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Chicken Masala Biryani in a white bowl
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5 from 3 votes

Chicken Masala Biryani

A fragrant, aromatic Indian dish made with rice, chicken and loads of spice
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time1 hour
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Indian
Keyword: chicken biryani, Chicken Masala Biryani, south african biryani
Servings: 8

Ingredients

Rice

  • 2 cups Basmati Rice see note 1
  • 3 small pieces cinnamon sticks
  • 4 cloves
  • 6 elachie pods
  • salt

Chicken Marinade

  • 1.5 kg chicken I used breasts, thighs and drumsticks
  • 1/2 cup yogurt
  • 3 roma tomatoes blanched and blended
  • 100 gram tomato paste
  • 1 tbsp ginger/garlic paste
  • 2 tbsp masala see note 2
  • 2 tbsp kashmiri chili powder
  • 3 tspn ground cumin
  • 4 tspn ground coriander
  • 1 tspn turmeric
  • 1 tspn ground soomph/fennel
  • 1/2 tspn ground elachie/cardamom
  • 1 tbsp garam masala

Biryani

  • few drops oil
  • 100 gram butter see note 4
  • 3 pieces cinnamon sticks, abut 4cm each
  • 2 star aniseed
  • 3 bay leaf
  • 2 black elachie/cardamom
  • 2 large onion finely sliced
  • handful of mint leaves
  • 8 sprigs thyme
  • 2 green chillies slit in halves
  • 2 large potatoes each cut into 8 cubes
  • 1 cup dry brown lentils cooked
  • 1/2 cup oil required only if frying onion. See note 3
  • 1/4 tspn saffron mixed with 3 tbsp warm water (optional)

Instructions

Chicken

  • If you are using Chicken breasts, cut them into medium sized cubes. Marinate the chicken with all the spices, cardamom, cumin, coriander, turmeric, garam masala, soomph, chilli powder, yogurt, ginger/garlic paste, tomato paste and the pureed tomatoes. Refrigerate overnight or for an hour

Rice, Potatoes, Lentils

  • Wash rice, add cinnamon and cardamom. Add salt and cook as per package instructions until fully cooked
  • Sprinkle a little food colouring over (if you are not using saffron) and cover the pot. Set aside. When ready to add to the chicken use a fork to fluff up the rice. You will then have different shades of yellow in the rice.
  • Steam the potatoes until slightly tender. Season with salt and shallow fry in a little oil until golden brown. Set aside
  • You can soak the dry lentils overnight. Place it in a pot with enough water to cover it and cook until tender but not mushy. Set aside

Biryani

  • Heat 2 tablespoon butter from the 100 gram butter and a few drops oil. Add the cinnamon sticks, bay leaf, star aniseed and black cardamom. Fry until fragrant
  • Add one onion, curry leaf, thyme and green chillies. Sauté until the onion is golden brown
  • Add the marinated chicken and mint chopped mint leaves. Add salt and cook on high heat for 5 minutes
  • Reduce heat and simmer until the tomatoes are cooked, about 10 minutes. Add the cooked lentils to the chicken
  • Add the rice on top of the chicken. Sprinkle the saffron water over, if using. Cut the remaining butter and spread on top together with the fried onions. Pour a cup of water over the biryani and pop into the oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 1 hour. Please check in between cooking time to see if it needs more water. Add more, only if necessary. You can increase the cooking time a little if the potatoes are not fully cooked after an hour.

Onion

  • For the Crispy Fried Onion heat half a cup of oil in a pot and fry the onion on low heat until golden brown and crisp. Please keep an eye on the onion or it can burn. Drain on a paper towel and set aside

Notes

  1. I used Basmati Rice but you can easily use long grain rice. It won't be as fragrant but it works perfectly fine
  2. I use a medium masala, called Rumbo Russo, purchased from the spice shops in Durban. However, you an increase the amount of Kashmiri chilli powder and use just that
  3. You an totally omit the fried onion. It does add a lovely flavor to the biryani but not totally necessary
  4. If you want a little more richness you can increase the amount of butter and yes you can substitute the butter with butter ghee if you wish