How to make Quick and Easy Chicken Biryani?

Chicken Biryani is a one-pot meal made of rice, chicken, and aromatic spices. It is rich in flavor, grand in tradition, and elaborate enough to take center stage at holidays and celebrations.

Traditional Chicken Biryani is made with layering marinated chicken, parboiled rice, spices, herbs, saffron, milk and ghee in a sealed wide mouthed vessel over burning coal( dum Biryani method).In this Chicken Biryani recipe of mine, I have used a much shorter time and procedure to cook, by the use of a pressure cooker.

Chicken Biryani, did you say? I am hungry! Are you a curry loving carb monster? Then, this chicken biryani of mine is a must try! What’s more, it is quick and easy to make at home.

For the uninitiated, let me tell you what Biryani is all about. 

Biryani is a celebration of all that is great about Indian food. Be it the vibrant colors, its heady aroma that lures you to the kitchen instantly, the soft fluffy rice, or if you are like me, the addictive flavors of what the spices can bring to a dish– Biryani is the answer!

You can make it with any protein of your choice, be it chicken, meat or vegetable, it is guaranteed to make you heart happy!

What is Biryani?

The word ‘biryani’ is derived from a Persian word, birian, which means ‘fried before cooking’.

Biryani is a mixed rice dish with its origins among the Muslims of India. It can be compared to mixing a curry, later combining it with semi-cooked rice separately. This dish is especially popular throughout the Indian subcontinent, as well as among its diaspora.

It is also prepared in other regions such as Iraqi Kurdistan. It is made with Indian spices, rice, and meat (chicken, beef, goat, pork, lamb, prawn, or fish), and sometimes, in addition, eggs and/or potatoes in certain regional varieties. There are variations of the same using vegetables, mushrooms etc

It is a popular dish that has acquired a niche for itself in South Asian cuisine.

For more biryani recipes, click on the image below

What does biryani taste like?

Chicken biryani is moist, robust, and spicy, and the rice and meat are infused with a heady blend of aromas of cardamom, clove, cinnamon.

Which is the tastiest biryani?

The Hyderabadi Biryani from the kitchens of the Nizam is a clear winner when it comes to taste and is loved by locals and tourists alike. Close on its heels is Chennai favorite, Dindigul Biryani, which originated in the small town of Dindigul, Tamil Nadu followed by the Ambur Biryani in South India.

Which city of India is famous for biryani?

Hyderabad is famous for several things: its pearls, its skilled craftsmanship, its Nizams, its mosques and palaces, but most importantly, its biryani.

History of Biryani

The word Biryani is derived from the Persian word Birian, which means ‘fried before cooking’ and Birinj, the Persian word for rice.

There are many legends associated with the evolution of Biryani. One of the popular being the story related to Mumtaz Mahal, wife of Shah Jahan. It is believed that when Mumtaz visited the army barracks, she found that the Mughal soldiers looked undernourished. In order to provide a balanced diet to the soldiers, she asked the chefs to prepare dish with meat and rice. The dish was whipped up with spices and saffron and cooked over wood fire.

Another legend states that Biryani was brought to India by the Turk-Mongol conqueror, Taimur, in the year 1398. Even, Nizams of Hyderabad and Nawabs of Lucknow were known for their appreciation of this delicacy.

Traditionally, biryani was cooked over charcoal in earthen pots.Since this is an elaborate process, many now take the easier route to feeling satiated.

My E-Book on Indian Spices

Before venturing into Indian cooking, your first step is to know the names of the commonly used Indian spices, how they look and understand the flavors they impart in a dish.

You can learn all about the 25 essential Indian Spices commonly used in cooking, their names, origin, appearance, flavors and their health benefits in my E-book ,” A Complete Beginner’s Guide to Indian Spices” here. 

In my E-book, I give you a list of 25 essential Indian spices ,with colored pictures of each Indian spice to help you identify it better, list their health benefits and talk about how to incorporate each spice into your cooking.

Get it here now, or by clicking the image below and add it to your collection of recipe books.

If you know a friend or family member who is interested in Indian cooking and wants to learn about Indian spices and how to use them in cooking delicious food, my E-book ,“A Complete Beginner’s Guide to Indian spices “ would be a perfect gift.

The fact is, unless you understand each spice , how they look , the flavor they impart, when & how to use them in cooking, it is going to be impossible to cook a deliciously authentic Indian dish.

My E-book ,“A Complete Beginner’s Guide to Indian Spices” will make Indian cooking with spices, a breeze for you!

Which is best biryani rice?

The Basmati rice is your choice when it comes to cooking flavorful biryani. The rice itself carries. a very unique taste and its long grained nature makes it all the more enticing to be served in festive rice preparations.

What does dum biryani mean?

Dum Biryani is a favorite, which is a one-pot dish of aromatic spices and delightful flavors – a result from slow cooking the ingredients in a sealed, heavy bottomed vessel for hours or even overnight in certain cases and is mostly cooked on burning firewood stoves.

