Hyderabadi Indian · Dinner
Hyderabadi chicken biryani
Kacchi-style Hyderabadi biryani with yogurt-marinated chicken beneath fragrant, partially cooked basmati, fried onion, mint, saffron, and sealed dum steam.
Equipment
- Use a hot sheet pan under an inverted oven-safe metal bowl for the covered phase.
Ingredients
1× recipe · Makes 8 servings
- 3 pounds bone-in chicken thighs and drumsticks, skin removed
- 1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
- 2 tablespoons grated ginger
- 8 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 serrano chiles, slit
- 2 teaspoons Kashmiri chile powder
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 2 teaspoons garam masala
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 4 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
- 3 large yellow onions, very thinly sliced
- 1 cup neutral oil for frying
- 3 cups aged basmati rice, rinsed and soaked 30 minutes
- 2 Indian bay leaves
- 8 green cardamom pods
- 8 cloves
- 2 small cinnamon sticks
- 1 teaspoon shahi jeera
- 1 cup chopped mint, divided
- 1 cup chopped cilantro, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon saffron soaked in 1/2 cup hot whole milk
- 4 tablespoons ghee, melted
- 2 cups cucumber raita
Instructions
Combine chicken, yogurt, ginger, garlic, chiles, chile powder, turmeric, garam masala, lemon, and 2 teaspoons salt in a nonreactive bowl. Cover and refrigerate 8 to 12 hours.
Fry onions in 350°F oil in batches until evenly golden, removing them before dark because they crisp while cooling; drain well. Fold half the onions and half each of mint and cilantro into the marinated chicken and spread it in one layer in a .
Boil abundant water with bay, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, shahi jeera, and remaining salt. Add drained rice and boil until about 70 percent cooked—flexible outside with a firm chalky center, 5 to 7 minutes—then drain immediately.
Layer rice over raw marinated chicken. Top with remaining fried onion, herbs, saffron milk, and ghee. Seal the pot tightly with foil and a heavy lid. Cook over medium-high heat 15 minutes, then on a griddle over very low heat 25 minutes.
Turn off heat and rest sealed 20 minutes. Open away from your face and verify chicken at the bottom reaches 165°F; if not, reseal and continue on low. Lift from the bottom to serve distinct layers with raita rather than stirring everything together.
Dinner does not stop at the recipe
Keep recipes, plan meals, and build the grocery list in Kwilt.
Use the recipe here. Get Kwilt when you want the rest of dinner to stay together.
Cook something else
See every recipe
American · Dinner
Herb roast chicken with pan gravy
Dry-brined whole chicken with deeply browned skin, rosemary-sage butter, tender breast and legs, and a silky gravy built from its fond and defatted drippings.
About 14 hr 50 min6 servings
American · Dinner
Slow-braised pot roast
Hard-seared chuck roast braised low and slow with red wine, stock, tomato, thyme, carrots, and potatoes until spoon-tender, then finished with a reduced silky gravy.
About 4 hr 55 min8 servings
American · Dinner
Classic glazed meatloaf
Tender free-form beef-and-pork meatloaf with milk-soaked crumbs, deeply softened aromatics, and two layers of tangy brown-sugar tomato glaze.
About 2 hr 10 min8 servings