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Easy chicken biryani combines tender cooked meat and spiced rice in one sumptuous, golden celebration dish. Juicy chicken thighs are steeped in a tomato-based curry rich with Asian flavours: garlic, cumin, coriander and turmeric. Then the curry is layered between pillowy beds of saffron-tinged rice, finally topped with caramelised fried onions, almonds and sultanas. It’s a fluffy, juicy, crunchy traditional dish simplified!
You want chicken and rice and all things spice but don’t have the 2 hours to spare on a weeknight? Chicken and yellow rice with peas is a one-pot meal that’s ready in 45 mins, and dairy free. All the classic Indian flavours ginger, garlic, turmeric, cumin and coriander are present and there’s only one pan to wash up!
I have ordered chicken biryani countless times and each time I marvel at the myriad flavours, contrasting texture, and profound skill that goes into making a truly authentic masterpiece. For the longest time I avoided making my own for fear of not doing the centuries-old dish justice.
Well, times have changed, and lives are busy, and while I will always defer to our local Indian-Pakistani restaurant, Nawab, for a traditionally cooked, crispy-bottomed, bone-laced version, I have adapted the biryani recipe for my, and your, home-cooking convenience.
Simple chicken biryani
Traditional Indian biryani is a thing of beauty. It showcases prominent Asian ingredients, takes patience to prepare, and is visually and fragrantly stunning! It’s rightfully served at a special occasion.
But if I waited for a special occasion to come around, I would rarely have an opportunity to enjoy it! For this reason, I’ve made a corner-cutting, convenient version for those, like me, who just can’t wait.
A traditionally prepared biryani is a laborious multi step method, involving marinating bone-in chicken pieces in yoghurt and steaming the layered pot of chicken and rice under a dough weight – to name just two! While it doesn’t take much longer to prepare than my easy version, there are lots of intricate steps and fiddly ingredients to contend with.
My easy chicken biryani is true to the roots of the ancient recipe but has some time-saving twists to make it more accessible to home kitchens and those balancing a work/life lifestyle.
- I’ve skipped the marinade and instead cooked the boneless chicken in a yoghurt and tomato curry sauce. Rather than an overnight endeavour, this takes just 30 minutes.
- Using boneless chicken makes the meal easier for diners to negotiate.
- I used a store-bought This is an affiliate link.curry paste and skipped blending my own spice mix.
- After layering the chicken and rice and pouring the warm This is an affiliate link.saffron milk mixture over it, I transferred the pot to the oven for an hour, rather than using the stove, for some hands-off cooking time.
- A heavy lid, that remains closed during cooking, is the updated version of a dough weight.
Recipe Tips and Notes
- It’s authentic to use whole cumin seeds and cardamom pods to flavour the rice. Once cooked, either pick out the cardamom pods or warn your diners of their presence- biting into one of those flavour grenades can come as soapy surprise!
- I’ve used This is an affiliate link.saffron threads steeped in milk to colour the dish. If saffron is not within your budget, turmeric will do a similar job.
- Using a catch-all This is an affiliate link.curry paste will keep this chicken biryani recipe simple, or look for a This is an affiliate link.biryani masala spice mix in larger supermarkets, online or Asian food shops.
- Plain yoghurt is a classic biryani ingredient. If you avoid dairy, coconut milk is a delicious alternative that will bring all the creaminess.
- Chopped bone-in chicken pieces are traditionally used in biryani recipes, but I prefer to use skinless, boneless thighs for their convenience.
- I favour thighs over breast here as the twice-cooked chicken breasts will lose their moisture more quickly and you run the risk of drying out your gleaming dish.
- On the other hand, be sure the curry isn’t too wet! You don’t want a slurry of biryani. Take the time to cook down the gravy before it goes in the rice pan.
- Fried, caramelised onions are a hallmark of the dish. It is an extra step and an extra pan to wash up, but they are ESSENTIAL!
- Scatter them over the top of the finished rice dish, alongside toasted almonds and sultanas, and you have restaurant-worthy biryani.
- This dish will retain its heat if kept covered. It will comfortably sit on the side for a good half hour until needed. Crack on with those poppadoms!
