Deliciousness personified…
Chicken biryani gets tastier when fried chicken and rice cooked in chicken broth are used. I’d already posted 4 ways of making delicious chicken biryani, check this out. One of the most popular recipes on my website is fried chicken biryani, I’d gotten so many wonderful feedback for this one and this is my personal favorite biryani as well.
I’ve also shared 10 tips for making your biryani taste better. To make your chicken biryani taste really really delicious, do these two steps: shallow fry the marinated chicken and cook the rice in chicken broth or water used for cooking chicken and masala. For making this biryani, I went a little over board and incorporated both the two amazing ways. I first shallow fried the chicken and combined it with the onion/tomato masala, cooked for some more time along with water so that the water gets flavorful. Drained the water and used that to cook the rice. This biryani had a blast of flavors, tasted so so delicious. I always finish off the biryani with fried onions, roasted cashew nuts/raisins and cilantro/mint.
- Chicken, bone-in pieces- 10 to 12 pieces
- Kashmiri red chili powder- 2 tsp
- Coriander powder- 1 tbsp
- Garam masala- 1 tsp
- Ginger-garlic paste- 1 tbsp
- Lemon juice- juice of ½ lemon
- Salt- 1½ tsp
- Oil- enough to shallow fry chicken
- Ginger, chopped- 2 inch
- Garlic, chopped- 4 cloves
- Green chili- 3
- Oil- 4 tbsp, used for shallow frying chicken
- Whole cardamom- 3
- Whole cloves- 2
- Cinnamon sticks- 2 inch slices
- Bay leaves- 2
- Onion, cut long and thin (red or yellow)- 4
- Tomatoes, chopped-2
- Water- 1 cup
- Salt- 1 tsp
- Ghee- 3 tbsp
- Whole cardamom, slightly smashed- 2
- Turmeric powder- ½ tsp
- Basmati rice, rinsed in water- 2½ cups
- Water- 2 cups liquid from chicken masala + 2 cups water
- Salt- 1 tsp
- Fried onion- 1 cut thin and long fried in oil used for frying chicken
- Cashew nuts roasted in ½ tbsp ghee
- Raisins roasted in ½ tbsp ghee
- Cilantro, chopped- 2 handful
- Mint, chopped- 15 leaves
- In a large bowl, marinate the chicken with the above mentioned ingredients "for marinating chicken", keep aside for an hour or overnight if you prefer.
- Shallow fry the marinated chicken in oil till the chicken turns light golden in color, keep aside the fried chicken.
- To the bowl used for marinating chicken, add 4 tbsp water, combine well with the leftover marinade paste. Keep aside.
- Grind ginger, garlic and green chilies in a grinder to a coarse paste, keep aside.
- Place a pressure cooker or a large pan over medium heat, add 4 tbsp oil used for frying chicken.
- Add whole cardamom, cloves, cinnamon and bay leaves, saute for a few seconds till they turn aromatic.
- Add onions, season with /12 tsp salt, saute till onions turn golden in color.
- Add tomatoes, saute till they are mashed up.
- Add the shallow fried chicken to the onion-tomatoes, combine well.
- Add the marinade paste combined with water, combine well.
- Add 1 cup water and ½ tsp salt. Cook covered for 15 minutes along with the chicken.
- After 15 minutes, drain the chicken masala and save the water. Keep aside the cooked chicken masala.
- Cut the onions long and thin, fry onions in the oil used for frying chicken (if needed add more oil) till onions turn golden brown. Transfer to a paper towel.
- Roast cashew nuts in ½ tbsp ghee, keep aside.
- Roast raisins in ½ tbsp ghee, keep aside.
- Cook the rice in the same cooker or pan used for making the chicken masala.
- Heat the cooker or pan, add ghee.
- Add cardamom, saute for a minute.
- Add rice and turmeric powder, saute for 2 minutes.
- Add the saved chicken masala water, (I had 2 cups of water) also added 2 cups of regular tap water.
- Add salt and cook covered for 15 minutes till rice has turned just tender. If more water is needed add little by little.
- To the cooked rice, add the cooked chicken masala, combine well.
- Top the rice and chicken masala with fried onion, roasted cashew nuts, raisins, cilantro and mint leaves, combine well.
- Cover the pan or cooker and place it over low heat for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, remove the pan from the heat and keep covered for 15 minutes.
- Serve this delicious chicken biryani along with raita, pickle etc.
- Leftover biryani can be refrigerated, tastes much flavorful the next day.
Step by step Pictures
