
Ingredients for Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani
If you want to know more about Indian ingredients, check our Indian Spices and our Indian Pulses, Rice and Seeds pages.



Currently displaying quantities in US Imperial Measurements
How to Cook Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani
- Peel and chop all six onions and fry them gently in vegetable oil for about 6-8 minutes to soften them. Finely chop the green chilies then, for the marinade, take a large bowl and mix together the ginger-garlic paste, yoghurt, chopped green chilies, coriander leaves, pepper corns, chili powder, salt, cumin and the coriander powder. Add in one third of the fried onions (about 2 onions) and the oil or ghee and mix all the ingredients into a paste. Add in the chicken and make sure each piece is well coated in the marinade.
- Take a large pan and mix together the water, bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon, cardamoms and salt. Bring the water to the boil and add the rice. Boil for about 7-8 minutes until the rice is about half cooked then, using a colander, drain off the water and discard the bay leaves (you can wrap all the herbs in a muslin cloth if you wish - like a bouquet garni. It makes them easier to remove.)
- Spread the marinated chicken along with the marinade over the base of a deep non-stick pan. On top of that, add a layer of part-cooked rice then drizzle two tablespoons of ghee on top. Add the remaining half cooked rice, the mint leaves, mace, lime juice, saffron and the remaining fried onion layered on top of the existing rice.
- Seal the pan firmly with a tight-fitting lid and cook for 30 minutes on a low heat. After 30 minutes, remove the pan from the heat but do not remove the lid for a further 10 minutes. Gently combine the rice and the chicken and serve hot with raita and a curry of your choice.

Do not overcook the rice before adding it to the chicken. At most, it should be only half-cooked since it will finish cooking in the pan with the rest of the ingredients. If you overcook it initially, it becomes sticky and soft.
Reviews of Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani
![]() Lots of ingredients but it wasn't as difficult to make as I expected. The end result was a really, really good Chicken Biryani. I made no changes to the recipe and the flavors were just great. The whole family enjoyed it. What more can I say? Martha (1 review) |
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