Biriyani

Recipe By NICOL ZAHRA
Rating
Published Apr 4th
Prep 15m Cook 45m Additional - Ready In 1h
Servings 12 servings Calories 394.8

One of the most well-known Indian-Pakistani dishes made. A spicy chicken and rice dish.

Recipe Ingredients

  • 2 ½ tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons plain yogurt
  • 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
  • 1 medium onion, sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1 tablespoon ginger paste
  • 2 small green chile peppers
  • 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons garam masala
  • 1 tablespoon dried mint
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 5 sprigs cilantro
  • 1 (3 pound) whole chicken, skin removed and cut into pieces
  • 2 quarts water
  • 4 cups uncooked basmati rice
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 4 pods green cardamom
  • 1 pod black cardamom
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • salt to taste
  • ¼ teaspoon powdered yellow food coloring

Cooking Directions

  1. 1 Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Mix in the yogurt and vinegar. Place the onion in the skillet, and cook until tender. Mix in the garlic, ginger paste, green chile peppers, and tomatoes. Cook and stir until tomatoes are tender. Season with garam masala, mint, salt, and pepper, and mix in the cilantro.
  2. 2 Place the chicken in the skillet. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and continue cooking 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until chicken juices run clear.
  3. 3 Bring the water and rice to a boil in a large pot. Mix in the bay leaf, green cardamom, black cardamom, and cinnamon. Season with salt to taste. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 20 minutes.
  4. 4 In a separate pot, alternate the rice and chicken mixture in layers, topping with rice. Sprinkle with the food coloring, and mix to serve.

Nutrition Facts

  • Calories 394.8
  • Carbohydrate 55.9 g
  • Cholesterol 31 mg
  • Fat 11 g
  • Fiber 1.9 g
  • Protein 16.2 g
  • Saturated Fat 2.6 g
  • Sodium 43.4 mg
  • Sugar 1.6 g

Chef's Notes

Powdered yellow food coloring, frequently used in Indian dishes and generally turmeric-based, may be found at Indian food stores or food specialty shops.

Reviews

  1. Jan Mowbray Aug 6, 2017 05:55 PM
    I followed the recipe exactly & agree with halving the rice part of this recipe but keeping everything else the same. The chicken gets a bit lost in all that rice. I'm still giving it 5 stars though. I've made this before and will make it again. I served this with Curry Stand Chicken Tikka - Read more ...
  2. Laila May 6, 2014 11:58 PM
    That looks delish
  3. jennilynnjean Oct 13, 2009 05:53 PM
    Yummy yumm yum! I love this recipe. Suprised hubby with it. He is from Pakistan. (and me I am a white girl from the midwest.) This is easy to follow. Only difference I made was cut down on the chilies. I only used one.. otherwise..OUCH! So Delicious!!
  4. linda Feb 19, 2009 08:12 PM
    Next time I'll use a little less oil but this was fantastic! No leftovers tonight!
  5. Caroline C Mar 21, 2008 06:43 PM
    I played around with the spices til it was to our taste. The other changes I made were to use fresh mint and canned tomatoes; I used turmeric to color the rice yellow; I also added about half a cup of heavy cream that needed using up. This turned out really good. Thanks!
  6. TUNISIANSWIFE Mar 29, 2006 09:55 PM
    quick easy and delish. I used 2.10 # of boneless breasts and cut them into chunk size pieces and just simmered them in the sauce. I could see by the quantity of dry rice that it was wayyyyy too much. I just scaled it down to what I normally use...1 cup rice to 2 cups - Read more ...
  7. JMSMITH1 Sep 15, 2005 10:58 PM
    Far too much rice and although the flavour is nice it needs more. The next time I will make only half of the rice and double the garam masala. Otherwise it was a hit with the family.
  8. su May 11, 2005 11:09 PM
    This recipe is great! Turned out great! Biryani is an art...you just need to practice once or twice.
  9. SUSAN CHITTUM Apr 27, 2005 10:09 PM
    Lots of ingredients with not enough flavor. Portion size was huge...
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