Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani | Biriyani In Hyderabadi Style

I think there are no one who don't like Biriyani. And when it is Hyderabadi Biriyani, it is very difficult for someone to resist himself. But that's a different thing if you are a  vegetarian. Different state of India has different varieties of biriyani. But Hyderabadi chicken biryani is  the most popular biryanis in India. Special  cooking process  makes it so delicious and amazing from biriyanis of other states. You Must add this classic biryani  to your recipe repertoire. Here is a recipe of this awesome Hyderabadi biriyani which you can make at your home.

This Hyderabadi  chicken biryani is the king of biryanis. In fact is is a must have dish for any special occasion. Just a mere thought about the taste of this biryani will  make you to cook it again and again. Honestly, this chicken biryani in Hyderabadi style features the very best of Indian biryani.

Ingredients of Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani:

Ingredients for Marination of chicken

• 1 tbsp garam masala
• 1-2 tsp red chili powder
• 1-2 green chilies (optional)
• ½ cup chopped coriander leaves
• ½ cup chopped mint leaves
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• ½ cup yogurt
• Salt to taste
• 1 kg with bone chicken of medium sized pieces

Biriyani Masala Powder

• 4-5 cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3-4 cardamom pods
• ¾ tsp black cumin seeds (sha jeera)
• 12 black peppercorns

Rice

• 4 cups basmati rice
• 4 cloves
• 3 cardamom pods
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 star anise
• 2 tsp oil

Caramelized Onions

• 1 tbsp ghee
• 1 tbsp oil
• 2 large onions, finely sliced
• ¼ tsp sugar

Other Ingredients

• A pinch of saffron, (soak it in ½ cup lukewarm milk)
• 3 tbsp oil
• 1 tbsp ghee + 2 tsp ghee
• A handful of coriander leaves
• Extra coriander or mint leaves, to garnish
• Raita, to serve

Making Instructions of Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani:

Marinate Chicken :

• First place all the ingredients for marination – ginger, garlic, turmeric, coriander, cumin, garam masala, red chili powder, green chilies (if using), coriander leaves, mint leaves, lemon juice, yogurt and salt  in a mixer machine and make a smooth paste of it .
• Take your chicken pieces in a pan and rub this paste thoroughly onto the chicken  pieces. Cover the pan with a lid  and keep it in a refrigerator  for at least 4 hours or overnight if your time permits.

Biryani Masala Powder:

• Place all the ingredients for the masala powder – cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, cumin and peppercorns  in a  spice grinder. Grind it to a coarse powder and keep it aside.

Preparation of Rice

• Rinse rice well under cold running water and soak in water for 30 minutes.
• Take water in a large, add salt to it and keep it on the oven. Add rice, cloves, cardamom, bay leaves, star anise and oil to this salted water when it starts to boil and  cover with a tight fitting lid. Bring to a boil again. Lower the heat to medium, and simmer until rice is half cooked. Drain and set aside.

Caramelized Onions:

• Heat ghee and oil in a medium frying pan over medium high heat. Add onions. Saute and  stir  occasionally for 4-5 minutes or until the onions becomes brown.  Now add sugar and cook stirring for another 1-2 minutes or until onions are caramelized. Keep this caramelized onions aside and separate 2 tbsp of this onions to garnish.

Final Preparation of Hyderabadi Biriyani:

• First heat 3 tbsp ghee and 1 tbsp oil in a heavy bottomed pan over medium-high heat. Add marinated  chicken  and biryani masala powder. Fry and  stir occasionally for about 5-6 minutes.  Make sure to arrange your chicken pieces  in one layer. Now add the next layer – half of rice, 1 tsp ghee and half of caramelized onion. Scatter over half of chopped coriander leaves. Pour in half of saffron milk. make another layer with rest of rice, 1 tsp ghee, and rest of caramelized onions. Scatter over rest of the chopped coriander leaves on this layer of rice. Also pour in rest of saffron milk.
• Now cover the pan with a very tight fitting lid so that no steam can escape. To ensure the lid is really tight, Cover the pan with aluminium foil and then place the lid on top.
• Place the pan on a tawa so that direct fire can not touch the bottom of the pan. Cook biryani  for 5 minutes over high heat. After 5 minutes, lower the heat to medium and  cook for 15 minutes, and  again  for 10 minutes over low heat. So you need total 30minutes for cooking biriyani.
• Now remove the pan after cooking for 10 minutes over low heat and let it stand for another 10 minutes before opening the lid.
• Garnish with the reserved caramelized onions and you can add more chopped coriander leaves if you like. Now Serve your Hyderabadi biriyani with raita .

Special Notes-

It's important that you should use a heavy bottomed pan to make this biryani. Otherwise the masala at the bottom of the pan will burn and the final dish will get a burned taste.

 Recipe Card 

Dish: Hyderabadi Biriyani   Cuisine: Indian    State : Hyderabad   Prep Time - 35 minutes

Cook Time - 40 minutes  Servings - 8 people   Calories- 780