Easy chicken biryani recipe
Traditional biryanis can take a lot of time to prepare, from marinating the meat to soaking and part-cooking the rice, before assembling the dish to be steamed while enclosed in a dough-sealed pot. This version is a whole lot simpler, without sacrificing the flavours of this celebratory dish.
To speed things up and ensure you get beautiful individual grains of rice, pre-soak your basmati rice in warm water. This swells the rice and reduces the cooking time. I use an all-in-one cooking method, removing the need to pre-cook the rice. Cutting the chicken into bite-size chunks means it cooks quickly and the flavour of the spices can be absorbed all over.
Many biryani recipes call for crispy fried onions or shallots. Buy them pre-made in the World Food aisle of stores or in Asian supermarkets.
Ingredients
- 400 g basmati rice
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp light-flavoured oil
- 1 onion, thinly sliced
- 1 green finger chilli, chopped
- 6 cardamom pods, bashed
- 5 cm (2in) piece of cinnamon stick, broken in half
- 5 cm (2in) piece of fresh root ginger, grated
- 4 garlic cloves, grated
- 2 tsp garam masala
- 3 tsp ground cumin
- 0.5 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- 6 skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
- 50 g crispy fried onions
- 750 –850 ml (25–28 floz/ 3–3½ cups) boiling water
- 1 handful coriander (cilantro), chopped
- 1 handful toasted flaked (slivered) almonds
- 1 pinch each of fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 4 dollops of natural yogurt, to serve (optional)
- 14.1 oz basmati rice
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp light-flavoured oil
- 1 onion, thinly sliced
- 1 green finger chilli, chopped
- 6 cardamom pods, bashed
- 5 cm (2in) piece of cinnamon stick, broken in half
- 5 cm (2in) piece of fresh root ginger, grated
- 4 garlic cloves, grated
- 2 tsp garam masala
- 3 tsp ground cumin
- 0.5 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- 6 skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
- 1.8 oz crispy fried onions
- 750 –850 ml (25–28 floz/ 3–3½ cups) boiling water
- 1 handful coriander (cilantro), chopped
- 1 handful toasted flaked (slivered) almonds
- 1 pinch each of fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 4 dollops of natural yogurt, to serve (optional)
- 14.1 oz basmati rice
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp light-flavoured oil
- 1 onion, thinly sliced
- 1 green finger chilli, chopped
- 6 cardamom pods, bashed
- 5 cm (2in) piece of cinnamon stick, broken in half
- 5 cm (2in) piece of fresh root ginger, grated
- 4 garlic cloves, grated
- 2 tsp garam masala
- 3 tsp ground cumin
- 0.5 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- 6 skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
- 1.8 oz crispy fried onions
- 750 –850 ml (25–28 floz/ 3–3½ cups) boiling water
- 1 handful coriander (cilantro), chopped
- 1 handful toasted flaked (slivered) almonds
- 1 pinch each of fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 4 dollops of natural yogurt, to serve (optional)
Details
- Cuisine: Indian
- Recipe Type: Rice
- Difficulty: Easy
- Preparation Time: 10 mins
- Cooking Time: 35 mins
- Serves: 4
Step-by-step
- Soak the rice in a large bowl of warm water for 15 minutes, then drain and rinse under cold running water until the water runs clear. Put the kettle on to boil.
- Meanwhile, heat the butter and oil in a deep frying pan (skillet) or a flameproof casserole dish (Dutch oven) set over a medium heat. Fry the onion, chilli, cardamom pods and cinnamon stick for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix the grated ginger and garlic with the dried spices, ½ teaspoon salt and a generous grinding of black pepper. Add the chicken and massage the spice mix into the meat.
- Add the chicken to the pan and fry for 5 minutes until the chicken has changed colour and the spices are fragrant.
- Stir in half of the crispy fried onions and season really well.
- Scatter the rice over the chicken in an even layer, then pour over the boiling water and add ½ teaspoon salt. The rice should be just submerged under the water. Agitate the rice with a spoon but don’t stir.
- Bring to the boil and cook for 6 minutes. Cover with foil and a tight-fitting lid to seal in the steam, then turn off the heat and leave to stand, undisturbed, for 10 minutes.
- Remove the lid and foil and sprinkle with the remaining fried onions, coriander leaves and flaked almonds. Serve immediately with yogurt on the side if you like.
This recipe is from The Shortcut Cook by Rosie Reynolds (Hardie Grant, £15). Photography by Louise Hagger.
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