Easy and Tasty Chicken Dum Biryani Recipe

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5 from 4 votes

Easy and Tasty Chicken Dum Biryani Recipe

A classic dish made of layers of aromatic rice, marinated chicken, flavorful spices, and brown onions.

Prep Time20

Cook Time40

Soaking the rice15

Total Time1 15

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Indian

Diet: Gluten Free

Servings: portions

Calories: 659kcal

Author: Elle John

Ingredients

For the fried onions

4 tablespoon Sunflower Oil or Vegetable Oil
450 g Red Onions Julienned

For the chicken and its marinade

300 g Skinless Chicken Thighs Diced, on the bone
50 g Full-Fat Natural Yogurt
1 tablespoon Ginger Garlic Paste
Salt to Taste
½ teaspoon Turmeric Powder
½ teaspoon Red Chili Powder
1 Large Tomato Chopped

For the saffron milk

50 ml Milk
10 Saffron Strands

For the aromatic rice

450 g White Basmati Rice
1 Bay Leaf
4 Black Peppercorns
½ Piece of Mace
¼ inc Cinnamon Stick
3 Green Cardamoms Can use 2 green and 1 black cardamom if liked
3 Cloves

Other Ingredients

2 tablespoon Sunflower Oil or Vegetable Oil
300 g White Potatoes Peeled and Diced
10 g Cilantro Fresh Coriander, Thinly Chopped
2 Eggs
4 tablespoon Ghee

Whole spices to start the biryani

1 Bay Leaves
4 Black Peppercorns
½ Piece of Mace
¼ inch Cinnamon Stick
3 Green Cardamoms Can use 2 green and 1 black cardamom if liked
3 Cloves

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Preparation stages

ONIONS: Start by shallow frying the julienned red onions in the sunflower oil until brown. Remove the browned onions from the oil with a skimmer and put them on a paper towel, so as much oil as possible is removed.
CHICKEN: In a large bowl, add the chicken, yogurt, ginger garlic paste, salt, turmeric, red chili powder, chopped tomato, and half of the fried onion just prepared and mix well, until uniform. Set the chicken aside and allow to marinate while preparing the other ingredients.
SAFFRON MILK: Warm up the milk for thirty seconds in a bowl in the microwave and add the saffron strands to it; set the mixture aside.
EGGS: In a pot full of water, boil the eggs until they are hard-boiled. Cool them down under cold water, peel them, make some gashes on their sides (three or four each), and set them aside.
RICE SOAKING: After rinsing the rice three times, soak it for the biryani in plenty of room temperature water for fifteen minutes. Do not over soak the rice as this will make it mushy in the biryani.
BOIL THE RICE: Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil with the whole masalas of choice [the spices in the list for the aromatic rice] once the water boils, add the basmati rice and cook it until it is three quarters done.
If your basmati rice needs 11-12 minutes to fully cook, boil it for 7-8 minutes.
Once it is three quarters cooked, strain it and cool it down under cold water. Leave it in the strainer, so it remains fragrant while continuing to release the excess water.

Assemble the dum biryani

Choose a wide and not too deep saucepan for which you have a lid to assemble your dum biryani in.
To the saucepan, add the sunflower oil and heat on low heat. Once warm add the whole masalas from thw whole spices to start the biryani list: cardamoms, cloves, mace, cinnamon, peppercorns, and bay leaves) and allow to flavor for 30 seconds.
Increase the heat to medium and add the potatoes; allw the potatoes to brown, frying them on all their sides. This will take about 4-5 minutes.
Once all the sides of the potatoes have browned, add the marinated chicken (including all the marinade) and mix well, keeping it on a medium flame. Cook the chicken mix for 3 minutes, then add half a cup of water.
Mix well the water in the biryani curry and put a lid on the pan; allow the chicken to cook on a low to medium flame until ready – this will take about ten more minutes.
At this stage, remove the lid and add the eggs to the biryani curry, mixing them well in it, to absorb its flavor.

Assemble the rice layers

Turn the heat off under the pan and straight away assemble the two top layers of the biryani.
Add one-third of the chopped cilantro [fresh coriander] on top of the curry and half of the rice.
IMPORTANT: You mustn't press the rice to even it out on the surface. Use a large spoon to spread it evenly in the pan, but leave air gaps in between grains.
On top of the rice add half of the remaining fried onions, half of the remaining cilantro [fresh coriander], and then add the remaining rice, the same as described above.
On top of the last layer of rice add the remaining fried onions, chopped cilantro [fresh coriander], ghee, and saffron milk (including the strands).

Finish cooking the biryani

Apply the lid on top of the biryani pot and seal any holes the lid has with a piece of foil or a little chapatti dough.
Next, put the biryani pot on a high flame – cook it this way for 8 minutes.
After exactly eight minutes, turn the heat to low and cook for a further two minutes.
After two minutes, turn the heat off and allow the biryani to sit with the lid on and the heat off for 10 minutes, before removing the lid and opening it.

Notes

It is important to ‘open’ the biryani as this will allow the rice to remain fragrant: to do so, you serve the whole biryani straight away, or you can choose a large serving plate, where you can spread the rice and allow the steam to be released, so it can cool down and you can store the biryani away to eat later on, after warming it up again.
Storing: The dum biryani can be stored in the fridge, in an airtight container, for up to three days, and it can also be frozen for up to a month. Before serving again, ensure it has been heated thoroughly.
Potatoes and Eggs: These ingredients are optional, but using all three gives the extra touch.
Whole Spice: You can choose the ones you like the most, however it is important there is balance in flavor, between spice and sweetness.

Nutrition