Chicken biryani recipe, made using the dum method by marinating chicken and combining it with half cooked basmati rice and giving dum by slow cooking until the biryani is nicely done.
The recipe has all the step by step details and a video procedure.
This is a special eid recipe to make for eid all across the world and also for several festivals, weddings and occasions.
TIPS TO MAKE A PERFECT BIRYANI
- The most important point is the quality of the chicken or mutton used to make biryani. The meat used has to be fresh and tender for the flavours of the chicken flesh or meat to get infused into the rice.
- Secondly, the rice that has to be used to make a good and appealing biryani has to be the aged basmati rice. Aged here means the rice should be a year old or two for the biryani rice grains to grow long while cooking which gives a good looking biryani.
- If the basmati rice that is used is not aged, the rice grains do not turn long in length while cooking and there are high chances of the biryani getting soggy while cooking on dum. The reason is nothing but the rice cooks faster than the meat or chicken as it is not aged rice. Newly manufactured rice cooks quickly and rice can get soggy before the chicken tenderizes.
- One more important point to remember is whenever biryani is made using basmati rice, always make sure to soak the rice for at least 35 to 40 minutes. The reason for soaking is to make the rice grains longer while boiling and they also do not get hard during the time of dum.
Tips while making rice giving dum
- Most of the times, the rice does not get cooked properly and the reason is not soaking.
- Another important part of biryani making is when basmati rice is added into the boiling water do not overcook the rice and make sure rice is only 70% done that is it should not be fully cooked. If we dum the rice with fully cooked rice, the biryani turns out completely soggy and totally damaged.
- The best idea to know if rice is 70% done is to just cook the rice for 9-10 minutes in boiling water. Switch off the flame and strain it immediately. If the rice is too aged then cook for another minute and not more than that. Strain the rice and make sure all the water is drained well.
- While placing dum, always use a heavy flat bottom vessel. If normal vessel is used then the whole masala that is placed at the bottom burns and biryani spoils completely.
- Make sure there are no openings to the lid used to cover the biryani. Try to cover the lid tightly by placing any weight on the lid to make sure the biryani is cooking well inside and not letting the steam escape out.
- Follow these simple techniques and every biryani turns out yum.
Tips while using normal rice
- Do not soak for more than 20 minutes for normal rice and just boil for 8 minutes and strain the rice.
Biryani can be made in several ways and this is one of the several ways of making hyderabadi biryani and hopefully would be posting several ways of making hyderabadi recipes using chicken and mutton.
Biryani making in south indian regions like Tamil Nadu, Kerala is totally different from hyderabadi biryani and in Hyderabad usually, makes use of the dum method to make the biryani recipes...
In this biryani recipe, I have used the chicken, marinated it with some aromatic spices and herbs. The following step is cooking of the rice and adding the marinated chicken to it and giving dum.
The outcome of the recipe is as good as the restaurant style and what could be a better feeling than getting restaurant like flavors at home..
I have used common aromatic spices that are used in every household to make this biryani.
Best accompaniments with biryani
This recipe goes very well with raita, bagara baingan, mirchi ka salan, biryani gravies made usually using onions and cashewnut paste.
I have shared a delicious chicken biryani recipe using dum method which is very easy and tastes the best. I would like my blog readers to make this recipe for Eid and serve their family members.
How long chicken should be marinated?
- This method is a dum biryani method and I have marinated the chicken for about half an our to speed up the cooking process and yet I got the best flavors.
- To get more flavors into the chicken, it can be marinated for more than an hour to get all the masala flavors infused into the chicken well. The longer we marinate, the better the meat tastes.
- Generally, chicken softens soon but if not marinated well biryani turns out good, but the chicken pieces in the biryani lack in taste and masala.
- Therefore, be it chicken or mutton, marination is the main step for the chicken or meat to taste the best.
Other biryani recipes
pakistani biryani with chicken
The recipe can not only made during eid but also for various other occasions.
Chicken biryani is the most sought after dish all across the world and I thought eid is the best time to share this recipe.
I hope this wonderful chicken biryani recipe is loved by all of them and hope to receive feedbacks after trying out the recipe.
Here, in this recipe I have made use of basmati rice and making use of basmati rice for dum biryani recipes is highly recommended to get restaurant like flavors in the biryani.
I have already shared other variations of biryani which are mentioned above with the help of links and would like to update many more biryani varieties as I keep posting.
Do check out the recipe details below and also the video procedure for chicken biryani recipe.
Finally I wish everyone EID MUBARAK!!!
