Hyderabadi chicken biryani is an aromatic, mouth watering and authentic Indian dish with succulent chicken in layers of fluffy rice, fragrant spices and fried onions. It is easier than most recipes while truly retaining the authentic taste and presented step by step. Cook like a native but with more ease!
Goes well with Hyderabadi Tomato Egg Curry and Yogurt Dip with Shallots.
This blog features healthy and delicious recipes, but as detailed in my food philosophy, there are some special times to enjoy our food cravings. Save this rich and delicious step by step biryani recipe prepared in dum style for a festive time!
This easy Hyderabadi chicken biryani dish, can of course be prepared with brown basmati rice, supplemented with quinoa and such.
What is Biryani?
Biryani is a classic Indian mixed rice dish that is part of the Indian Mughlai culinary tradition, which traces its roots to central Asian cuisine and a rich fusion with Indian flavors and techniques.
It is prepared with layers of fluffy basmati rice, marinated meat or chicken, browned onions, cilantro, mint, yogurt, saffron, ghee and spices. Classic biryani can justly be called the crown jewel of Indian cuisine, a dream dish that should not be missed.
What is Hyderabadi Biryani?
Hyderabad, the city of my childhood, is justly famous for its biryani - an addictive delicious rice and meat/chicken dish. And Hyderabadi biryani is by far one of the most popular among the other regional versions.
It includes the use of yogurt, spices, cilantro, mint, saffron, ginger, garlic, lemon juice, chili peppers and fried onions.
There are two versions of Hyderabadi biryani - one called a pakki biryani, for which meat or chicken is fully cooked before layering it with parboiled rice and the final steaming.
The other is the kacchi biryani, for which raw marinated meat or chicken is placed in one single layer in the bottom of cooking pot and then topped with partially cooked rice or raw rice mixed with yogurt and steamed together.
It is the latter kind that I am presenting here, further simplified for ease.
Perfect Biryani Rice
What sets apart biryani from other rice dishes is the texture of the rice grains - fluffy and separate, they almost scatter like pearls. And achieving that texture is one of the challenges faced by many cooks while preparing biryani.
The recipe here overcomes that challenge by showing you exactly how to get that perfect rice grain - every single time!
Why is This Recipe Easier?
- You don't have to cook the chicken separately before layering it with the rice.
- Reliable and easy rice cooking technique for perfectly fluffy rice.
Step by Step Overview
Below is an overview of the cooking process. Full recipe is at the end of post.
- Fried Onions: Slice onions very finely and fry until crisp and light golden brown.
- Chicken Marination: Combine chicken with all marinade ingredients, ⅓ fried onions and ground biryani spice blend.
- Rice Preparation: Rinse basmati rice until clear. Soak ⅓ cup rice in water. Cook remaining rice in rice cooker.
- Assemble Rice and Chicken Layers: Transfer chicken with marinade to a cooking pot. Top with chopped cilantro, mint, half lemon juice, some olive oil and most of the remaining fried onions.
- Add Soaked Rice: Drain and spread it over the chicken.
- Final Rice Layer: Layer all cooked rice. Top with remaining fried onions, lemon juice, saffron water and ghee over the rice.
- Steaming: Cover with parchment paper, followed by aluminum foil and fit the lid tight over it. Bake in oven for one hour, until steam builds up well.
- On Stove top: Alternatively, heat biryani at medium high for 10 to 15 minutes and then simmer at low for one hour until steam builds up well.
- Cool biryani for five minutes. Gently mix rice and chicken and serve.
Biryani Spice Blend
Grind all the spices below into a fine powder and store in airtight container. One fourth of this blend will be enough for the biryani recipe below.
- 4 cinnamon sticks
- 4 black cardamom
- 20 green cardamom
- 1 teaspoon cloves
- 4 large bay leaves
- 4 teaspoons black cumin seeds (shahjeera)
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg (optional)
- ⅛ teaspoon mace (optional)
The most important spices are cardamom, cloves and cinnamon. There are regional variations to the above mix which also include some coriander seeds, cumin seeds etc., but the list of spices above are the dominant ones in traditional biryani spice blends.
Frequently Asked Questions
It is prepared with basmati rice, meat or chicken marinated in yogurt and spices, cilantro, mint, saffron, ginger, garlic, lemon juice, chili peppers and fried onions.
It is best to use a wide and thick bottomed cooking pot over the stove.
