Healhty Indian Chicken Biryani – in Three Easy Steps

Healthy Indian Chicken Biryani – with progress pictures

An ultimate favorite of most Indians would be a Biryani. This Easy and healthy Indian Chicken Biryani recipe is simple, easy and a much healthier way to make this classic rice and marinated chicken layered one pot dish.

Video – Chicken Biryani in Three Easy Steps 

Indian Chicken Biryani is huge in our home and my kids love it. This dish has a unique aroma and no matter how little or far this aroma comes from, there is no mistaking it for anything else. You know a good Biryani by it’s smell. It’s that ultimate flavor that defines this dish.

Chicken Biryani in three easy steps.

Here I claim to share with you this recipe in Three Easy Steps – ha! Am I kidding?  NO!  You still going to do everything you need to make this dish. The three steps is just a mind game where you simplify the process so it end up becoming so easy – you wonder why you never did it ever before.

So the main three steps would be

1. Marinate Meat
2. Prepare Rice
3. Layer and cook

Variation from the authentic. 

This recipe is similar to the original but with a few changes I made to suite today’s busy life style and diet.

1. The whole spices – I have added the spices – just not all over the chicken biryani. Why?
   Well, While we Indian know exactly that these need to be taken off instead of eating often I get my non-Indian friend who will bite into a cardamon or clove and then go – ha that is hot!!
   So personally I prefer to add them such that I can remove them off before serving. Which means I add the whole spices in a muslin cloth and add it to the rice water. And in powder form in the marinade. That way I have all the flavor but not the itty bitty mixed in the rice.
2. Ghee – Originally this dish is loaded with ghee. Yup that is why authentic biryani is considered a big feast. If not for the ghee and spices it’s a one pot chicken and rice dish. Now I use very little ghee and often no ghee at all. To me a good biryani is about good meat, good flavors and good quality rice. Once you have those three taken care of – the ghee can stay on the shelf where it belongs.
   Another reason is my husband has high cholesterol so we prefer to keep that saturated fat on the shelf as much as we can.
3. Boneless Chicken – All original recipes of Chicken Biryani will tell you to use chicken on bones – they are not wrong because it’s those juices that spill into the rice and add so much more. BUT it’s not so easy to eat chicken on bones with a knife and fork now – is it? Yeah so I always use boneless chicken thighs.
4. Deep fried onions – Yes, originally onions for biryani is known to be deep fried and add a caramel taste. I still get the onions to caramelize but by slow cooking rather than deep frying. Trust me you will love this one better.

Let’s talk Ingredients and substitutes. 

• Basmati Rice – Yes, Basmati rice is what defines Biryani, if not it’s just chicken and rice. It’s that basmati flavor that plays a huge part in contributing flavor. Now a days you will get Basmati rice in almost all grocery stores. And not it’s not just for chicken biryani – I use it for all my rice dishes. Often even for my Chinese Fried Rice.
• Chicken – As I said above we will use boneless chicken thigh. Chicken thigh takes longer to cook as compared to breast and stays much more juicy too. So I highly recommend boneless chicken thigh.
• Saffron – another ingredient that defines the aroma of chicken biryani is Zaffran!! . Having said that I have been guilty of not using it on occasions. This is not easy to source here for me so I usually have to buy it overseas and ship it. Saffron also called Zaffran is the pollen from the zaffran flower which has to be carefully collected by hand, well preserved which is why the real deal is very expensive.
• Onions – The quantity of onions in this dish as you can see is quite a lot. I usually use brown onions which has a slight pungent flavor but if you are new to biryani and prefer it sweeter – try the red onions – they become really sweet when cooked slow and long. Think you will like it.

Spices and Substitutes

I remember my mom had a huge collection of whole spices I could barely pronounce. Now if she made this biryani she’d be adding a few more for sure. The most common and important whole spices to use usually are cloves, green cardamons, black cardamons, bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, mace, star anise and caraway seeds.
Now let’s not get overwhelmed and disappointed over sourcing those ingredients.

The next time you go to an Asian store – look for thse little box of spices that say Biryani Masala and Garam Masala –  Grab them – all these spices are ground in there with a few more. The next time you make ginger bread cookies – replace the spices with some garam masala – then make sure you come here and let me know how awesome those ginger bread cookies tasted. OK?

• You can replace the whole spices in the rice with a 1 tbsp of Garam Masala.
• Replace the spices (cumin, coriander, turmeric, and garam masala ) in the marinade with 2 tbsp of the Biryani Masala.

Rice test –

Cooking the rice just right plays a huge part in how good your final Chicken Biryani will turn out. Why? because the rice is cooked twice. Once when boiled on it’s own then again when steamed over the marinated chicken.
Under cooked will mean under done rice in cooked chicken and over cooking means chicken with mashed rice. Makes sense? It’s not difficult just don’t under estimate that cooking time – and DON”T answer the phone.

• At about 3 minutes into boiling you will start to check the rice.
• If you press a grain of rice between two fingers, first it will still be hard and break into small pieces.. that’s still not half way.
• Next it will be a little softer and crumple into small pieces, this is half way.
• If it is soft and gets mashed between your fingers, you passed half cooked.
• Drain the rice when it is half cooked and set aside.

