Authentic Recipes from the Kitchens of Shriya, Nithu & Arthi!

Spicy Chicken Biryani

 

A lot of people are put of by the thought of making biryani because it is usually so involved and time consuming. This recipe will change their mind when they find out how easy it is to cook some delicious spicy biryani.

I got this recipe from my good friend Neeru who made this for us and it was so delicious. Unlike Dum Biryani this is made with pressure cooker and it is the kind of biryani our moms would make on weekends and we would eat it at watching our favorite movies. Hope you like this recipe and if it comes out well let us know and I’ll let Neeru know.

Preparation Time : 60 minutes
Spice Level : 4 out of 5
No of servings : 3-4

Ingredients:

  • Chicken : 500gms
  • Basmati Rice : 2 cups
  • Onion : 1 (large)(chopped into lenghtwise)
  • Tomatoes : 2
  • Ginger & Garlic Paste : 11/2 tbsp
  • Oil : 1/4 cup
  • Cinnamon stick : 1″
  • Cloves : 3
  • Bay leaves : 1
  • White Vinegar : 1/2 tsp
  • Red chili powder : 2 tbsp
  • Green chilies : 3
  • Coriander Powder : 1 tbsp
  • Garam Masala Powder : 1/2 tbsp
  • Chicken Masala powder : 1 tbsp (optional) (It can be available in all Indian stores)
  • Coriander leaves : 1/2 cup (chopped)
  • Mint leaves : 1/4 cup(chopped)
  • Yogurt : 1/2 cup
  • water : 3 cups
 
Method Of Preparation :
  1. Wash and clean chicken and marinade it with 3 tbsp of yogurt, 1/2 tbsp of ginger & garlic paste, 1/2 tbsp of red chili powder and 1/2 tsp vinegar.
  2. wash and soak the basmati rice in water for 30 minutes. After that fry the rice in ghee just for 2-3 minutes. Keep it aside
  3. Keep it aside or in refrigerator and let it marinade for atleast an hour or 30 minutes.
  4. Heat oil in a pan add cloves, cinnamon stick and bay leaves after that add onions.
  5. Fry them till it gets translucent or until golden brown now add the ginger & garlic paste.
  6. Fry them for 3-4 minutes till the raw smell goes off.
  7. After that add the chopped tomatoes mix them well and add required salt.
  8. Let it sit in the simmer heat for 3-4 minutes.
  9. Now add the marinated chicken pieces cook them for about 2 minutes in medium heat.
  10. Add the half of chopped coriander leaves and mint leaves. Mix them well.
  11. After that add remaining red chili powder, coriander powder, garam masala powder and chicken masala powder.
  12. Fry it all together for about 5 minutes or until the oil separates on top.
  13. Now add the remaining yogurt and 3 cups of water and pressure cook for one whistle. If you don’t have weight valve pressure cooker, pressure cook them in medium heat for 15 minutes.
  14. After that remove from heat and once the pressure is released open the lid.
  15. Now Measure the water from that pressure cooked gravy and keep it aside. We need 31/2 cups of water for 2 cup basmati rice. So just take 31/2 cups of water from that gravy and keep it aside.
  16. Now place the pressure cooker  with gravy back on the stove in medium heat and add the fried rice from step 2.
  17. Mix them well, add the 31/2 cups of water from step 15(we don’t need more than that). Add the remaining coriander leaves, mint leaves and 1/2 tbsp of ghee.
  18. Mix everything well and again pressure cook it for one whistle or cook in medium heat for 20 minutes.
  19. Once the pressure is released serve it hot with boiled eggs, raitha and chicken curry.

53 Comments

  1. Sooooo tempting and spicy biriyani…

  2. Its really tempting yaar…Luv spicy biryani…

  3. Looks perfectly done, flavourful and yummy biriyani

  4. Truly mouth watering..:) I love this royal dish.. warms up a cold winter evening..:)
    Reva

  5. Great recipe ! I made it! It`s delicious!!! And it looks great , too!

  6. wow, delicious, I will try ur recipe!