Step by step procedure
Marinating chicken
- Firstly, in a bowl, add the chicken pieces. The chicken pieces used here are washed well and strained to remove water from the chicken. Doing so makes the chicken and masala to be absorbed well into each other.
- add salt, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, ginger garlic paste, garam masala powder, black pepper corn powder.
- add in chopped coriander leaves, mint leaves, slit green chillies.
- Also, add fried onions. It is always a good idea to add in onions after crushing which gives the marinade a good gravy texture.
- Mix this whole mixture well.
- Add beaten yogurt into the marinade. It is always a good tip to use thickened yogurt which is slightly sour to get the right flavors into the biryani rice.
- add green cardamom powder, lemon extract, oil. If green cardamom powder is not available just add 2 whole green cardamoms.
- Mix the whole marinade well so that the masala is coated well to every chicken piece.
- After mixing well, marinate the chicken for half an hour. The chicken should be covered and let it marinate for at least 30 minutes. The more the chicken is marinated, the better the biryani tastes. If we marinate the chicken for more than 30 minutes that is from 1 hour to 2 hours in refrigerator, the biryani tastes even more awesome. If no time to marinate it can be cooked even without marination but at least 30 minutes can be given for perfect flavors.
Cooking the rice:
- Wash the basmati rice and soak the rice in water for about 30-35 minutes.
- Take a handi, add water into it, add salt as per taste, add whole garam masala (cinnamon sticks, cloves, cardamoms, black pepper corns).
- Add shahi zeera/caraway seeds and bring the water to a boil.
- Add the soaked rice into the boiling water.
- Keep stirring once or twice and cook the rice until it is 70% done or for about 7-8 minutes. Do not cook rice more than that. The rice turns out soggy and paste like it cooked for longer time.
- Switch off the flame and strain the rice.
Giving dum
- Take a handi, add little oil all over the base.
- Add the marinated chicken at the base and spread the marinade evenly.
- Over the chicken, add the rice that has been strained and spread it evenly.
- Finally garnish the biryani with green cardamom powder, some fried onions, coriander leaves, mint leaves, lemon extract, some oil, ghee, saffron flavored milk.
- Cover the handi with a lid. Place a tawa on the stove. Place the handi on the tawa. Gridle/tawa is placed to avoid burning the masala at the bottom as this is a kachchi yakhni biryani and should be given dum for long. If the bottom used is not heavy and not flat then there are high chances of biryani burning at the base. Be careful during this step.
- Dum the biryani on high flame for 15 minutes.
- Dum the biryani on low flame for 30-35 minutes.
- Switch off the flame.
- Biryani is done.
- Serve the chicken biryani.
- Also watch the video procedure which explains the recipe practically.
Video procedure
Recipe
chicken biryani recipe restaurant style
Ingredients
For marinating chicken:
- 750 gms chicken cleaned and washed well
- salt - to taste
- 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon full ginger garlic paste
- ½ teaspoon garam masala powder (powder of cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, black pepper)
- ½ teaspoon black pepper powder (kali mirch powder)
- ½ bunch coriander leaves
- 10-12 mint leaves
- 6 green chillies vertically slit
- 1 cup fried onions (5-6 medium size onions deep fried)
- 1 cup beaten yogurt
- ½ teaspoon green cardamom powder
- 1 tablespoon lemon extracted juice
- 1 tablespoon oil
For giving dum:
- 600 gms basmati rice
- salt - to taste
- whole garam masala (4 small cinnamon sticks, 4 cloves, 3 cardamoms, 6-7 black pepper corns)
- 1 teaspoon shahi zeera/caraway seeds
- 1 teaspoon oil
For garnishing/seasoning while giving dum:
- ½ teaspoon green cardamom powder
- 2 tablespoon fried onions
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 8-10 mint leaves
- 2 tablespoon freshly chopped coriander leaves
- 1 tablespoon onion flavored oil (oil remained after frying onions)
- 1 teaspoon ghee
- 3-4 saffron strands mixed with 2 tablespoon of milk
Instructions
Marinating chicken:
- Firstly, in a bowl, add the chicken pieces, add salt, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, ginger garlic paste, garam masala powder, black pepper corn powder, coriander leaves, mint leaves, slit green chillies, fried onions.
- Mix this whole mixture well.
- Add beaten yogurt, green cardamom powder, lemon extract, oil.
- Mix the whole marinade well so that the masala is coated well to every chicken piece.
- After mixing well, marinate the chicken for half an hour.
Cooking the rice:
- Wash the basmati rice and soak the rice in water for about 30-35 minutes.