How to make Chicken Biryani in a pressure cooker?

Unlike the dum biryani, here I have shared an equally delicious quick and easy Chicken Biryani recipe, you can make at your home with a pressure cooker.

Chicken Biryani recipe

How to make Quick and Easy Chicken Biryani?

Recipe by Maya Shetty

Course: CHICKEN BIRYANI, CHICKEN DISHES, FOODCuisine: Indian, South Indian

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Servings

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

15

minutes

Calories

1815

kcal

Total time

30

minutes

Ingredients

• For cooking Chicken

• 3 pounds 3 Chicken with bone cut into desired size pieces

• 1 tsp 1 Red Chili powder

• 1 tsp 1 Coriander powder

• 1/2 tsp 1/2 Turmeric powder

• 1 tsp 1 Salt

• For cooking Biryani

• 2 cups 2 Basmati Rice

• 2 tbsp 2 Coconut Oil

• 1 1 inch Cinnamon

• 2 2 -3 Cardamom

• 3 3 -4 Cloves

• 1 large 1 Onion sliced fine

• 2 2 Tomato

• 1 tbsp 1 Ginger Garlic paste

• 6 6 -8 Green chilies

• 1/2 cup 1/2 Yogurt/Curds

• 8 8 -10 Mint leaves

• 8 8 -10 sprigs Cilantro/Coriander leaves

• 2 tbsp 2 Lemon/Lime Juice

Directions

• Clean and soak the basmati rice in water and set aside for 20 minutes, before starting to cook.
• Next, in a pressure cooker and add in the cut and cleaned chicken pieces along with salt, turmeric powder, coriander powder and red chili powder. Add 1 1/2 cups of water. Cover and cook for 20 minutes on medium flame. Wait for 3 whistles. Remove from heat and set aside.
• Now in a pressure pan add the coconut oil & allow it to warm. To this add the the spices, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom one by one. Wait till the aroma arises. This process is called blooming when the essential oils from the spices are being released. To this spice mix, then add in the onions and saute until the onions turn golden brown and soft.
• Once the onions are soft, add in the tomatoes along with the ginger garlic paste, yogurt and green chillies. Saute the mixture until streaks of oil appear on the top.
• Next, drain the soaked rice and add it to the pressure pan. Add in the cooked chicken pieces. In addition also add in the coriander leaves, mint leaves and lemon juice. At this point you might add in the chicken broth (the liquid left over from pressure cooking chicken, assuming it is almost 1 cup) along with 2 1/2 cups of water.
• Close the pressure cooker/pan and cook on medium flame for two whistles. After the two whistles, switch off the flame and wait for pressure in the cooker to release naturally. Open the pan and fluff up the rice gently with a fork.
• Serve hot and delicious pressure cooker chicken biryani with any raita of your choice.

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What is the ideal rice to water ratio?

In this recipe, I use 1 cup rice to 1 1/2 cup water. This allows the rice grains to be separate and soft preventing them from sticking to each other. I also add a tsp of oil while cooking, to prevent rice from sticking to each other.

What is the best rice to chicken ratio? 

Rule of thumb is to use equal amounts of rice and chicken by weight, which is 1:1 ( 1 cup of rice to 1 pound of chicken) Depending on how you enjoy your biryani , you can use more chicken ( In this recipe I have used 1 cup rice to to 1 1/2 pound chicken)

What do you eat with Chicken Biryani?

Biryani is typically served at festive occasions and considered a complete meal.It is served along with a saucy side dish such as baghare baingan (eggplants in rich sauce) .I like to serve my Chicken Biryani with cooling raita made with yogurt, mint, cilantro, and a pinch of salt.

What is the difference between biryani and pulao?

Biryani is prepared by layering parboiled basmati rice, marinated or cooked meat/chicken/vegetables/fish, fried onions, fresh herbs, lemon juice, saffron water, etc., and then steaming it together. The final dish will have fluffy rice grains in a variety of colors from the absorption of spices, juices and saffron.

Indian pulao (pilaf) is prepared as a one pot dish. Sauteed onions, spices, meat or chicken or vegetables, herbs and measured amount of water or stock are all cooked together until well done. The rice grains will have a uniform color from the mixture of spices and juices.

Links to some of my other blogposts on Biryani recipes

• Hyderabadi Dum Chicken Biryani
• Dindigul Thalapakattu Biryani
• Ambur Biryani
• Pressure cooker Chicken Biryani
• Shrimp/Jinga Biryani
• Mushroom Biryani

The Bottom Line

This Pressure cooker Chicken Biryani recipe in a pressure cooker is the easiest and quickest recipe you will ever try out in your own kitchen.What are you waiting for? Make it happen , now that the colder months are starting to set in. You can thank me later for the deliciousness it rendered on a cold sleepy weekend!

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