If you take a fistful of biryani and throw it on a plate, the rice should scatter as fluffy grains and not clump together. The meat or chicken should be well done, juicy and falling off the bone.
Choose highest quality aged basmati rice from a popular brand. Most popular brands offer a variety of basmati rice, from standard to ultra special. For wide selection, check out larger Indian grocery stores or online.
For traditional method boil rice in lots of salted water, using a ratio of 3 cups of water with 2 teaspoons of salt and 1 cup of rice. For rice cooker method test a ratio of 1¼ to 1½ cups water for 1 cup rice (differs with age of rice).
Rule of thumb is to use equal amounts of rice and chicken by weight, which is 1:1 (one pound rice to one pound chicken). If you want more chicken you can use a ratio of 1:1.5 or 1:2.
Use thinly sliced onions. Fry them in batches using fresh oil, until crisp and light golden brown. Don't let it turn soggy or dark brown. Drain on paper towels.
If using traditional method then cook rice in plenty of salted water just for 4 to 6 minutes until it is parboiled, making sure the grains don't get overcooked. Soak rice prior to cooking to make the grains stronger. Use optimal amount of water. And cook biryani in a wide mouthed cooking pot.
Use chicken on bone. Cook with enough yogurt and juices but don't overcook the meat. Use optimal amount of water for the rice. And if rice is undercooked before steaming, then sprinkle some water all over before placing the lid.
Any water that is collected over marinated chicken should be scooped out and discarded. Do not use too much yogurt. Excess juices can be cooked off by evaporating while stirring on high heat and without the lid. Do not overcook the rice.
Biryani is typically served at festive occasions and considered a complete meal, along with a saucy side dish such as baghare baingan (eggplants in rich sauce), mirch ka salan (chili peppers in creamy sauce) or Hyderabadi Tomato Egg Curry and a yogurt salad called raita.
Biryani is prepared by layering parboiled basmati rice, marinated or cooked meat/chicken, fried onions, fresh herbs, lemon juice, saffron water, etc., and then steaming it together. The final dish will have fluffy rice grains in a variety of colors from the absorption of spices, juices and saffron.
Indian pulao (pilaf) is prepared as a one pot dish. Sauteed onions, spices, meat or chicken, herbs and measured amount of water or stock are all cooked together until well done. The rice grains will have a uniform color from the mixture of spices and juices.
The mouthfeel and taste of biryani and pulao are expected to be quite different.
More Rice Recipes:
- Persian style lentil cranberry rice
- Saffron rice with chicken, yogurt and spinach
- Persian shrimp rice
- Persian green bean rice
★ DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE? PLEASE COMMENT AND GIVE IT A STAR RATING BELOW!
Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani
Ingredients
FRIED ONIONS
- ¾ lb onions yellow, finely sliced
- 1½ cups peanut oil
CHICKEN MARINATION
- 1½ lb chicken with bone, cut and clean
- ⅔ cup yogurt plain
- 1½ tbsp ginger garlic paste or grated ginger and garlic
- 1 tsp salt adjust per taste
- 1 tsp chili powder
- ½ tsp turmeric ground
- 1 chili pepper jalapeno, serrano or cayenne, adjust per taste
SPICES (see note)
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 black cardamom
- 5 green cardamom
- 5 cloves
- 1 bay leaves large
- 1 tsp shah Jeera see note
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
BIRYANI
- 2 cups basmati rice long grain
- 1 tsp salt adjust per taste
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- ¼ cup cilantro fresh, chopped
- 2 tbsp mint fresh, chopped
- 1 tsp saffron ground and dissolved in 2 tbsp hot water
- 2 tbsp ghee optional
WHOLE SPICES FOR RICE
Instructions
FRIED ONIONS
- Heat oil at medium high in a wide frying pan. If you place your palm about 3 inches over the surface of oil, you should feel the heat. Or use a candy/fry thermometer.
- Fry onions in batches. Do not crowd the pan. Fry until crisp light golden brown. Set aside.
CHICKEN MARINATION
- Combine chicken with all marinade ingredients and ⅓ of fried onions. TIP: Add yogurt, starting with ½ cup and increase as needed to ¾ cup. The mixture should be thick and not runny.
- Grind biryani spices in a spice grinder. Add to chicken marinade and combine. Marinate for about 3 to 5 hours.