- Take a handi, add water into it, add salt as per taste, add whole garam masala (cinnamon sticks, cloves, cardamoms, black pepper corns).
- Add shahi zeera and bring the water to a boil.
- Add the soaked rice into the boiling water.
- Cook the rice until it is 70% done or for about 7-8 minutes.
- Switch off the flame and strain the rice.
Giving dum:
- Take a handi, add little oil all over the base.
- Add the marinated chicken at the base and spread the marinade evenly.
- Over the chicken, add the rice that has been strained and spread it evenly.
- Finally garnish the biryani with green cardamom powder, some fried onions, coriander leaves, mint leaves, lemon extract, some oil, ghee, saffron flavored milk.
- Cover the handi with a lid.
- Place a tawa on the stove.
- Place the handi on the tawa.
- Dum the biryani on high flame for 15 minutes.
- Dum the biryani on low flame for 30-35 minutes.
- Switch off the flame.
- Biryani is done.
- Serve the chicken biryani.
- Watch the video procedure above.
Notes
- Follow the tip mentioned in the blog post for a perfect biryani.
Nutrition
FAQ'S
While the dum process, check the rice in between and if you notice that the rice is not cooked properly, then the simple tip is too add some water all over the rice. If it is too undercooked, add a cup of water. If it is slightly undercooked then just add ¼ cup to ½ a cup water all over the rice. Seal the lid tightly immediately and let it dum until the rice is done.
Just skip adding saffron flavoured milk and use any food colouring instead or just keep it natural. The biryani tastes the same but the colour of the biryani varies.
Yes, all the ingredients added during seasoning can be avoided and directly placed on dum.
It is done to prevent biryani and the rice to become dry and keep the moist flavours intact after giving dum to the biryani.
Yes, the overall cook time for chicken is 40 minutes and since chicken is marinated it cooks even quickly during dum. Marination is also done to speed up the process of tenderizing during dum. The biryani is placed on dum for at least 45 minutes and chicken is easily tenderized during the same duration.
No, the raw chicken marinade gets cooked completely during dum and releases all the flavors into the rice during the dum process.
wajeed says
simplified and easy to cook with your way
Asiya says
Glad you loved the simplified version...
Tejina says
What is the difference in this biryani and Hyderabadi dum..I need exact ratio of masalas for 1 kg rice and 1and 1/2kg chicken
Asiya says
Biryani is made in different ways...In some biryani like hyderabadi, chicken is marinated and put on dum for atleast 45 minutes where chicken and rice gets cooked....Other biryani procedures are like we use onions, tomatoes, chicken or mutton , first cook them and then add rice and given dum... Hyderabadi biryani requires marination of chicken and mutton and then the rice and meat together is placed on dum for it to cook well...
Tejina says
How much time will it take to dum 2 kg of rice and 3 kg of chicken..is it same time..
I tried your both veg and non veg dum Hyderabadi biryani..it came out so well..I am a fan of Ur receipes.tgank u
Asiya says
Dum time is same for any quantity...
Vijaya kumar says
Quantity for preparing 1 kg rice and 1.5 kg chicken biryani
Asiya says
check out this recipe on my blog...https://yummyindiankitchen.com/hyderabadi-chicken-dum-biryani-recipe/
padmini says
tried your chicken biryani and it was truly lip smacking...thanks a ton.I used haldi mixed with milk instead of saffron and that gave a good rich colour too...
Asiya says
Thanks for trying my biryani...
anurag says
this biryani recipe is wonderful... thanks to yummyindiankitchen....
Jules says
what is dum, haldi, and tawa?
Asiya says
dum is a procedure where the dish is cooked with tight lid and without letting steam escape out, haldi is turmeric powder and tawa is griddle...
naomi paul says
The biryani turned out amazing. My husband was super happy and loved the taste. So did everyone else at home. I have special guests this Saturday and I plan on making it again for the guests.
Thank you so much Asiya for sharing your wonderful recipe. God bless you.
Asiya says
Thank you so much for the overwhelming appreciation...it means a lot to receive such a great feedback...god bless...
rechal n says
hi!!! i just have a small question...don't we need to cook chicken a little before laying it with rice??
Asiya says
No need to cook chicken as it gets cooked during the process of dum and the cooking time for dum is 40 minutes and chicken too gets cooked in 40 minutes and therefore chicken does not need to be cooked before laying...
aman gola says
i tried at home. it is so tasty.