Serving suggestions
Chicken and rice are done! Authentically speaking, a biryani will only be served with raita, a mint and yoghurt sauce similar to Greek tzatziki, and chutneys. Chutneys in Asia tend to come with fruit or vegetables preserved in them, for example lime pickle, mango chutney or aubergine (eggplant) chutney.
But outside of Asia, thanks to the wealth of restaurants that delight us with all kinds of exotic sundries, we are spoiled for choice, and I like to go all out!
We begin with starters like poppadums, samosas, and bhajis to whet the appetite, followed by the main event- chicken biryani.
My biryani doesn’t incorporate vegetables, so I’ll prepare some sides to make sure greens make it to the table too. I like aloo gobi, which is a delicately spiced cauliflower and potato side dish, but doubles as a useful main if you have vegetarians to dinner.
I can’t resist dahl either. This simple and wholesome lentil curry is a recipe my husband brought back with him from Nepal. It’s very nostalgic!
I’m getting carried away here, but saag paneer is another vegetarian favourite of ours. This dish is spinach and lightly spiced and fried cubes of white cheese. It’s unbelievable easy to prepare and packed with nutrition.
Three sides may seem excessive, but how else are you going to spend your hour while the biryani is in the oven?
Storage and leftovers
Banquet-style Indian biryani will keep in the fridge for 3-4 days, in an airtight container. Reheat covered in the oven with an extra splash of milk or coconut milk making sure both rice and chicken is piping hot before serving.
If you’ve opted for a dairy-free version, the portioned biryani can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating as above. N.B. Don’t expect the same fluffiness to the rice the second time around though!
More recipes to try
Easy Chicken Biriyani
Equipment
- This is an affiliate link.Cast iron casserole dish
Ingredients
- 2 onions, sliced, divided
- 1 tbsp grated ginger
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil, or ghee
- 1 kg / 2 lbs chicken thighs, skinless and boneless
- 125g / 1/2 cup This is an affiliate link.mild curry paste
- 200g / 7 oz This is an affiliate link.canned chopped tomatoes
- 100g / 1/2 cup water
- 250ml / 1 cup plain yogurt, full fat
- 2 cups This is an affiliate link.basmati rice, uncooked
- 1/2 tsp This is an affiliate link.saffron threads, or turmeric for colour
- 2 tbsp milk
- 1 tbsp butter
- 3 tbsp raisins / sultanas, for garnish
- 3 tbsp toasted sliced almonds, for garnish
Instructions
- In a deep pan heat 1 tbsp of ghee or oil and fry one chopped onion over medium heat for 10 minutes. Then add the grated ginger and the curry paste, cook while stirring for a minute or until the aroma is released.
- Add the chicken to the pan and cook until the outside of each piece is sealed but not cooked all the way through. Then add the canned tomatoes, water and stir to combine, then lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes covered with a lid. Then add the yogurt and cook on medium heat uncovered for 10 minutes longer to cook down some of the liquid.
- Cook the rice in a rice cooker according to the rice cooker instructions. I like adding 3-4 cardamom pods and 1/4 tsp cumin seeds to the water for extra fragrance. This is is a n optional extra. (Alternatively you can use pre-cooked rice packets if short on time.)
- In a separate pan fry the remaining sliced onion in hot oil until browned and are becoming crispy. Watch carefully and remove from the oil using a slotted spoon just when the onions start to get golden. If you wait any longer, they will burn. Remove from the oil and spread on a paper towel lined plate. Set aside till later.
- If using saffron, steep in warm milk for for 20 minutes. If using turmeric, simply mix it with 2 tbsp of water. Set aside till later.You can also infuse the saffron in warm water if you are avoiding dairy.
- Preheat the oven to 150C/300F.
- Coat an oven proof dish with ghee, butter or oil, then spread the bottom of the pan with 1/2 of the cooked rice, top with the chicken curry, then finish with the remaining half of the rice.
- Poke a whole in the centre of the dish with a long chopstick or the handle of a wooden spoon and drizzle the saffron milk along the sides of the tunnel or you can simply drizzle it all over the top of the rice.
- Scatter the fried onions over the top of rice with little blobs of butter all over, cover with a lid or tin foil and bake in the preheated oven for 50-60 minutes. Gently mix the layers of your biryani before serving. Serve with raisins and toasted sliced almonds.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
