How to Make a Chicken Biryani

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: March 10, 2023 Tested

Biryani is a classic Indian dish that is often served at weddings and celebrations. However, it is a common dish to occasionally be made at home for dinner as well. Making a chicken biryani is a lengthy process but once you taste the mixture of the chicken, spices, and rice, you will know that all your efforts were totally with it!

Prep time: 5 hours (active prep: 30 minutes)
Cook time: 60 minutes
Total time: 6 hours

Ingredients

Fried Onions

2 medium-sized onions, chopped/sliced
1/2 cup of oil to fry the onions (sunflower oil, canola oil, or vegetable oil)

Chicken Marinade

2 lbs of Chicken on the bone cut into large parts (8-10 pieces)
2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 tbsp red chili powder
Salt - to taste (approximately 1 tsp)
1 cup yogurt
1 tsp Garam Masala powder
1 tsp green cardamom powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 cup of fried brown onions
4 tbsp melted ghee (clarified butter)
1/4 cup of freshly chopped coriander leaves (cilantro)
10-15 mint leaves (no stalk)
2-4 green chilies (broken or cut)
1 tbsp lemon juice

The Rice

2 cups of basmati rice
8 cups of water
2 one inch pieces of cinnamon
5-6 whole peppercorns (to taste)
5 green cardamoms
2 black cardamoms
3 cloves
2 pieces of cinnamon
1 bay leaf
1 piece of mace
1 tsp of ghee
1/2 tsp of salt

Chapati Dough

2 cups of wholemeal chapati flour
1 cup of water

Saffron Mixture

1/4 tsp saffron
2 tbsp milk

Other Ingredients

5-7 tbsp of ghee clarified butter (to drizzle atop the biryani before pressure cooking)
Handful of cashews (optional)
Handful of golden raisins (optional)
Rose water (optional)

Part 1

Part 1 of 4:

Making the Fried Onions

1
Heat the oil in the pan. Start with the stove heat on high to get the oil nice and hot, quickly. The onions should sizzle when you put them in the pan with the oil.
- Once you see oil evaporating a little bit, the oil is ready for the onions.
2
Add your onions to the oil. It's easier to fry onions in smaller portions, so for 2 sliced onions, you can try frying 3 batches or so.^{[1]
X
Research source}

Advertisement
3
Reduce the flame to medium. Deep fry the onions on medium heat until they turn a golden brown. This should take about 10-20 minutes.
- While they are sizzling in the oil, gently mix the onions around to keep all of them coated, and to disperse the heat and oil evenly.
- If the flame is very high the onions will burn on the outside and remain watery on the inside.
4
Take out the onions from the pan. Use a big, perforated spoon (a spoon with holes in it for drainage) to removes the onions from the pan once they are golden brown. You want a perforated spoon to drain out excess oil.
- Place the onions on a plate with a paper towel on it, to absorb the rest of the excess oil. Put the onions aside for later.

Part 2

Part 2 of 4:

Making The Chicken Marinade

1
Put the chicken in a bowl or pan. The bowl or pan needs to be big enough so there is enough room to mix the chicken in with the marinade, and have the marinade coat the chicken completely.
- Keep the chicken in big pieces, and on the bone. Keeping the chicken on the bone will create a stock once the chicken is being cooked, adding a nice, full flavor to the biryani.
2
Add the spices and powders to the chicken. One by one add the marinade ingredients to the chicken:
- Ginger garlic paste - 2 tbsp
- Red chili powder - 1 tbsp
- Salt - to taste (approximately 1 tsp)
- Yogurt - 1 cup
- Garam Masala Powder - 1 tsp
- Green cardamom powder - 1 tsp
- Cumin powder - 1 tsp
- Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
- Fried brown onions - 1 cup
- Ghee (clarified butter) - 4 tbsp
- Freshly chopped coriander leaves (cilantro) - 1/4 cup
- Mint leaves (no stalk) 10-15
- 2-4 green chilies (broken or cut)
- Lemon juice - 1 tbsp
3
Mix your ingredients. Mix all the ingredients until they are dispersed thoroughly, and the chicken pieces are completely covered with the marinade mixture. Once the chicken is coated with all the spices and flavorings, let it marinade.
- There is a wide range of how long you can let the chicken marinade. You can marinade the chicken overnight to ensure the chicken absorbs all the flavors, or you can marinade it for less time. However, give the chicken a minimum of 4 hours to marinade to set in.^{[2]
  X
  Research source}
4
Refrigerate the chicken. Once you are finished with the marinading the chicken, cover and place the chicken in the refrigerator, and work on the other parts of the biryani.

