Hyderabadi chicken biryani is an aromatic, mouth watering and authentic Indian dish with succulent chicken in layers of fluffy rice, fragrant spices and fried onions. It is easier than most recipes while retaining the original taste and presented step by step. Cook like a native but with more ease!
It’s the perfect choice for foodies who prefer having their rice with spice, interspersed with tender peaces of meat or chicken. Hyderabadi Biryani is a dish from down the south but spread all across the country and even abroad. Cooked in ‘dum style’, it’s layered with fried onions and mint, serve at dinner parties with a cold raita.
HYDERABADI BIRYANI
Hyderabad, the city of my childhood, is justly famous for its biryani – an addictive delicious rice and meat/chicken dish. And Hyderabadi Chicken biryani is by far the most favored among the other regional versions.
There are two versions of Hyderabadi Chicken biryani:
- Pakki biryani – cooked meat or chicken is layered with parboiled rice and steamed together.
- Kacchi biryani – raw marinated meat or chicken is placed in a single layer in the bottom of cooking pot and topped with partially cooked rice and steamed together. This is the easier method.
INGREDIENT For Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani
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- Basmati Rice: Use the highest quality aged long grain basmati rice from a popular brand. Ask your local Indian grocer for the best variety in any brand, which is typically the most expensive.
- Chicken with bone: It is best to use whole chicken, with bone, cut and clean. Chicken leg quarters or thighs will work too. Avoid chicken breast as it will be too dry. For boneless option, use chicken thigh meat.
- Yogurt: A key ingredient, this should neither be too thick nor too runny. For a dairy-free option, try coconut yogurt.
- Spices:
- You will need whole spices and ground spices. They are available at Indian grocery stores for a good price or online.
- Whole spices can be wrapped in muslin cloth or a metal mesh cooking infuser.
- A bulk biryani masala recipe is below. For a store-bought option, try Shaan Sindhi biryani masala, but adjust the salt and chili powder in the recipe.
- Herbs: Use fresh herbs when you can. Frozen cilantro and dried mint can also work for the marinade.
- Ginger and Garlic: Use these fresh for amazing taste.
- Saffron: Choose best quality saffron. For more on that, check the post on Saffron Tea.
- Onions: Slice the onions very thin. I use my mandolin slicer. Sprinkle some flour on the onions before frying, to make them fry quicker and crisper. For gluten-free, try corn starch or rice flour plus corn starch.
- Ghee: A drizzle of ghee on the top will take your biryani to the next level.
BIRYANI MASALA
Grind all the spices below into a fine powder and store in airtight container. One fourth of this blend will be enough for the biryani recipe in this post. To make it more spicy, use extra spice blend.
- 4 cinnamon sticks
- 4 black cardamom
- 20 green cardamom
- 1 teaspoon cloves
- 4 large bay leaves
- 4 teaspoons black cumin seeds (shahjeera)
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg (optional)
- ⅛ teaspoon mace (optional)
The most important spices are cardamom, cloves and cinnamon. There are regional variations to the above mix which also include some coriander seeds, cumin seeds etc., but the list of spices above are the dominant ones in traditional biryani spice blends.
HOW TO MAKE EASY Hyderabadi Chicken BIRYANI
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**Step-by-step brief overview below. Full recipe with ingredient amounts is at the end of post.
- Fried Onions: Slice onions very finely and fry until crisp and light golden brown.
- Chicken Marination: Combine chicken with all marinade ingredients, ⅓ fried onions and ground biryani spice blend.
- Rice Preparation: Rinse basmati rice until clear. Soak ⅓ cup rice in water. Cook remaining rice in rice cooker. For alternative traditional cooking method check our lamb biryani
- Assemble Rice and Chicken Layers: Transfer chicken with marinade to a cooking pot. Top with chopped cilantro, mint, half lemon juice, some olive oil and most of the remaining fried onions.
- Add Soaked Rice: Drain and spread it over the chicken.
- Final Rice Layer: Layer all cooked rice. Top with remaining fried onions, lemon juice, saffron water and ghee over the rice.
- Steaming: Cover with parchment paper, followed by aluminum foil and fit the lid tight over it. Bake in oven for one hour, until steam builds up well.
- On Stove top: Alternatively, heat biryani at medium high for 10 to 15 minutes and then simmer at low for one hour until steam builds up well.
- Cool biryani for five minutes. Gently mix rice and chicken and serve.
WHAT TO SERVE ALONG
Biryani is typically served at festive occasions and considered a complete meal, along with a saucy side dish such as baghare baingan (eggplants in rich sauce), mirchi ka salan (chili peppers in creamy sauce) or Hyderabadi tomato egg curry and a yogurt salad called raita.