  7. Omg, briyani makes me hungry.

  8. Very nice & delicious……..

  9. Delicious 🙂

  10. wow…sounds absolutely tempting…excellent clicks

  11. What brand of chicken masala have you used from the Indian store….there are lots of brands can you specify the one you used to make this special biryani….

    • I’ve used Sakthi Chicken masala. Personally I love sakthi products, it gives very good taste and flavor.

      • hi
        i would like to know have you ever posted a recipe of chicken biriyani (an easy one) in any other site…because i ahd come through one like that & site name was the same if my memory is correct..i wanted to thank you for that, but cant find that page 🙁

  12. Can you pls specify which biryani masala is used there are lot of them available at the indian store …..which brand have you used to make the special biryani..

  13. I was at the store that is why you see the same comment twice….thanks I will try making this and see if I am finally successful…looks yummy though…

  14. Wow this Biryani looks yummy.Planning to make it over the weekend for Thanksgiving

  15. Shriya,I made your biriyani today.No words to say.It was delicious.Thanks for this great receipe.You three are rocking.Wonderful website.

    • Thanks vidhya, I am glad you like it.

  16. looks great but y u adding so much water then filtering it, then whistling twice? better u can add rice aft chicken with 3 1/2 measured cup of water for one whistle.. gng to make it tomo so will u answer me?

    • Hi sruthi, As you said we can add chicken with rice and pressure cook for two whistle. But in this method when you pressure cook the chicken separately and use that gravy water for cooking biryani tastes soo good. why I am asking to measure 31/2 cups means if you add all that gravy(if it’s more than 31/2 cups) into that rice you won’t get fluffy rice instead you will be getting sticky rice. You don’t want your biryani to be sticky rgt. That’s why I am asking to measure that gravy water(Correct amount of water is so important in making biryani) for biryani. If you still have question please feel free to leave your comment here.

  17. Your recipe looks really delicious.. Wanna try it today..

    Can we add lemon instead of vinegar ?

    Also my pressure cooker whistles often, so i usually keep my rice for 7 min after the first whistle. In that case do you think one whistle would work or let me know the minutes to keep it pressure cooked both chicken as well as rice.

    Thanks,
    Soundra.

  18. Hiya! Loved your blog very much.I think it’s one of the best with lots of different recipes to suit every taste. Just one question, after you pressure cook the chicken,do you remove the chicken completely from the cooker when you cook the rice? If so,is the chicken added to the rice at the end? I know this is a silly question,but my excuse is that I am a biriyani beginner.Bye.

  19. Hi,

    Tried your recipe. Came out really really well.. Yummy it was !!!\

    @Nitasha : You need to pressure cook the chicken for one vessel.
    Then remove all the water from the cooked chicken gravy and add 1 1/2 cups of the cooked water for 1 cup of basmati rice. Both the rice and chicken are again pressure cooked for one more vessel.

    Comes out exactly the same as in the pic :)))

    Regards,
    Soundra.

    • Hi Soundra,
      Thanks for clearing that up.I did make this Chicken Biriyani ,but I cooked the rice in the gravy for 2 whistles.Then I used a little leftover gravy to serve with the biriyani.But I cooked the chicken & reduced the gravy until it was dry & then added it to the rice.But what you have suggested makes more sense & uses less time & gas.Silly me!
      Thanks to Shriya for sharing this recipe with us.This was the first time,biriyani has ever come out properly for me.

  20. I made this receipe today. It came out good. It’s very tasty. good shriya. Thank u.

  21. Tried this recipe & came out super. Hats off to the chef. 3 1/2 cups h20…. That was the bit nervous part & it just came out perfect & everybody loved it. Thanks a lot. Lot lot …. 🙂

  22. This recipe is absolutely splendid. My husband (who is from India) and I have both made it several times. Instead of chicken, we used leg of lamb and cubed the meat, cooking it the same way.

    • Thanks all of u for the lovely comments… Glad u all enjoyed it.

