Chicken Pulao (Instant Pot & Stovetop)

Chicken Pulao is a one pot rice pilaf made with rice, chicken, spices and herbs. In this post I share my Mom’s Hyderabadi style Chicken Pulao recipe. Though not as popular as Biryani, Pulao is a nutritious, filling and comfort food. This mildly spiced, aromatic and delicious Chicken Pulao is easy to make for a weeknight dinner, ready under 45 minutes. Serve it with Aloo Kurma, Kachumber & Mint Raita.

About Chicken Pulao

Pulao is a close cousin of Biryani and varies in many aspects. It is so much lighter, less spicy & less greasy than a Biryani. This makes it more of a comfort food than a luxurious treat.

In Indian cuisine, vegetable pulao is very popular and is made more often in the homes. However you won’t find Chicken Pulao being made that often since a lot of people love Biryani over pulao.

Growing up, My Mom made this Chicken Pulao more often for a weekend meal. It was served with Kurma or Shorba/ Salan and Raita. Down in South India, a pulao is always served with a gravy side dish like Aloo Kurma, Chicken Kurma, salan or shorba.

Basically a Pulao is a toned-down version of biryani and is a one pot dish that is not layered. We make this Chicken Pulao since it is kids’ friendly and is milder in flavors. A spicy side-dish or a raita pairs very well.

Chicken Pulao can be made in a regular pot, traditional pressure cooker or instant pot. You can find all the 3 methods in this post.

Ingredients & Substitutes

Here are the ingredients you need for a Chicken Pulao:

Rice: I use aged basmati rice for this recipe. You can use any less starchy aged rice to make this chicken pulao. In India every region has their own favorite kind of rice & is used for this dish. But using less starchy aged rice is essential as we don’t want the pulao to turn mushy.

Chicken: Whole bone-in cut chicken (curry cut) is best to make this dish, as the pulao tastes more flavorful due to the marrow goodness. However for years I have made this with boneless chicken to make it toddler/kids’ friendly.

Onions, ginger, garlic, mint leaves and green chilies are the key to make a delicious pulao. If you do not like the flavor of mint leaves, simply use coriander leaves.

Tomatoes: A traditional pulao never uses tomatoes & the original recipe from my Mom never had tomatoes in it. But for some reason I use it a lot of times & sometimes I also substitute tomatoes with yogurt. Both ways the chicken pulao turns delicious. But avoid using a lot of tomatoes especially in the pureed form as you won’t be able to evaporate the excess moisture fast.

Yogurt: Sometimes I use yogurt in the same recipe as a substitute to lemon juice in the marinade or sometimes to replace the tomatoes in the pulao itself. You can find more details in the pro tips section below.

Water/ coconut milk: I use water to cook my chicken pulao. But my Mom would sometimes make this with coconut milk. It adds a different pleasant flavor to the dish. You will use half thick coconut milk and half water.

Spices: Usually whole spices & green chilies are used to flavor the dish. Ground spices are rarely used in a pulao. But I personally love to add red chili powder to the marinade to impart mild heat to the chicken.

More Chicken recipes,
Easy Chicken curry
Chicken korma
Easy Chicken fried rice
Chicken noodles

Photo Guide

How to Make Chicken Pulao (Stepwise Photos)

Preparation

To make chicken pulao, you can use bone-in or boneless chicken as per your choice. Let us begin with the marinade. This recipe serves 4. If you want you may halve the quantities to make 2 servings.

1. To a large bowl, add chicken. If the pieces are too large, score the chicken (make slits into the pieces) so they absorb the flavors. Add the following ingredients to a large bowl:

• 1.6 pounds (750 grams) bone-in chicken or use 1 pound (450 grams boneless)
• 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
• ¼ to ½ teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder (reduce for kids)
• ⅛ teaspoon turmeric (optional)
• ¼ to ⅓ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice (or plain yogurt or curd)

2. Mix well, cover and set aside for 25 mins, until we prepare the rest.

3. Add 2 cups basmati rice to a large bowl and rinse well at least thrice. Soak for 30 mins. Later drain the rice to a colander and get rid of the water completely.

4. Meanwhile prepare the following:

• 1 large onion (1 cup sliced)
• 1 small tomato (deseed, peel & slice) or ⅓ cup fresh tomatoes pureed.
• Pluck and clean ½ to ¾ cup mint leaves & ¼ cup coriander leaves, chop them.
• Chop or slice 2 to 3 green chilies and keep aside. Leave out the green chilies if making for kids.
• You will also need 2 teaspoons ginger garlic paste.

