A biryani of yogurt-marinated chicken and basmati rice cooked with whole spices, layered and then finished with steam in a sealed Dutch oven.
The lid comes off and the steam releases a sudden rush of ghee, saffron and fried onions. On top, white and golden grains mingle with fresh herbs, and the chicken waits underneath, meltingly tender in its thick masala.
You plunge the spoon all the way to the bottom to get everything in one go: the fragrant rice, a mint leaf, a piece of drumstick that practically comes off the bone on its own. After the first plateful, you go back for more without a second thought.
What Is Chicken Biryani?
Biryani is a rice and meat dish from Indian cuisine, layered and then cooked in a tightly covered pot. This recipe follows the version served in most Indian restaurants in Europe and America, known as pakki: the chicken marinates in spiced yogurt and is first cooked in a thick sauce, while the rice is cooked separately in water flavored with whole spices.
The two are then layered in a sealed Dutch oven and finished with steam, a step known as the dum. The rice stays in long, separate grains, which sets biryani apart from pulao, where the rice is cooked by absorption.
The word comes from Persian. It is traced back to birinj, rice, or to biriyan, fried or roasted before cooking.
From Mughal Kitchens to Indian Restaurants in Europe
The dish arrived in India with the Mughals, whose court kitchens, strongly influenced by Persia, combined the fragrant rice of Persian pilafs with Indian spices. Their cooks applied dum pukht to it, cooking in a sealed pot: the steam stays trapped inside, and the juices from the meat, the ghee and the herbs soak into the rice.
Each region then created its own. In Hyderabad, kacchi biryani layers raw meat under the rice and cooks everything together. Awadhi biryani is milder, the Kolkata version adds potatoes and Sindhi biryani is spicier. Indian restaurants in Europe and America almost all serve the pakki version, which is more consistent: the meat is already cooked when the layers go in, and the rice stays separate.
The Main Ingredients in Chicken Biryani
The chicken is a mix of drumsticks and thighs, bone-in and skinless: the bone keeps the meat juicy and flavors the rice. It marinates in thick, mild whole-milk yogurt with a paste of garlic, ginger and green chiles, lemon juice, cilantro and mint. The rice is aged long-grain basmati, rinsed, soaked, then cooked in plenty of salted water with green cardamom, cinnamon and cloves.
Biryani masala, a spice blend sold in Indian grocery stores, is what makes the dish taste like biryani rather than curry. Kashmiri chili colors the marinade without too much heat, along with turmeric and ground coriander. At assembly, saffron steeped in warm milk, kewra water and a pinch of food coloring marble the rice with yellow and orange.
The fried onions, known as birista, are the dishโs signature. Fried until deep golden, they crisp up as they cool. Two-thirds go into the marinade along with their frying oil and the ghee, and the rest goes between the layers and on top. Donโt cut back on the oil and ghee: they give the rice its richness and keep it from sticking.
Technical Tips for a Good Biryani
The rice comes out of the water when it is about 95% cooked, as the grains rise to the surface, and finishes cooking during the dum. The chicken should be cooked in a thick sauce that coats it, without falling off the bone: a sauce that is too thin would make the rice soggy.
The chicken and rice should be ready at about the same time, so you can assemble the biryani while everything is piping hot. Keep the Dutch oven closed during steaming and resting, then serve from the edge to keep the grains whole.
At the table, serve it with a well-chilled raita, some naan and a lassi.
Ingredients
Fried Onions (Birista)
- 400 g onions, thinly sliced
- 700 ml neutral oil, for frying
Chicken Marinade
- 6 large cloves garlic
- 1 piece ginger fresh, 2.5 cm
- 4 green chilies
- 500 g chicken drumsticks, skinless, medium-sized
- 500 g chicken thighs, skinless, medium-sized
- 175 g plain yogurt, thick, whole-milk
- 3 teaspoons Kashmiri chili powder
- 0.75 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 3 teaspoons ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1.5 tablespoons lemon juice
- 5 g cilantro leaves fresh, roughly chopped
- 5 g mint leaves fresh, roughly chopped
- 80 ml oil from frying the onions
- 1 tablespoon ghee, optional but recommended
Chicken Masala
- 0.5 tablespoon biryani masala
Rice
- 400 g basmati rice
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 0.5 tablespoon lemon juice
- 6 pods green cardamom
- 1 piece cinnamon stick 1 cm
- 4 whole cloves
- 1.25 teaspoons salt
- Water, for cooking the rice
Assembly and Dum
- One third of the fried onions, set aside
- 5 tablespoons ghee
- 3 green chilies, slit
- 1 tablespoon ginger julienned
- 8 g fresh mint and cilantro, chopped
- 1 teaspoon biryani masala
- 15 threads saffron
- 2 tablespoons milk warm
- 1.5 teaspoons kewra water, optional
- 0.25 teaspoon powdered food coloring, orange and yellow
Instructions
Fried Onions (Birista)
- Heat the oil over medium heat in a sautรฉ pan or a wide, deep, heavy-bottomed saucepan.700 ml neutral oil,
- Add the sliced onions once the oil is hot.400 g onions,
- Fry for 8 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally so they brown evenly.
