Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani

The authentic Hyderabadi Biryani is the king of all Indian Biryani recipes that you will ever savor. A truly delicious Hyderabadi Biryani will draw you in with its aroma and would make you drool.

There are two ways of making this biryani, one is called Pakki biryani, in which you cook the meat separately and then layer it with the rice, seal and cook on very low heat. The other method is Kachi biryani, in which you marinate the meat, place it at the bottom of the pot and cover it up with parboiled rice, seal and cook on very low heat. The meat and the rice are cooked in an airtight pot on very low flame so that the rice is cooked in the flavors of meat and gets the aroma of the meat. The meat gets the direct heat from the flame and the rice is cooked with steam generated by the airtight method of cooking, also known as the Dum method.

This is one of the easiest biryani and the marination can be done one day in advance too. I always prefer this biryani for guests who prefer less spicy biryani and low fat and also for parties that require lots of work, I prepare this marination a day in advance.

Ok now on to the recipe…

To Marinate

· 1 kg Chicken/ mutton cut into desired size

· 1 cup fried onions

· ½ cup Yogurt

· 1 1/2 tbsp Ginger Garlic Paste

· 1-2 tsp Chili Powder

· 2 tsp Coriander Powder

· 1 tsp Cumin powder

· 5 -6 green Chilies split into two

· 1 cup chopped Mint Leaves

· 1 cup chopped Cilantro

· ½ tsp Turmeric

· Juice of 1 lime

· Salt to taste

· 10 Pepper Corns

· 5 Cloves

· ½ tsp Cardamom Seeds

· ½ tsp Sahajeera or Black Cumin

· 1” Cinnamon Stick

· 1 cup Oil

· ½ tsp of saffron strands

· ½ cup milk

· 4 cups Basmati Rice soaked for 30 minutes

· Spices for boiling rice (6 Cardamoms,3 Cloves,2 Bay Leaves,1 Bay Flower or Biryani Flower,1 tsp Sahajeera)

· 1 tbsp of Oil

· Salt

Marinate chicken pieces in salt, ginger garlic paste, whole garam masala, curd, chilly, turmeric powder, coriander and cumin powder, mint & coriander leaves, lime juice & green chilies. Fry onions till brown. crush onions and add to the chicken. Keep the marination for min 4 hrs, the more the better. If you are in a hurry, you could directly start the process.

Soak rice for 30 minutes. Boil 8 cups water add one lemon juice and salt. When the water starts boiling add soaked rice and boils for 3 minutes. now drain the excess water.

Grease a big pan with oil. put in it the marinated chicken. Add oil and add the boiled and drained rice. Cover the vessel with foil so that the steam does not go out. Cook high flame for 5 minutes. now simmer the flame and cook for 30 minutes. Once done switch off and do not remove the cover for 15 minutes. Serve this yummylicious biryani with Mirchi Ka Salan and Raita.

Try this recipe and we welcome your feedback :)