5. Pick all the following spices required and keep aside.

• 2 bay leaf
• 2 star anise
• ½ to ¾ teaspoon cumin (or shahi jeera for better flavors)
• 6 cloves
• 2 2-inch Ceylon cinnamon pieces (cut down if using cassia)
• 8 green cardamoms
• ¾ teaspoon saunf/fennel or coriander powder (I use fennel, optional)
• 2 black cardamom (optional)
• 1 strand mace (optional)
• Small piece of nutmeg (optional)

Make Chicken Pulao

6. On a medium flame, heat 4 tablespoons oil or ghee in a pot or cooker. When it becomes hot, add all the whole spices & let them sizzle for a minute.

7. Add the onions and green chilies. Stir fry them on a medium heat for 5 to 6 mins. When they begin to brown, reduce the heat slightly and cook further until the onions turn deep golden/ brown but not burnt.

8. Add ginger garlic paste and saute till a nice aroma comes out, for 1 min.

9. Add mint leaves and marinated chicken. Stir fry the chicken on a medium heat for 5 minutes, until the chicken changes its color. If you are using boneless chicken breasts, cut down to 2 to 3 mins.

10. Meanwhile pour 3½ cups water to a pot and add ½ to ¾ teaspoon salt. If you are making in a stovetop pressure cooker use 3¼ cup water & if making in a instant pot use 2½ cups only. Stir and taste test it. It should be slightly salty (remember we have already used salt to marinate the chicken). Heat this water on another burner. Use water according to the kind of your rice.

2 cups aged biryani basmati rice requires 4 cups normally to cook in a pot but I reduce half cup here since we cook the pulao covered and the chicken releases some moisture.

11. Add fennel or coriander powder.

12. Add the tomatoes (optional) to the chicken and cook until all of the moisture from tomatoes evaporates.

13. It is essential to cook until the raw flavor from tomatoes is gone.

14. Pour hot salted water and bring it to a rolling boil. Drian the water completely from the soaked rice and add it here. Mix gently. After adding rice, the water won’t boil rapidly any longer.

15. So cover partially and bring it to a rolling boil on a medium high heat.

16. Cover the pot completely and cook on low to medium-low heat for 7 to 10 mins, until the rice is cooked through & all of the water is absorbed. This step takes me exactly 10 minutes on the stovetop. Later let chicken pulao rest for another 10 mins.

To use a pressure cooker, Cover and cook on a medium until you hear 1 whistle. Let the pressure drop naturally.

17. Taste test and add more salt if you want and squeeze the lemon juice over the salt so it dissolves easily.

Garnish with coriander leaves. If your pualo looks too dry, simply add a tablespoon of ghee at this stage.

Serve chicken pulao with onion raita, mint raita or cucumber raita.

Variation – Yakhni Chicken Pulao

To make yakhni chicken pulao, make sure you use larger sized chicken pieces. Follow the recipe as is till you saute chicken. You will follow the 2 additional steps mentioned below to make the yakhni.

Step 1 – Pour 2 cups of hot water and cook the chicken covered for 4 mins. Later remove the chicken aside with a tong and strain the liquid. Measure the liquid and add water as required to make it 3½ cups.

Step 2 – Add the chicken back to the same pot along with the ingredients in the strainer (yes you will use all of them back in the pulao). Also pour the yakhni and bring to a boil. Later add rice and follow the rest as mentioned in the recipe.

Pro Tips

1. Rinse & Soak Rice : Always wash rice at least thrice. This helps the rice grains to remain apart without sticking. Next soak basmati rice for at least 20 mins. This helps the rice grains to expand well while cooking. So you can soak the rice and set aside until you are done with the other preparations.

2. Using whole spices is the key to this chicken pulao. However if you do not have then just replace them with any store bought chicken masala powder or garam masala. Follow the instructions on the pack for the quantity to use.

3. I prefer to use 2 tbsps of yogurt or lemon juice to marinate the chicken. This enhances the dish a lot and the chicken comes out very juicy & succulent without drying out.

4. Mint leaves are a key ingredient in any pulao. If you do not like the flavor, you may simply replace with coriander leaves, add them while sauting the chicken.

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Chicken Pulao Recipe first published in Jan 2013. Updated & republished in May 2023.