minutes. Perfect biryani rice.
Salam dear……. should i need to put some oil before placing chicken in the pot ? what about non stick pot ?
W/Salaam, normally there is no need to oil the pot but you can if you want. And yes you can use a non-stick pot.
oh dear i have made this one….very yummmmmyyy….love this..i have sent the photo by fb
Received the awesome photo, fantastic results!!
thanks 🙂 tomorrow again i’ll cook it for ten people..my mom’s order….hahaha…pray for me 😀
Aww great job! InshaAllah it will be just perfect! 🙂
oh I’ve cooked it today again for 22 guests as iftar item…..super hit…thanks a lot 😀
Salaam sister.. I have a quick question- do we cook the chicken before layering with rice or leave it raw with the marinade and layer with rice?
W/Salaam, the chicken is added raw to the bottom of the pan, it gets cooked in the process after layering.
Thank you for your swift response sister… One more thing I forgot to ask is that I have an electric stove- would I still be able to achieve the same effect as with gas stove? Please advise on how I would go about making it. Thanks
Yes you can achieve the same effect, just make sure to place a tava under the pan as recommended in the recipe to prevent your chicken from burning.
salamz sis… I din knw abt ur webste n gt to knw recently and its simply superb.. I’m gng 2 cuk dis 4 the festivel…. Hpe its work out….
assalam fauzia,
i have 1/2 chicken. i want to make biryani of 3 cup rice with it. should i reduce the quantity of ingredients in marination or use them as it is?
W/Salaam. Use half the amount of marination ingredients.
I wanted to make this spur of the moment and didn’t marinate overnight so I only did it for about 4 hours. The biryani turned out so great so I can’t even imagine how much more delectable the taste would be if the chicken had more time to soak in all the flavor.
Dear Fauzia please if I dont have saffron ,can I use zarda color?
Yes you can.
Thank you so much.
Slms ,in ur recipes where it says fried onions ,can u use ready made fried onions u get nowadays from the Indian shops in packets ,thanks
W/Salaam, I prefer frying the onions fresh at home.
Salam fauzia i tryd dis receipe today accompnied wd yemeni lemonade it ws superb!every1 enjoyed it tx aloot sis may God bless u inshlh ameen
hi i tried ur hydrabadi bryani today n it is awesome. bohat achi bani hai. i was a little worried before making it k pata nai kaisi bane gi but i followed exactly the same steps and the result is too good.thankyou so much.although i was short of 2 or 3 things n also u didnt mention marination time in the recipe (i marinated only for an hour) but still it tastes really good