Restaurant Style Chicken Biryani

Make this better than restaurant chicken biryani for a special celebratory meal. Serve it with a side of biryani gravy, raita and papads.

For best results follow my detailed step-by-step photo instructions and tips.

Prep Time30

Cook Time1

Total Time1 30

Servings3 to 4

1.1 pound (½ kg) chicken (skinless bone-in or boneless, large pieces such as thighs, drumsticks, legs or breast)
½ cup plain yogurt (curd, fresh, not sour)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
¾ tablespoon ginger grated/ crushed or paste
¾ tablespoon garlic pressed/grated or paste
1 green chili deseeded and slit (optional, leave out for low heat)
1½ tablespoons oil or ghee (may use fried onion ghee/oil)
½ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon turmeric Powder
½ to ¾ tablespoon Kashmiri red chili powder
1¼ tablespoon biryani masala (recipe in the post intro, or use store bought biryani/garam masala)
½ tablespoon coriander powder
¼ tablespoon roasted cumin powder (leave out if using homemade biryani masala)
2 tablespoons mint leaves fine chopped
2 tablespoons coriander leaves fine chopped (optional)

In a large mixing bowl, stir together yogurt, lemon juice, ginger garlic, green chili, oil, salt, turmeric powder, Kashmiri red chilli powder, biryani masala (or garam masala), coriander powder, roasted cumin powder, mint leaves and coriander leaves. Mix all the ingredients well and taste test to adjust salt and spice/heat.
Make gashes over the chicken and add to the marinade. Marinate for a minimum of 30 minutes (at room temperature) or overnight in the refrigerator for best results.

On a medium flame, heat oil or ghee in a heavy bottom pan/Dutch oven. Add onions and sauté until golden to light brown, for 14 mins. (7 mins on medium, 4 mins on low heat and 2 to 3 mins with the stove turned off). Remove them to a plate, retaining the excess ghee in the pan. Spread the onions.
Add the marinated chicken and saute for 4 to 5 minutes on a medium heat. Reserve 2 tablespoons brown onions for later and add the rest here.
Pour ¼ cup hot water and cook covered on a medium heat for 10 to 15 mins (depending on the size/kind of chicken used, organic and bone-in chicken takes longer). Chicken should be almost cooked through (95% cooked) and the gravy thick. Turn off the heat.

While your chicken gravy cooks (requires multitasking), rinse rice well thrice and soak for a minimum of 15 mins. Meanwhile, pour water to a large pot and add whatever whole spices you have - cardamoms, cloves, bay leaf, cinnamon, star anise, shahi jeera and mace.
Bring the water to a rolling boil, add oil, salt and drained rice. (If you don’t like whole spices in your biryani, boil the spices in water for 5 mins and fish out before adding the rice).
Bring the water to a rolling boil again and cook on a high heat for 5 mins, until the rice is 90% cooked. Drain to a colander immediately.
Meanwhile, soak saffron strands in hot milk + hot water (or rice cooked water).

Once the chicken is cooked through, layer 1 tablespoon brown onions and then spread the rice all over the chicken gravy. Sprinkle 1 to 2 pinches biryani masala, mint coriander leaves, ghee and saffron milk water & the rest of the fried onions.
Cover and dum cook on a medium heat for 5 to 6 minutes, lower the heat to low and dum cook for another 18 to 20 minutes. Turn off and rest for 10 minutes. (If you are not using a Dutch oven, seal the pot with a foil or a moist clean cloth so most of the steam is trapped).
Garnish with more coriander/mint leaves if you want. Serve Chicken biryani with a large rice paddle, such that each portion gets the chicken from the bottom and the rice from top in layers.