How to Make Easy Chicken Biryani- Easy Biryani Recipe
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients
To coarsely grind
  • Ginger, chopped- 2 inch slice
  • Garlic- 4 large cloves
  • Green chilies- 3 or 4
  • Whole cardamom- 2
  • Whole cloves- 2
  • Whole cinnamon- 2 inch slice
For making Chicken Masala
  • Chicken, bone in pieces- 12 to 15 pieces
  • Onion, chopped thin and fried- 5 ( pan fry till golden brown in little oil or deep fry onions)
  • Tomatoes, chopped- 2, medium
  • Bay leaves- 2
  • Cumin seeds- ½ tsp
  • Chili powder- 1 tsp or based on your needs
  • Turmeric powder- ¼ tsp
  • Fennel powder- 2 tsp
  • Coriander powder- 1½ tsp
  • Garam masala- ½ tsp
  • Lemon juice- 1 tbsp
  • Yogurt- ¼ cup, not sour
  • Cilantro, chopped- ¼ cup
  • Fresh mint leaves, chopped- 12 leaves
  • Salt- to taste
For cooking Rice
  • Basmati rice- 2 cups
  • Whole cardamom- 2
  • Whole cloves- 2
  • Bay leaves- 2
  • Turmeric powder- ¼ tsp
  • Salt- to taste
  • Ghee- 2 tbsp (optional)
  • Water- 3 cups ( for cooking in rice cooker)
For garnishing
  • Roasted cashew nuts- ¼ cup
  • Saffron, soaked in 1 tbsp milk or water- 2 pinches
  • Ghee- 2 to 3 tbsp
Instructions
  1. Half the onions and slice them vertically long and thin. You could slice it in a food processor using the slicer attachment.
  2. You could either pan fry the onions till golden brown color in 3 to 4 tbsp oil or deep fry.
  3. I pan fried the onions till golden brown, transfer the fried onions to a kitchen paper towel, keep aside.
  4. In a food processor: grind the ginger, garlic, chilies, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon coarsely, keep aside.
  5. In a large pan combine the chicken pieces, fried onion, coarsely ground ginger/garlic/chilies/spices mix and all the other ingredients mentioned above for making chicken masala.
  6. Cover the pan with a plastic wrap and let marinate in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours.
  7. After 3 hours, place the pan over medium low heat and cook covered for 30 to 40 minutes till the chicken has cooked well.
  8. Open the lid, combine well and cook till the gravy has thickened.
  9. Remove from the heat and keep covered.
  10. While the chicken is marinating you could cook the rice.
  11. In a rice cooker bowl, combine all the above mentioned ingredients for cooking rice and cook till water has absorbed well.
  12. Or cook the rice in a saucepan, add water accordingly and make sure not to over cook or make the rice mushy.
  13. In a bowl, soak saffron in 1 tbsp water or milk for 5 minutes.
  14. Roast cashew nuts in 1 tbsp ghee.
  15. In a large pan, layer half of the chicken masala as the bottom layer, top with half of the rice, sprinkle half of the soaked saffron, half of the cashew nuts and 1 tbsp ghee.
  16. Again layer the chicken masala and rice as the top most layer, garnish the remaining saffron, cashew nuts and ghee.
  17. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil and close with its lid.
  18. Place the pan over low heat and slow cook for 15 to 20 minutes.
  19. Or place it in the oven: Pre heat oven to the lowest temperature, turn off the heat and then place the biryani (taken in an oven proof pan) in the oven for 15 minutes.
  20. After 15 to 20 minutes of slow cooking, remove the pan from the heat and keep it covered for sometime.
  21. Before serving, combine the rice and chicken masala together, serve with raita, pickle, pappadam etc.
  22. Leftover biryani can be placed in the refrigerator, before serving warm it in the microwave, biryani tastes delicious the next day.
Notes
For a healthy version: Pan fry the onions in little oil and avoid adding ghee while layering
Recipe by Cooking with Thas - Smart Cooking, Smart Living at https://thasneen.com/cooking/how-to-make-easy-chicken-biryani-easy-biryani-recipe/