🍛 Chicken biryani

Name: Chicken biryani
Total time: 90 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: India · Hyderabad and Lucknow
Ingredients: 700 g chicken pieces; 400 g basmati rice; 3 onions, thinly sliced; 200 g plain yogurt; 2 tsp garam masala, 1 tsp chilli powder, 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste; 1 pinch saffron soaked in 3 tbsp warm water; 3 tbsp ghee; Whole spices: 4 cardamom pods, 4 cloves, 1 bay leaf; Fresh mint and coriander, salt

Origin: India · Hyderabad and Lucknow

875kcal

per serving · 350 g

250kcal

per 100 g

42 gProtein12 g / 100 g

28 gFat8 g / 100 g

105 gCarbs30 g / 100 g

Chicken biryani is a layered rice dish in which chicken marinated in yogurt and garam masala is cooked with fried onions, then covered with partly cooked basmati rice, saffron and ghee and steamed until the flavours meet. The rice stays long and separate, perfumed with saffron, while the chicken below is tender and spiced. It is served with raita or a simple salad at celebrations and family meals.

Diets

✓

No porkfor halal, the meat must be halal-slaughtered

✓

Gluten-freeno wheat, barley or rye in a typical recipe

Not vegetarianbecause of: chicken

Not veganbecause of: chicken, yogurt, ghee

Contains dairybecause of: yogurt, ghee

Not keto30 g carbs per 100 g

Allergens

Contains (in a typical recipe):

⚠ Milk

What it is made of

chickenbasmati riceonionyogurtsaffrongaram masalaghee

Recipe

4 servings90 min

Ingredients

700 g chicken pieces
400 g basmati rice
3 onions, thinly sliced
200 g plain yogurt
2 tsp garam masala, 1 tsp chilli powder, 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
1 pinch saffron soaked in 3 tbsp warm water
3 tbsp ghee
Whole spices: 4 cardamom pods, 4 cloves, 1 bay leaf
Fresh mint and coriander, salt

Method

Marinate the chicken with yogurt, ginger-garlic paste, garam masala, chilli powder and salt for at least 1 hour.
Fry the onions in 2 tbsp ghee until deep golden; set half aside.
Boil the rice with whole spices and salt for 5–6 minutes until two-thirds cooked; drain.
Spread the chicken in a heavy pot, add half the onions and herbs, then layer the rice on top.
Pour over the saffron water, the remaining ghee and reserved onions; seal and cook on very low heat for 35–40 minutes.
Rest 10 minutes, then fluff gently and serve.

How to make it lighter

Measure the ghee: 1 tbsp ≈ 120 kcal, and the saffron still carries the aroma with less.
Use skinless chicken and bake the onions with a little oil instead of deep-frying.
Serve a measured portion with a large cucumber salad on the side.

History

Biryani is generally linked to the Mughal courts of the Indian subcontinent, where Persian rice cooking met local spices; the name is often traced to the Persian birian, 'fried' or 'roasted'. Regional styles developed in Hyderabad, Lucknow, Kolkata and elsewhere, and chicken biryani is today one of the most ordered dishes in South Asia and its diaspora.

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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →