Easy Chicken Biryani
Not with mum this Ramadan and going to miss out on some traditional biryani? Do not worry, I have got the easiest and most delicious cheat biryani recipe for you. It takes less than an hour to put together too!
**This Ramadan, I’m raising money for LIA Relief Trust to help provide children an Eid to remember. A donation as small as £1 can help gift one child in need a special Eid present. Here is the link to donate: Click here. **
Sure, it uses a masala packet but it saves you all the hassle of cooking for ages and it tastes so darn good that you wouldn’t even know the difference. Plus this recipe shows you how to make a packet mix that much better. Here is the exact same Bombay biryani masala mix I use: click here ( ← affiliate link).
I cannot take the credit for this recipe as my father in law has made biryani this way for many years. But seeing as we’re zooming his parents for Eid this year and missing out on our fix of Eid biryani, I just had to know this family recipe. So he came over and taught me through the window!
Here is an easy and cheat version of chicken biryani!
EASY CHICKEN BIRYANI – THE CHEAT VERSION
INGREDIENTS
Vegetable/Peanut oil
Garam masala: 4 cardamom, 4 black peppercorns, 4 cloves, and 1 small cinnamon stick
1 can peeled plum or chopped tomatoes
1 heaped tsp garlic paste
1 heaped tsp ginger paste
1 pack of Shan Bombay Biryani mix
3 tbsp fried onions
200g yoghurt
1 whole chicken, chopped into pieces
Pinch of saffron, crushed
Fried potatoes *
3 cups rice, soaked for an hour and then boiled in water with salt
50g butter
Pinch of saffron, soaked in 3 tbsp warm wateR
To serve: chopped coriander and kachumber (chopped tomatoes, chillies, onions, and coriander tossed with vinegar and salt)
NOTES
* I had deep fried these potatoes beforehand which doesn’t take long to do at all, otherwise boiled potatoes work fine here too.
METHOD
- Heat a large amount of oil in a large, deep pan. There should be enough oil to generously cover (1 cm) the bottom of your pan. Add in the garam masala ingredients and let this fry slightly.
- Add in the tomatoes slowly and stir occasionally until they start to separate.
- Once the tomatoes have broken down completely and the oil has separated, add in the garlic and ginger paste. Stir the pastes until they have mixed in well with the tomatoes.
- Sprinkle the whole pack of Bombay Biryani masala in and mix. Follow this by the fried onions.
- Once the masala has started to smell quite fragrant, spoon in the thick greek yoghurt and mix until the masala becomes a yellow colour.
- Add in the chicken pieces and stir well into the yoghurt masala mixture. Leave this to cook covered, stirring every so often to ensure it doesn’t stick, until you notice the chicken has fully cooked and the oil has separated.
- Add in a pinch of saffron, mix, and then throw in the potatoes, folding them in lightly to avoid breaking them too much.
- Add in ¼ of the rice into the pan and poke down with the spoon to ensure it mixes into the masala. Then add all of the rice in, making sure to flatten it down.
- Place small knobs of the butter across the rice and sprinkle on the saffron infused water. Cover with a pan and leave this to steam for a few minutes.
- To serve, push the rice to the side so that you can reach the masala at the bottom. Take some masala with chicken, followed by the rice, and then sprinkle with coriander leaves. Serve with kachumber and yoghurt.
**This Ramadan, I’m raising money for LIA Relief Trust to help provide children an Eid to remember. A donation as small as £1 can help gift one child in need a special Eid present. Here is the link to donate: Click here. **
