Chicken biryani is a delicious Pakistani/Indian rice dish that's typically reserved for special occasions such as weddings, parties, or holidays such as Ramadan. It has a lengthy preparation, but the work is definitely worth it. For biryani, basmati rice is the ideal variety to use.
Ingredients
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4 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
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4 small potatoes, peeled and halved
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2 large onions, finely chopped
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2 cloves garlic, minced
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1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root
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2 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped
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1 teaspoon salt
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1 teaspoon ground cumin
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½ teaspoon chili powder
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½ teaspoon ground black pepper
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½ teaspoon ground turmeric
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2 tablespoons plain yogurt
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2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves
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½ teaspoon ground cardamom
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1 (2 inch) piece cinnamon stick
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3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken pieces cut into chunks
Rice:
Instructions
- Gather all ingredients.
- all ingredients gathered to make chicken Biryani.
- DOTDASH MEREDITH FOOD STUDIOS
- Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet. Fry potatoes in hot oil until lightly browned, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate to drain; set aside.
- potatoes fried in hot oil until lightly browned, then placed on a paper towel-lined plate to drain.
- Add remaining 2 tablespoons of oil to the skillet. Add onions, garlic, and fresh ginger; cook and stir until onion is soft and golden. Add tomatoes, salt, cumin, chili powder, pepper, and turmeric; cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes.
- onions, garlic, ginger, tomatoes and seasonings added to skillet, stirring constantly.
- Stir in yogurt, mint, ground cardamom, and cinnamon stick. Cover and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes are cooked to a pulp. It may be necessary to add a little hot water if mixture becomes too dry and starts to stick to the pan.
- yogurt, ground cardamom, mint, cinnamon stick and hot water added to skillet, cooking until tomatoes turn to pulp.
- Add chicken and stir well to coat. Cover and cook over very low heat until chicken is tender, 35 to 45 minutes. There should only be a little very thick gravy left when chicken is finished cooking. If necessary cook uncovered for a few minutes to reduce the gravy.
- chicken added to skillet, mixing well and cooking until gravy is thickened.
- Meanwhile, make the rice: Wash rice well and drain in a colander for at least 30 minutes.
- rice washed and draining in a colander.
- Heat oil in a large skillet. Add onion; cook and stir until golden. Add cardamom pods, cloves, cinnamon stick, ground ginger, and saffron; stir in rice until coated with spices.
- onions, cardamom pods, cloves, cinnamon stick, ground ginger and saffron mixed together with rice added, stirring until rice is coated with spices.
- Heat stock and salt in a medium pot until hot; pour over rice and stir well.
- stock poured over rice, stirring well.
- Add chicken mixture and potatoes; stir gently to combine. Bring to a boil.
- chicken mixture and potatoes added into the pot, stirring to combine and coming to a boil.
- Reduce heat to very low, cover with a tight-fitting lid, and steam for 20 minutes without lifting the lid or stirring.
- pot covered with a lid to steam for 20 minutes.
- spoon biryani onto a warm serving dish.
- close up on a bowl of chicken Biryani, garnished with chopped mint leaves.