Mama’s Chicken Biryani
I know. A little while ago I created a debate around Pulao being better than Biryani, and now I’m sending you a Biryani recipe. BUT, I never said Biryani isn’t a great rice dish. In fact, it’s a staple in Pakistani / Indian cuisines. Desi cooking is already intimidating enough, but Biryani always seemed so much more involved with all of the layers, mixtures, steaming processes.
However, I gave my mom’s recipe a go and used my dad’s herb trick, and now I can confidently say that this Biryani is not only a pretty easy, doable dish to execute, but it turned out incredibly flavorful and aromatic as well! It was also really fun to make so I hope you give this recipe a chance too!
Ingredients:
Rice – 1-2 cups (washed & soaked)
Chicken – 1 whole, cut into pieces (or ~2 lbs)
Onions – 2 medium, sliced
Garlic & Ginger Paste – 2 tsp each
Biryani Masala – ½ packet ( Shan Biryani Packet; use the full packet for more spice) - Below, you’ll find a breakdown of the herbs and spices typically used in biryani seasoning if you opt in to make your own!
Tomatoes – 2 medium, chopped
Yogurt – 4 tbsp
Salt – to taste
Yellow Food Color – pinch (optional)
Optional Add-ins – lemon/lime slices, tomato slices, fresh mint leaves (podina), dried plums (aloo bukhara), fresh cilantro for layering
Instructions:
Step 1: Prep the Rice
Wash and soak your rice for 20–30 minutes.
In a large pot, boil water with a pinch of salt.
Add the rice and cook until it’s just shy of fully done. For this recipe, I actually just cooked my rice to fully done and let it cool while I worked on the chicken masala mixture.
Step 2: Cook the Chicken Masala
In a large pan or pot, heat oil and add sliced onions and fry until golden brown. This can take up to 7-10 minutes.
Stir in garlic and ginger paste, cooking for 1–2 minutes.
Add chicken pieces and fry until they start to color.
Sprinkle in ½ packet biryani masala (or more for extra spice) and mix well. I used the Shan Biryani (Bombay Biryani) pre-blend. However, at the bottom of this recipe, I’ve listed out how you can make your own biryani masala seasoning. Biryani seasoning consists of a blend of whole and ground spices, herbs, and aromatics. If you’re in a hurry, using the pre-blended seasoning packets works well too!
Add chopped tomatoes and cook on high heat for a few minutes until softened.
Stir in yogurt and mix until the masala is well combined.
Step 3: Herb Flavor Infusion (optional) - My Dad’s Trick!
While the chicken masala is cooking, submerge mint leaves, whole green chillies, lemon/lime wedges, and/or aloo bukhara in a bowl of water. Set aside fresh cilantro to mix into the layers and to top the dish off at the end (not in the water)
Let them soak in the water as this softens the dried plums, and helps the flavor and aroma develop when we steam these with the chicken masala and rice in the next step.
Step 3: Layer the Biryani
In a pot, layer the chicken masala at the bottom and spread the cooked rice evenly on top.
Repeat with the chicken / rice layers, while adding in your herb-combo in between the layers. I did about two layers of the chicken and rice.
This is completely optional, but if you want, sprinkle a pinch of yellow food color on the top layer of rice to give it that restaurant style biryani look when you go to mix and serve later.
Step 4: Dum (Steam) Cooking
Cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid.
Cook on very low heat for about 15 minutes to let the aroma and flavor develop in the steam before you’re ready to serve!
Below you’ll find the ingredients to create your own at-home biryani spice blend. You might have already have some of these ingredients, but this is the BEST alternative to the store-bought spice blends and can help you avoid extra preservatives and fillers. These are also dependent on the type of biryani you’re making. Each region in Pakistan and India has their own style of biryani (for example, Hyderabadi Biryani vs. Bombay style vs. Others!). However, if you’e in a pinch or don’t have access to these ingredients, then the store-bought blend works wonderfully!
Whole Spices (for aroma & depth)
Cumin seeds, Green cardamom pods, Black cardamom pods, Cloves, Cinnamon stick, Bay leaves, Black peppercorns, Nutmeg, Star anise
Ground Spices (for flavor & color)
Coriander powder, Cumin powder, Turmeric powder, Red chilli powder, Garam masala
Herbs & Fresh Aromatics
Fresh mint leaves, Fresh cilantro (coriander leaves), Green chillies, Ginger & garlic , Saffron (optional)