Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani
Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani
Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani is an aromatic, mouth watering and authentic Indian dish with succulent chicken in layers of fluffy rice, fragrant spices and caramelized onions. This is easier than most recipes, while truly retaining the authentic taste and presented step by step.
Ingredients
Fried Onion Ingredients
- 3/4 pound onions yellow sliced vertically
- 1½ cups peanut oil
Chicken Marinade Ingredients
- 1½ pounds chicken cut and clean
- 2/3 cup yogurt reduced fat thick
- 1½ tablespoons ginger garlic paste or grated ginger and garlic
- 3/4 teaspoon salt adjust per taste
- 1 teaspoon chili powder see note 2
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric ground
- 1 chili pepper jalapeno, serrano or cayenne - adjust per taste
Biryani Spice Ingredients
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 black cardamom
- 5 green cardamom
- 5 cloves
- 1 bay leaf large
- 1 teaspoon shahjeera see notes, referred as black cumin or black caraway
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Byryani Ingredients
- 2 cups basmati rice long grain
- 1 teaspoon salt adjust per taste
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 whole black cardamom optional
- 2 whole green cardamom optional
- 3 whole cloves optional
- 1 whole small bay leaf optional
- 1/2 cinnamon stick optional
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 3 teaspoons cilantro fresh chopped
- 1½ teaspoons mint fresh chopped
- 1 teaspoon saffron ground and dissolved in 2 tbsp hot water
- 1/2 teaspoon ghee optional
Instructions
Fried Onions for Biryani
- Heat the oil at medium high in a wide frying pan/kadai.
- If you place your palm about 3 inches over the surface of the oil, you should feel the heat.
- Or use a candy/fry thermometer.
- Fry the onions in about 3 batches, depending on the size of the pan.
- Do not crowd the pan.
- Fry until a crisp light golden brown. Set aside.
Chicken Marination
- Combine chicken with all the ingredients for the marinade and about 1/3 of the fried onions.
- For yogurt, start with 1/2 cup and increase as needed to 3/4 cup. The mixture should be thick and not runny.
- Grind all the biryani spices in a nut or spice grinder.
- Add the spice blend to the chicken marinade and combine.
- Marinate for about 3 to 5 hours.
Biryani Rice Preparation with Rice Cooker
- Rinse the basmati rice 4 to 5 times in lots of water until it is clear.
- Drain well.
- Soak 1/3 cup basmati rice in water for about one hour.
- Save the rest.
- Bring 2 ¼ cups of water to a rolling boil in a rice cooker.
- Add 3/4 teaspoon salt, 1 ½ tablespoon olive oil and whole spices if preferred.
- Then add the remaining 1 ⅔ cups basmati rice and stir.
- Let it cook just until all the water is absorbed (see notes 6 and 7).
- It is important to NOT let the rice steam until it is fully done. Just when all the water is well absorbed, transfer the cooked rice immediately to another wide open pan. In my rice cooker the whole process takes about 15 to 20 minutes.
Assembly of Rice and Chicken Layers for Biryani
- Transfer the chicken with the marinade to a 4 to 5 quart wide thick bottomed oven proof cooking pot (about 9 to 10 inch diameter).
- Make sure there is not too much marinade around the chicken pieces and that it is not runny.
- Sprinkle the cilantro, mint, half the lemon juice and 1/2 tablespoon olive oil over the chicken/marinade.
- Spread most of the remaining fried onions over the chicken.
- Drain the soaked basmati rice thoroughly well. Spread this rice over the fried onion layer.
- Next, layer the rice that was cooked in the rice cooker. Sprinkle, the remaining lemon juice, fried onions and saffron water.
- If preferred, sprinkle an extra 1/2 tablespoon ghee over the rice.
Final Steaming of Biryani
- Place one to two sheets of aluminum foil over the cooking pot.
- Place the lid tight over it.
- Bake the chicken biryani in a preheated oven at 350ºF for one hour, until the steam builds up well.
- Alternatively, this Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani can be cooked on a stove in a thick bottomed cooking pot. Heat the biryani at medium high for about 10 to 15 minutes and then reduce the heat to the low setting and simmer for at least one hour until the steam builds up well.
- Let it cool five minutes and gently mix the rice and chicken.
- Serve this Chicken Biryani with Hyderabadi tomato egg curry and/or a yogurt salad prepared with creamy yogurt, sliced red onions and cilantro.
Notes
Found online at: https://www.thedeliciouscrescent.com/easy-hyderabadi-chicken-biryani/
Tips and Tricks for Biryani
- I used the 7.5 mm setting on my mandolin slicer to slice the onions finely.
- I used Kashmiri chili powder as it is mild. If you prefer it hot, then use regular chili powder.
- Shahjeera: These are referred to as black cumin in English in India and although are about the same size as regular cumin, are thinner, a bit curved in shape and black. The flavor is smoky and distinct from that of regular cumin. In the US market it is sometimes referred with various names by vendors - sometimes black caraway, other times black cumin. It is most often available at Indian stores and also from online Indian vendors. So it is best to verify from the seller at the Indian grocery store that it is "shahjeera".
- Rinse the basmati rice several times, until the water is clear and not starchy.
- If using whole spices for the marinade, just double the amount of spices in the recipe. When the spices are ground, the flavors are more intense. You may choose to use a ready made spice mix, but make adjustments for chili and salt accordingly.
- Adjust the oil as needed. If directions are followed well with the frying of onions, then the oil absorbed by the onions should be about 1 ½ tablespoons. But if proper technique is not followed, then more oil will be absorbed and the remaining oil used should be adjusted.
- The amount of water added while cooking the rice is very important to the final texture of this easy Hyderabadi chicken biryani. And it differs with the age of the rice. Basmati rice typically will need less water than other long grain rice varieties to yield a light fluffy cooked rice. With any batch of rice purchased, I usually use trial and error to determine the right amount of water needed for cooking. It may range from 1¼ to 1½ cups water per cup of rice.
- It is important to keep in mind the additional moisture from the other ingredients added to this dish, such as the chicken, herbs and yogurt. Therefore, in the first step, the rice should be cooked in a way to yield a fluffy rice, but holds its shape well and is not too wet and delicate. The soaked rice should be drained well and not be too wet. The chicken should be just lightly coated with the marinade. If the marinade is excessive it can result in the rice becoming soggy.
- A drizzle of ghee on the top adds a great flavor.
- Hyderabadi chicken biryani freezes perfectly well. Just thaw and reheat.