The Best Hydrabadi Biryani Recipe

ByAvika

When I think of Biryani, the first image that pops into my head is the delicious Hyderabadi biryani, I can even smell the aroma of the spices, the masalas and I can imagine it on my table for Sunday lunch.

For me, Hyderabadi biryani is the most rich and delectable of all biryanis, it’s my absolute favourite. We should all declare Hyderabadi Biryani as the king of biryanis, what do you think?

As much as I love eating biryani, I don’t quite enjoy the process of cooking it. It takes too much time from chopping up all the veggies to washing the chicken and cooking it.

For me, the perfect biryani is one made at home, but which I don’t have to cook! But that’s not possible right? 

I’m always looking for recipes that are easy and that don’t take much time to cook, without compromising on the taste. After all, I still want to eat my favourite Hyderabadi chicken biryani with that same flavour that makes my mouth water.

So I’m going to be sharing 2 recipes for the best Hyderabadi Biryani that you would find on the internet. It’s simple yet delicious!

Recipe 1 : The Best Hyderabadi Biryani Recipe With CurryIt Biryani Paste

  1. Boil 380g Basmati Rice with CurryIt Magic Pouch until 80% Cooked.
  2. In a pan, add CURRYiT  Hyderabadi Biryani Paste & saute 700g chicken (marinated with lime) for 2 minutes.
  3. Add 300ml of water and cook till the chicken is done.
  4. In a deep dish pan, make three alternating layers of rice and chicken.
  5. Sprinkle Kewra water, fried onions, mint & coriander leaves. Seal & cook on low flame for 15 minutes. 
  6. Adjust salt & consistency to taste.

 

Recipe 2 – The traditional Hyderabadi Biryani Recipe

  1. Grind 10 black peppercorns, 6 cloves, 5 cardamom pods, 2 cinnamon sticks, 2-star anise and ½ tsp cumin seeds into a fine powder. Finely chop mint and coriander leaves.

(Pro Tip: If you’re like me who wants the recipe to be short and quick, I recommend trying out the second recipe, it’s much more simple and takes absolutely no time to cook, and tastes incredible!) 

2. Add dry spice mix, chopped mint and coriander leaves and other marinade ingredients in a mixing bowl and combine all of them. Add the 500g chicken and coat it well.

Use a plastic wrap to cover the bowl and let the marinated chicken sit in the refrigerator for about 2 hours.

3. Wash the rice thoroughly. Take a pot and add water and rice in it. Once it boils, add 2 bay leaves and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and let it simmer until the rice is partially cooked and is firm.

This might take about 5 minutes. Once done, drain the rice. Add 1 pinch of saffron to ½ cup of milk, stir and keep it aside.

 

4. Add ghee to a large pot with a tight-fitting lid or a pressure cooker, heat it over medium-high flame. Stir in 2 thinly sliced onions until golden brown for about 15 minutes.

Drain them on a paper towel. Switch the flame to low and add bay leaves, 2 green chillies, and stir for about 1-2 minutes. Remove a tbsp of ghee from the pot and set it aside.

 

5. Add the chicken along with the marinade into the pot and cook for 2 minutes per side until it’s no longer pink. Spread the drained rice on top, sprinkle fried onions and drizzle ghee with saffron milk on top.

Cook for 8-10 minutes over a high flame covered with a lid. Then reduce the flame to low and continue cooking for 5 minutes.

6. Turn off the flame and let it stand covered for about 15 minutes. Garnish with mint and coriander leaves on top. Serve hot with raita or green salad.

In fact, that’s all you need to enjoy the delicacy that is Hyderabadi chicken biryani.

You’ll thank me later when you realise that the 1st recipe that I have shared satisfies your craving for the best biryani and more importantly, you made it yourself at your home and within half an hour. Imagine how cool that is!!

In this day and age, it can be challenging to take out time to cook food and expensive to eat out every single day. The solution is to work smart and not hard, just like CURRYiT does for me.

Now I can enjoy my meal of the best Hyderabadi Biryani whenever I feel like it. It has saved me a lot of time without compromising on the flavour of biryani.