Easy Chicken Biryani Recipe

This post is sponsored by Kana Goods. All opinions are my own.

Easy and very flavorful Chicken Biryani Recipe adored by my family and many others. The fragrant spice blend or Meat Curry and Rice will become your family favorite.

I have ditched the pressure cooker and adopted the Dutch oven for my rice dishes for many years. Yes, that includes my absolute favorite Biryani(a Rice dish made with Indian spices and meat). That hustle and bustle of changing 3 different pots just didn’t seem right when you can fix your favorite easy Chicken Biryani in a versatile Milo Dutch oven on the stovetop, then in the oven, and to the table. No foil covering or sealing is needed. The heavy lid of my new Milo by Kana is heavy enough to seal that steam for cooking perfect Biryani.

I cooked the perfect chicken curry in my Milo by Kana then layered it with fried onions and rice. Popped the Milo in the oven for baking. And, viola, the phenomenally delicious Chicken Biryani was ready in no time. I wish you could smell the aroma of my Biryani when I opened the lid.

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Steam locking method for Biryani

Traditionally Biryani is cooked with locking the steam method. Chicken curry gets cooked in a heavy bottom pan then gets layered with partially cooked rice. Locking the steam in the pot and cooking the aldente rice to perfection by locked steam in the pot gives the Chicken Biryani the aroma and flavors it is famous for all over South Asia. Since the majority of the pot lids aren’t heavy enough to keep the steam locked in the pot, we South Asians use dough or aluminum foil to seal the steam locked in the pot. However, cooking in a Dutch oven with the heavy lid that comes with it cuts my work in half.

One-pot Biryani Instructions

If you don’t want to go through the entire process of cooking the rice separately and looking for a quicker way to make one-pot Biryani then you can do so by adding soaked rice on top of the chicken curry. Add 2 cups rice to 4 cups water ratio for one-pot cooking on a stovetop. The whole spices can be added to the onions before adding chicken to it. Cover the lid and cook on low medium for 20 minutes without uncovering. Uncover and check if rice is cooked completely. If it isn’t then cover and cook for an additional 5 minutes.

Easy Chicken Biryani

Ingredients

For Chicken Curry

• 4 boneless chicken breasts
• 2 medium ripe Roma tomatoes or 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, chopped
• 1/4 cup oil or ghee
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced onion
• 2 to 3 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
• 1 tbsp Biryani Masala
• 1 tsp Kashmiri chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 1/2 tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp salt or to taste
• 1/4 tsp Garam Masala
• 2/3 cup plain yogurt, preferably creamy Indian yogurt
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1/4 cup chopped mint

For Rice

• 2 cups Basmati Rice, soaked in the water for 15 minutes
• Salt to taste
• 8 to 10 cups water
• A squeeze of lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp cumin seeds
• A small stick of cinnamon
• Couple green cardamom
• Couple cloves
• A Green Chili, optional
• Food coloring, optional
• 8 to 10 threads Saffron, optional

Instructions

1. Bring water to a boil in a large pan and add washed Basmati rice, whole spices, green chili, salt, and lemon juice. Cook until rice is partially cooked or aldente. Take out the rice in a large colander and drain all the water. Set it aside.
2. Cut chicken breast into small cubes. In a large bowl, combine chicken, Biryani Masala, Ginger-Garlic paste, Kashmiri chili powder, cumin-coriander powder, garam masala, and salt. Mix it well and set it aside.
3. Heat oil in the Dutch oven on medium heat. Add sliced onions and cook until golden.
4. Now add the marinated chicken. Cook for about a minute then add tomatoes and yogurt. Cover the lid and cook for 10 minutes. Uncover and cook until gravy is thick. We are looking for saucy curry. Not too watery or not too dry.
5. Sprinkle cilantro, and mint on the chicken curry. Top it off with partially cooked Basmati Rice.
6. Add swirl food coloring and soaked saffron on top of the rice. Cover the lid and pop the Dutch oven in the oven.
7. Bake the Biryani at 365 F for 20 to 25 minutes.
8. Serve it hot with yogurt Raita.

Got a question about the ingredients? Leave me a comment and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

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