RICE PREPARATION WITH RICE COOKER
- Rinse rice 4 to 5 times in lots of water until it is clear. Drain well. Soak ⅓ cup basmati rice in water for one hour. Save the rest.
- Bring 2¼ cups of water to a rolling boil in a rice cooker. Add ¾ teaspoon salt, 1½ tablespoons olive oil and whole spices (see note). Then add remaining 1⅔ cups basmati rice and stir. Let it cook just until all the water is absorbed (see notes).
- It is important to NOT let the rice steam until it is fully done. Just when all the water is well absorbed, transfer cooked rice immediately to another wide open pan. In my rice cooker the whole process takes about 15 to 20 minutes.
ASSEMBLY OF RICE AND CHICKEN LAYERS
- Transfer chicken with marinade to a 4 to 5 quart wide thick bottomed oven proof cooking pot (9 to 10 inch diameter). Make sure there is not too much marinade around chicken pieces and that it is not runny.
- Scatter cilantro, mint, half the lemon juice and ½ tablespoon olive oil over the chicken/marinade. Then scatter most of the fried onions.
- Drain the soaked basmati rice very well and spread it over the fried onion layer. (This raw soaked rice will get cooked with the juices from chicken).
- Next, layer all the cooked rice. Top with remaining lemon juice, saffron water, fried onions and ghee.TIP: If you prefer, you may pick out the whole spices from cooked rice before steaming.
FINAL STEAMING
- Place one sheet of parchment paper, followed by one to two sheets of aluminum foil over the cooking pot. Place the lid tight over it. Bake biryani in a preheated oven at 350ºF for one hour, until steam builds up well.
- Alternatively, it can be cooked on a stove in a thick bottomed cooking pot. Heat the biryani at medium high for about 10 to 15 minutes and then reduce to low and cook for one hour until steam builds up well.
- Let it cool five minutes and gently mix rice and chicken. Using a spatula mound the biryani on a serving plate, making sure to present the rice in various colors - white, yellow, orange and brown. Place some chicken pieces on the top. Scatter browned onions, chopped herbs and extra saffron rice on top.
- Serve chicken biryani with Hyderabadi tomato egg curry and/or raita prepared with creamy yogurt, chopped red onions, deseeded jalapenos and cilantro.
Notes
- Rinse basmati rice several times until the water is clear and not starchy.
- Perfectly fluffy rice grain is essential for the taste of biryani.
- Basmati rice typically will need less water than other long grain rice varieties to yield fluffy cooked rice.
- Rice cooker: use minimal water to cook the rice. With a new batch of basmati rice, test 1 ¼ to 1 ½ cups water per cup of rice and check what works.
- Aged basmati rice will give the best results and is more fragrant.
- Additional moisture: Keep in mind moisture from other ingredients such as the chicken, herbs and yogurt. So the cooked rice should be fluffy, separate, retain shape well, not too wet and delicate. The soaked rice should be drained very well. Chicken should be just lightly coated with the marinade. If the marinade is excessive it can result in the rice becoming soggy.
- Slice onions finely: I used the 7.5 mm setting on my mandolin slicer.
- Adjust oil as needed: If frying directions are followed properly, then oil absorbed by onions should be about 1½ tablespoons. But if not followed, then more oil will be absorbed and amount needed should be adjusted.
- Alternative to frying onions: If you are unable to fry onions then saute them until crisp golden brown like in this Persian noodle soup recipe and adjust oil used for rice and chicken.
- Branded biryani spice mixes may include salt and chili powder. If using that, then salt and chili powder should be adjusted. I do not use commercial biryani spice mix, but have been told that the Shaan Sindhi biryani mix can be a close substitute. It is spicy so use carefully.
- Chicken: It is best to use whole chicken, with bone, cut and clean. You may use chicken leg quarters or thighs too, but avoid chicken breast as it will be too dry.
- Optimal amount of salt and oil is very important. If everything else is perfect and you don't use right amount of salt, that alone can ruin the taste of biryani. I use a minimum of 2 tablespoons of oil per cup of raw rice, as there are additional ingredients - chicken, onions, etc.
- Whole spices can also be cooked wrapped in a muslin cloth, like the one used for boquet garni or a metal mesh cooking infuser. If using whole spices for the marinade, just double the amount of spices in the recipe. When whole spices are ground, the flavors are more intense.