Part 3

Part 3 of 4:

Preparing The Rice

1
Soak the rice. Rinse the rice with cool water to remove some of the outermost starch, and then allow it to continue soaking in the water. Let the rice soak between 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- For biryani, you want to use basmati rice to give the fullest flavor to the dish.
2
Bring 8 cups of water to a boil. This is the water you are going to cook the rice in. The water must be boiling before you add the rice.
3
Add the rice. Along with the rice, add some other ingredients to give the rice a full flavor, and prevent the rice from sticking:^{[3]
X
Research source}
- 5 green cardamoms
- 2 black cardamoms
- 3 cloves
- 2 pieces of cinnamon
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 piece of mace
- 1 tsp of ghee
- 1/2 tsp of salt
4
Stir the added ingredients. Stir the ingredients to make sure they are all mixed in, and then cover the rice boil it for 8-10 minutes or until the rice is cooked half to three quarters of the way. Once the rice is cooked half to three quarters, you can take out the whole ingredients you added earlier (cloves, cardamoms, etc.)
5
Check the consistency of the rice. Since the rice should only be cooked half to a quarter of the way when you take it off the stove, the grains should be soft on the outside but still hard in the middle.
- This is because the rest of the rice gets cooked on dum (when you layer the chicken and rice, seal it with dough around the edges to lock in the steam, and put it on a very low flame).
- You can tell how cooked the rice is by taking a grain and pressing it with your fingers. The rice should break apart into pieces, but still have a hard texture to it. If it is soft and mushes in your fingers, you have cooked it too much.^{[4]
  X
  Research source}
6
Turn off the heat. Turn off the heat once you rice is cooked half to three quarters of the way, and let it sit. The hot water will cook the rice a little bit more, without cooking it too much.^{[5]
X
Research source}
7
Prepare the saffron milk. Add 1/4 tsp saffron to 2 tbsp of warm milk and let it soak for approximately 15 minutes. This saffron mixture will go on top of the rice when you are preparing to cook the final part of the biryani and it will give a nice flavoring.
8
Prepare the sealing dough. Place 2 cups of chapati flour in a bowl and add approximately 3/4 cup of lukewarm water. Stir until the mixture forms a soft dough.
- If the dough is dry and isn't really mixing well, you can add 1-2 tablespoons of water.
- Knead the dough by pushing on it with your knuckles and heels of your hands. Make sure your hands are damp with water while doing this so the dough doesn't stick to your skin. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes to ensure it is fully mixed together.

Part 4

Part 4 of 4:

Preparing The Biryani

1
Place chicken into a thick bottom pot. Traditionally, biryani is cooked in an Indian cooking pot called a biryani handi, but any thick bottom pot will work just fine.^{[6]
X
Research source} A non-stick pot/handi works best.
- Spread the chicken so each piece of chicken is touching the bottom and/or sides of the pot. This will help ensure that each piece of chicken gets cooked thoroughly.
2
Spread the rice. The rice that you cooked earlier is now ready to be added to the chicken. Create a layer of rice, adding about half of the rice on top of the chicken.
- With your perforated spoon, pack the rice firmly into the pot. It is okay if some water comes along with the rice, it will help things cook with the steam.
- On top of the rice, sprinkle on fried onions(approximately 2 tbsp), chopped coriander leaves(approximately 1tbsp), and mint leaves (approximately 8-10).^{[7]
  X
  Research source} You can also sprinkle on cashew or golden raisins, but these are optional.
3
Add the next layer of rice. This is the second, and final layer of rice you will be adding to the biryani. Once the rest of the rest is spread evenly, add on the rest of the brown onions (approximately 1 tbsp), a little bit more coriander leaves (approximately 1/2 tbsp), mint leaves (3-5), the saffron milk mixture, and approximately 6 tbsp of ghee.^{[8]
X
Research source}
- An alternative and optional topping is adding some rose water. Just add about 1/2 a capful, and sprinkle it over the top of the biryani.^{[9]
  X
  Research source}
4
Put the lid on the pot upside down. Roll the chapati dough into long pieces and put the dough on the edges of the pot's upside down lid.^{[10]
X
Research source} You add the chapati dough to the edges of the lid, so when you turn the lid right side up, the dough seals the pot so the chicken and rice can steam cook together.
- Press lightly but firmly to make sure the lid is secure and tight.
- You can add a weight to the lid to ensure that it stays sealed, but usually if you use the dough, it is sealed good enough.
5
Cook the biryani. Keep the biryani cooking for about 5-10 on high flame. Then, take the pot off the flame, put a cooking plate on the flame, and place the pot back on the flame with the cooking plate.
- This is the safest method to cook the biryani and make sure the biryani doesn't burn because of the direct contact with the heat.^{[11]
  X
  Research source}
- After about 35 switch off the flame, but don't open the biryani yet. Let the biryani sit for another 10 minutes.
6
Carefully remove the pot's top. The dough will be a little cooked and hardened, but crack through it, and take of the top to check the biryani.
- A lot of steam will come out so be careful not to burn yourself.
- Slowly stick a large spoon on the inside side of the hand and lift to get the bottom layers of the rice out. Then, as you work your way down, bring up a piece of chicken. The pieces of chicken should have a brown coloring.
7
Enjoy! Usually, biryani is eaten with your hands, and is served with raita, a cold, refreshing, yogurt condiment.^{[12]
X
Research source}

Chicken Biryani Shopping List and Recipe

Sample Chicken Biryani Shopping List

Sample Chicken Biryani Recipe

Community Q&A

Question

What if I don't have ghee?

Community Answer

No problem. You can cook it with available vegetable oil. Ghee will provide an added and authentic flavour for briyani
Question

Can briyani be cooked in a rice cooker?

Community Answer

Yes, you may use rice cooker instead, which would reduce over all cooking time.
Question

How long can be chicken kept in marinating stage? What if I marinate it at night and refrigerate, and then cook in the morning?

Community Answer

Chicken shouldn't marinate more than a few hours, as the acid and salt will begin to cook and break down the flesh.