Chicken Biryani Recipe – Simple, Easy and the best you will ever make – I promise!

Ingredients 

• Boneless Chicken thighs – 8 thighs / about 800 grams  – cleansed and cut to bite size pieces
• Basmati Rice – 2 cups / 400 grams
• Onions – 2 large / about 400 grams – sliced thinly
• Cilantro chopped –  1/2 cup + 1/4 cup divided
• Mint leaves/ Pudina  – 1/4 cup
• Milk or water – 1/4 cup with Saffron / Zaffron – 1 tsp
• Ghee or Oil – 2 to 4 tbsp + 1 tbsp  (divided)
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Whole Spices for Rice (see note above for substitute) 

• 6 cloves,
• 2 green cardamons,
• 2 black cardamons,
• 3 bay leaves,
• 2 cinnamon sticks,
• a piece of mace/javitri,
• one star anise and
• one tsp of caraway seeds/ shahi jeera

Marinade:

• Yogurt – 2 cups
• Ginger grated – 1 tbsp
• Garlic – grated or minced to a paste – 1 tbsp
• Garam Masala – 1 tsp
• Coriander Powder – 1 tbsp
• Cumin Powder – 1 tsp
• Turmeric Powder – 1/2 tps
• Chilly Powder – 1/2 tbsp to 1 tbsp (depending on how spicy you want)
• Ghee / Oil – 2 tbsp
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 bay leaves
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Method :

Step ONE – Marinate Chicken

• Use a marinade safe bowl – glass or plastic not metal/aluminium
• Add yogurt and all marinade spices – Mix well to combine (see substitution above)
• Mix in the chopped chicken pieces, lemon juice
• Add the oil or ghee
• Combine well, cover with cling wrap and let set aside to marinate between 1 hour to over night.
  (one hour on the counter but more than than please keep in the fridge)

Step TWO – Prepare Rice 

• Wash and soak rice for 30 mins
• At the same time place a large pot of water on the stove
• Add salt let come to almost boil.
• In a cheese cloth – add the whole spices mentioned above
• Tie it into a double knot tight such that it will not open.
• Add it to the pot of water and let brew for about 20 minute on low simmer
• The water will get the color of the spices.
• After 20 mins – remove the muslin bag
  (or add 1 tsp garam masala powder and skip the boiling time)
• Now add the 1 tbsp oil and 1 tsp lemon juice – this will keep the rice separated and white.
• Add the rice and stir to ensure it does not stick to the pan.
• Cook rice for about 3 to 4 minutes until half cooked. (see rice test notes above)
• Drain and set aside.

Step Three – Layer and Cook

This can be done simultaneous while the rice is cooking.
Use a wide heavy bottom pan with a nice firm lid – you want the chicken to spread evenly in a thin layer and
You want all the stem/dum to stay in the pot.

• Add 2 tbsp Canola oil or Ghee in the pot.
• In go the sliced onions – and 1 tsp salt
• Saute on low for about 15 to 20 minutes until the onions have softened, caramelized – it will be 1/3 of it original volume.
• Switch the heat off
• Add almost all the cooked onions to the chicken – leave some to sprinkle on the next layer.
• Stir well to combine
• Next add the fresh herbs – cilantro and mint.
• Spread/layer the chicken into the pan in an even single layer
• Next spread half the rice – sprinkle with some more herbs and remaining onions
• Sprinkle half the saffron milk. (mentioned in ingredients – soak saffron in hot milk fro a few minutes)

Next layer 

• Then add the remaining rice.
• Sprinkle with any remaining herbs and saffron milk.
• Cover the pot – make sure it is sealed well. You want all the stem to stay in
• I use a foil around the rim of the pan to ensure the dum/steam stays in.
• Place on the stove –  to cook biryani
  • 5 minutes on medium high – this will get the chicken juices to be released
  • 10 minutes on medium low – this will ensure the juice cook off without too much gravy.
  • 10 minutes on low – this will ensure the chicken will not burn on the bottom.
• When the cooking time is done – by the aroma you will know the chicken is cooked and your biryani is done.
• Don’t open the pot just yet – let the residue heat cook the chicken some more for 10 minutes – this resting time will make sure the steam stays in giving you a moist juicy chicken biryani.

Saffron or Edible Food Color

• This is the saffron thread – that you soak in milk then sprinkle over the rice layers. It has  a distinct flavor and color. It is quite expensive and you have to use quita a bit if you want a lot of color.
• So often restaurants will use yellow and red food color to get the color to give the biryani that extra color. Ad you can see below the biryani has a light orange color with 1 tsp saffron thread. But the rest of the images on this post have more brighter colors of red and yellow – that because I did add a little edible food colors- this powder colors can be found in Indian grocery stores – just ask for edible biryani color.
• Having said that I only added color so I can get good pictures for this blog post or when I am entertaining guest. When making biryani for the family I usually only use the Saffron or omit any saffron and colors completely.  It does not contribute to the taste – just visual appeal.

I know that this post looks so over whelming with so many ingredients and so many steps. That’s because I have given you the whole scoop with nothing left to guess. If you know biryani then you can see that this really simple and easy to make.

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Recipe Card -Easiest Indian Chicken Biryani

 While that’s not something I do often, but my kids are going to enjoy that lunch today! I do hope you try it too.