Ingredients
- For yogurt:
- For biryani:
- For garnishing:
Instructions
Place yogurt, cilantro, mint, ginger, garlic and water into a blender and puree until smooth. Reserve.
- Heat ghee in a large Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid over medium-high heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Brown chicken skin-side down, flipping after about 5 minutes. Continue cooking for about 4 minutes more, or until chicken is golden brown on both sides. Transfer to a platter and reserve.
- Add cinnamon sticks, cloves, cardamom and diced onion and saute for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add curry paste, turmeric and serrano peppers. Stir to combine, reduce heat to low and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes more.
- Raise heat to medium. Pour the yogurt mixture into the pan and add tomatoes. Stir to combine and continue cooking, uncovered, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes.
- Stir in chicken stock, rice, raisins and salt. Return chicken to pan. Bring to a hard boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and cook until rice is about half-way cooked through. Return chicken to pan. Cover and continue cooking for 20 to 25 minutes, or until rice is tender and chicken is cooked through.
- Let sit for 10 minutes. Drain excess liquid if necessary and fluff with a fork. If desired, remove and discard cinnamon sticks and cloves. Serve biryani immediately, garnished with cilantro and cashews.
Components of Chicken Biryani
With its origins in Indian and Persian culture, this flavorful one-pot rice dish is often reserved for special events when a large group is gathered. Now, you can make any occasion special with this incredibly aromatic recipe.
Loaded with all kinds of ingredients, there isn’t one component that gives this dish its signature flavor, but rather the compilation of all of them.
Chicken: Use bone-in chicken breast for the best flavor as the bones house much of the flavor which spreads to the meat when cooked together. By browning the meat before adding the other ingredients, you are infusing the ghee with added savory flavor.
Spices: Sautéeing the spices leaves a deeper and richer taste to later infuse into the rice.
Tomatoes: By cooking the fresh tomatoes, you’re allowing them to release their juices and excess water that add overall flavor instead of simply using water.
Yogurt Blend: Adding a creamy yet flavorful element to the mix helps to balance out all of the meaty and spicy flavors added.
Raisins: Dried fruit adds a touch of sweet flavor to each bite, similar to a Persian-style Jeweled Rice dish.
Rice: Quite possibly the most important element to this dish, we’ve used an enchanting blend of RiceSelect® Royal Blend® Rice.
While many modern recipes for this chicken and rice dish use a multicooker to cut down on the cooking time, we’re using the traditional slow cook method in a large dutch oven.
Which Rice Variety to Use?
Traditional biryani recipes often use basmati rice on account of its aromatic flavor and long and slender grain features. However, to add an extra layer of flavor and texture, we used our Royal Blend® Rice made with fragrant Texmati® White, Brown, Wild and Red Rice. Our Texmati® Rice is an American hybrid of basmati rice featuring a captivating aroma, fluffy texture and welcoming nutty flavor. It’s the perfect rice for reinventing familiar recipes in bold new ways.
Want to learn more about the difference between different varieties of rice such as Arborio Rice and Black Rice? Or maybe you've always wanted to learn more couscous nutrition facts? Take a look at our Foodie's Guide to Rice.
Try our shrimp and rice salad tonight for a new dinner idea!