Deepa says
Thanks Asiya
The biryani was extremely tasty and it looked good too. My family enjoyed the biryani
Regards
Deepa
Vijaya kumar says
I required measurement 1kg rice and 1.5kg chicken
Edlyn says
I made this today and it turned out finger licking good!!!! Thank you for your recipe. This one is for keeps.
Asiya says
Thanks for the wonderful feedback...
Savio Francis Dsouza says
Hi Asiya,
I liked your yummy recipe for Hyderabadi chicken biryani. Will prepare it next week.
Please clarify my points. In your recipe you say soak the basmati rice for 20 to 30 minutes. Soak for 35 to 40 minutes.
Cook rice 70%, 5 to 7 minutes, 9 to 10 minutes,
Should I cook the rice without lid.
I don't have saffron strands, should I omit the saffron milk part.
Please let me know how to seal the vessel for dum,using wheat flour atta.
Kindly please advise me on the above mentioned queries. Please reply.
Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe.
To avoid any confusion I will update the recipe...
Asiya says
Soaking depends on the basmati rice we are using. If you use rice that is 2-3 yrs old then soak for longer time. If basmati rice is not that old then soak for little time...
Similarly, while boiling check if the rice is 70% done or just half cooked. We can judge it by looking at the rice. The rice used by each is different and my notes on tips are written based on that.
There is no harm if you soak for 35 to 40 minutes. In emergency you can cut short the soaking time.
Yes u can cook the rice without lid and skip adding saffron strands instead add some orange food color.
Savio Francis Dsouza says
Thank you so much for your valuable tips. Will follow it and prepare this yummy biryani on Tuesday. Then I will let you know how it turned out. Please let me know how much orange food color should I use.
Asiya says
just use less than 1/2 a tsp of food color...
Savio Francis Dsouza says
Hi Asiya,
I'm going to prepare your yummy delicious chicken dum biryani tomorrow. Should I cook the rice 70% for 10 minutes on a high flame.
Please let me know soon. Thank you.
Asiya says
not more than 10 minutes...
Savio Francis Dsouza says
Hi Asiya,
I prepared your yummy delicious chicken dum biryani today.
Turned out really great. Everyone liked it. Very nice taste, better than restaurant type.
Finger licking.
Yummilicious. Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe.
I enjoyed it very much. Please post some mutton masala recipes in rich thick and spicy gravies. Thank you.
Asiya says
Your feedback is overwhelming and inspires us to post even more... Yes there are some mutton recipes on the blog...Do check them out and will also be posting more of the mutton recipes...Stay tuned...
Francis Dsouza says
Thank you so much dear Asiya, all your recipes are simply out of this world. Very very tasty yummy and delicious. I will surely try preparing your other recipes. Will check out on the mutton recipes.
Sure I will stay tuned.
Wishing you all success and the very Bestest in life.
Regards,
Francis Dsouza.
June2 says
Tried your Chicken Biryani recipe last night for dinner & leftovers for lunch the next day.
It turned out really well & sooo yummy!
We had it with Yogurt, cut Cucumber & Brinjal Curry.
Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Good to know that the Dum time is the same for any amount of rice & chicken.
Will try your other recipes.
Hunza says
Can you put the biryani in the oven for dum? I don’t have a tava hence wondering what my alternatives are...
Asiya says
yes u can take a baking aluminium tray and dum the biryani inside it...
Rena says
Thank you so much for sharing your lovely biryani recipe, it turned out perfect 👌🏾 my family loved it. Your step by step method is so easy to follow. 😊
Asiya says
Thanks for trying...
Anuja M says
Asiya.. I have made this recipe 3-4 times now and it has never failed to impress to date. The recipe is quick, tasty and looks EXACTLY like the picture you posted above. Exactly the same. And you are right, it tastes exactly like "restaurant style" biryani. Thanks
Asiya says
Thank you so much...it means a lot...
Narayan says
Best ever Hydrabadi Biriyani recipe
Asiya says
Thank you...
qualifyfoods says
Excellent article that was...really loved your writing style..
Keep growing
Thanks & good luck..
shankar das says
The biryani turned out stunning. My significant other was very upbeat and cherished the taste. So did every other person at home. I have unique visitors this Saturday and I arrangement on creation it again for the visitors.
Much obliged to you such a great amount of Asiya for sharing your brilliant formula. God favor you.
Asiya says
thanks for trying our recipe...
Rita says
This is the third time I've made this recipe and we love it. I've never had biriyani rice before, so I have no idea what it suppose to taste like. All I can say is delicious 😋
Asiya says
Thanks for the feedback and its a pleasure to know that you liked it and made it thrice.