- Make Ahead: Chicken can be mixed with the marinade a day before. Make the fried onions ahead.
- Storage and Freezing: Biryani freezes beautifully. Leftovers can be stored in refrigerator for 3 to 4 days or frozen for later.
- Scale Recipe: Click on number of servings and slide. Adjust the cooking pot size.
- Ghee: It is available at many supermarkets and Indian grocery stores. You can easily make it at home from butter following the instructions in this chickpea cookie recipe notes section.
- Shajeera: These are referred to as black cumin or black caraway seeds in Indian stores. The labeling is not consistent. Ask your Indian grocer for “shahjeera”.
Nutrition
More Indian Recipes:
This post was first published on May 1st 2016 and has been updated with improvements in recipe formatting, tips, FAQs and additional enhancements.
Medha
Great recipe and the steps are clearly detailed. My Biryani turned out great. Do you have a Biryani recipe with lamb? Thank you!
Roxana Begum
Thanks for your feedback. I plan to post one :)
Peter
Hi Dr. Begum. I've made this a couple of times, and it's always amazing. My family loves it too. It reminds me of the kind of Biryani I've had when I visited India. I wanted to try to make it with Lamb the next time. Do you have any specific tips or suggestions for making this with Lamb?
Thanks!
Peter
Roxana Begum
Thanks for your nice feedback. For lamb biryani, choose shoulder or leg meat. Avoid overly mature stock (meat that cooks under 1½ hours is great). And marinate it overnight with raw unripe papaya paste (for tenderizing meat, 2 tablespoons per 2 lbs) and other marinade ingredients. If the lamb meat you have is known to take longer to cook, then I would cook the meat and marinade partially on low heat and then add the rice on top and proceed.
fromDallas
About how much of the biriyani spice mix should I use if subbing for whole spices?
Roxana Begum
One fourth of the blend will be fine.
Ricardo Dell'Aera
Very easy-to-follow recipe. The outcome was just as expected. No unpleasant surprises. I have enjoyed this dish and feel more confident to cook it again in the future!
Thank you very much for all the energy you have put in explaining so clearly the steps to attain the final result!
FromLA
Biriyani is my favorite dish and over the years I must have tried recipes from more than 50 food blogs and YouTube vlogs. And never once succeeded until today with this recipe. It came out quite good, the texture, smell and taste. I can’t tell you how happy I feel now. Your tips are amazing and instructions very simple to follow. Thank you thank you so much!!! You are awesome :)
Roxana Begum
So happy :) Thanks for sharing.
Terri
Just made this. I lived in Mauritius for ten years and often had excellent biryani. I have to say I prefer this version as it wasn’t overly rich. Only comment I have is that I would par cook the rice less...maybe just 8 mins or so. Great recipe - will definitely make it again!!
Sel
Do you remove the husks of the black and green cardamom before grinding them in the spice grinder?
Roxana Begum
While grinding I may stop in between and remove a few.
Sri
My first attempt to make a chicken dum Biryani and it came out so well that I myself was surprised. And it is so simple to make. Thanks for getting Biryani making to a simple process. Cannot describe how happy I am
LADB
💯💯💯💯💯💯
Will
I unfortunately cant find any black cumin at this moment and was hoping to try this tomorrow. Are there any good alternatives that I could use? I have regular whole cumin seeds.
Thanks in advance. Excited to try it!
Roxana Begum
Shahjeera has a distinct flavor different than regular cumin. You can skip that and add 2 extra cloves to your spice blend.
Geetika
Im so excited to make this. One question: if I do not have a rice cooker do you recommend that step in instapot or on the stove?
Roxana Begum
Sure you can make the rice on stove or any other method making sure to keep it fluffy and slightly par cooked. After assembly it will cook completely via steaming.
Lisandra
HOLU COW!
For years I have been struggling to make Biryani, I had given up for a few years and recently decided to give it another try, I came across 2 other recipes that I considered but then found this! For the first time my Biryani came out beautifully and smells so authentic. I’ve screen shorter and printed this out for my folder of recipes because I never ever want to lose this. Thank you so much for such detailed explanations.
Roxana Begum
So happy you liked it :)
jasmine
Just trying it out today and so excited 😃. Quick question, when you say cinnamon stick, what length is that? I have really long cinnamon stick and I'm not sure how much to use. Thanks!
Roxana Begum
About 3 to 4 inches.