- Watch them closely as soon as they start to brown: they should be deep golden but not dark.
- Take them out of the oil before they get too dark, as they keep browning in the residual heat.
- Spread them out on a large platter to cool: they turn crisp as they cool.
- Set aside one third of the fried onions for assembly.One third of the fried onions,
- Save the onion-flavored frying oil.
Chicken Marinade
- Blend the garlic, ginger and green chilies into a smooth paste in a small blender.6 large cloves garlic, 1 piece ginger, 4 green chilies
- Whisk the yogurt.175 g plain yogurt,
- Put the chicken pieces in a large bowl.500 g chicken drumsticks,, 500 g chicken thighs,
- Add the yogurt, the garlic, ginger and chili paste, the Kashmiri chili, turmeric, ground coriander, salt and lemon juice.3 teaspoons Kashmiri chili powder, 0.75 teaspoon ground turmeric, 3 teaspoons ground coriander, 1 teaspoon salt, 1.5 tablespoons lemon juice
- Add the remaining two-thirds of the fried onions and the chopped cilantro and mint.5 g cilantro leaves, 5 g mint leaves
- Pour in the onion frying oil and the ghee.80 ml oil from frying the onions, 1 tablespoon ghee,
- Mix with your hands (wearing gloves) for a good while, until every piece of chicken is well coated.
- Cover and let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 5 to 6 hours.
- Take the chicken out of the refrigerator 30 to 45 minutes before cooking so it cooks evenly and stays tender.
Washing and Soaking the Rice
- Put the rice in a large bowl.400 g basmati rice
- Rinse it under running water, swirling it around and gently rubbing the grains with your fingertips.
- Repeat 3 to 5 times, until the water is almost clear.
- Soak the rice in cool water for 20 to 30 minutes while the chicken cooks.
Chicken Masala and Cooking the Rice
- Put the marinated chicken in a large, heavy-bottomed Dutch oven with a lid: this is the pot you will assemble the biryani in, so it must be big enough to hold both the chicken and the rice.
- Sprinkle the biryani masala over the chicken and stir.0.5 tablespoon biryani masala
- Cook over medium heat for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring often, until the chicken firms up and juices appear in the pot.
- Cover and cook for another 12 to 15 minutes, until the chicken is cooked and the sauce is thick enough to coat it, without the meat falling off the bone.
- Transfer the chicken masala to a dish and set aside.
- While the chicken is cooking, bring a large saucepan of water to a boil with the salt, oil, lemon juice, cardamom, cinnamon and cloves.2 tablespoons oil, 0.5 tablespoon lemon juice, 6 pods green cardamom, 1 piece cinnamon stick, 4 whole cloves, 1.25 teaspoons salt, Water,
- Drain the soaked rice.
- Pour it into the boiling water.
- Stir gently once or twice so it doesn’t stick to the bottom.
- Cook the rice until it is about 95% cooked: at that point the grains rise to the surface of the water.
- Drain the rice in a colander and remove the whole spices.
Assembly and Dum
- Soak the saffron in the warm milk.15 threads saffron, 2 tablespoons milk
- Generously brush the bottom and sides of the pot with ghee.5 tablespoons ghee
- Spread half the rice over the bottom of the pot.
- Sprinkle half the biryani masala over the rice.1 teaspoon biryani masala
- Spread all the chicken masala over the rice.
- Scatter half the chopped herbs and 2 to 3 tablespoons of the reserved fried onions over the chicken.8 g fresh mint and cilantro,
- Cover with the rest of the rice, spreading it out so the chicken is completely hidden.
- Sprinkle the rest of the biryani masala over the rice.
- Scatter over the rest of the fried onions, the slit green chilies, the julienned ginger and the rest of the herbs.3 green chilies,, 1 tablespoon ginger
- Drizzle generously with the rest of the ghee, the kewra water and the saffron milk.1.5 teaspoons kewra water,
- Sprinkle the food coloring over the rice.0.25 teaspoon powdered food coloring,
- Close the pot tightly with its lid, sealing the edge with aluminum foil or a rope of dough (flour and water).
- Let it steam over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes without opening the lid: this is the dum.
- Turn off the heat and let the biryani rest for 20 minutes with the lid on so the rice firms up.
- Open the pot and gently fluff the rice with a flexible spatula, starting from the edge of the pot.
- Serve by scooping the biryani from the edge of the pot with a small saucer or a spatula, so you don’t break the rice grains.