  23. i made this biryani twice and the result was “i stood proud infront of my friends and family” for giving them the biryani which i cooked by your way….thanks for the easy and excellent recipe….

  24. Hi Shriya.Cooked your biryani today.Came out great.I used Everest shahi biryani masala instead of chicken masala.Also I did not add any water while cooking chicken and added only 21/2 cups of water with rice.It came out excellent.Also this method consumes less amt of ghee/oil.Thanks for a great recipe.Looking forward for more such recipes.Thanks.

  25. nice…. biriyani!!!!!!!!!!

  26. actually mixing curd in the chicken gives the briyani a sour taste which is not so gud…

  27. My husband really loved this rice… Thanks a lot….

    • Thanks dundu.

  28. The Biryani came out really well, easy, simple and tasty…
    thank you for sharing

  29. Today I made this spicy chicken biryani.. wow…..!!.. it was very nice and tasty.. my hubby liked it very much… thank u….

    • I need to prepare mutton curry for 100 people using a whole mutton sheep. Can you please assist me with the correct measurements as to how much and what spices to use please. i am from South Africa

  30. SUPRBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB
    YUMMY

  31. in step number 13, do we hav to put the chicken also in the cooker? or just yougurt n water?

  32. Do we have to put the chicken pieces also or just the gravy ? If so , then when to add the chicken pieces and when ?

  33. I mean ‘how ‘ ? 🙂

  34. i made it this recipe is just awesome and easy too……………i loved it…!!!

  35. may i know y the name came as thallaakattu briyaani

  36. briyani recipe is good so palatable to eat

  37. Its a great recipe for a beginner. Very simple. But a lengthy procedure.. To tell you this was d first biryani I ever made. It was simply awesome. Taste was wow. Cudnt stop licking my fingers at d end. Thanks to u.
    Can u plz share some spicy recipes for salmon fish, let it be a dry or gravy or both:-)
    Good luck

  38. Thanks for the recipe! I am a vegetarian and I made this for my friends. This was super hit.

    • don’t do so overacting it is enough plz darling

  39. Tried this recipe. Came out well.. Thanks for the recipe.

  40. yummy briyani I wl try it

  41. nice but long recipe i am going to try it

  42. this is great post my dear, this biryani recipe of yours is extremely tempting one and the good thing is you explain the procedure clearly and in a way it is easy to follow. I also like the pictures you provided . it makes my mouth watering for a bit when i’m looking at it haha :). by the way, thanks for sharing . 🙂

  43. Thanks for sharing this recipe. It really helps me now. More power to you !!

  44. Wow, I don’t usually comment on recipes, but this one had so many issues I have to mention it. Where to start? There’s no way to choose “print” on your site, so I had to print 3 pages for this including using a lot of ink for the photos that I didn’t want or need.

    I know what Ghee is and luckily I had some on hand, but it’s not even listed under ingredients.

    Most people refer to green coriander as “cilantro”–so that should have at least been in parentheses.

    You do not say what “ginger and garlic paste” is. So I just guessed.

    You don’t say what “red chili powder” is so I just used cayenne.

    You don’t say what type of green chilies, so I used jalapenos.

    You should have separated the amounts of ingredients for the each section, the yogurt for example.

    The green chilies are listed in the ingredients but they never appear in the directions at all! And I read it 5 times at least trying to find them. Did you even proofread your own recipe at all?

    Directions are incredibly VAGUE. For example, #3: Keep it aside or in refrigerator and let it marinade for at least an hour or 30 minutes.” What is “IT” referring to? The chicken or the rice? Not clear. If it’s the chicken, that should be #2.

    What the heck is “required salt”? VAGUE!

    The whole gravy/rice thing is just very confusing and badly written–I read it 5 times trying to figure out what you were saying. I’m not stupid–it’s just very badly written.

    Amazingly, it turned out OK, even with all the problems. But the only reason is because I’m an experienced cook and used my best judgment. But for someone else, it would been a total and complete disaster. if you’re going to have a recipe website, at least have a good one! Jeez.