Chicken Biryani (for Beginners)

Welcome Back to Episode 19 of Getting To Know Your Greek Bestie! Today we’re making Chicken Biryani (for beginners)!

Biryani is a mixed rice dish, mainly popular in South Asia like Iran or India. It is made with rice, meat and several aromatic traditional spices. To cater to vegetarians, in some cases, it is prepared by substituting vegetables or paneer for the meat. Sometimes eggs or potatoes are also added.

It’s all made in one pot with some parboiled rice! There are several different techniques that each origin uses for this dish and my approach was for the beginner! It came out perfect and I cannot wait to try a level up from this next time!

Ingredients:

For the spice mix,

2 bay leaves
2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground pepper

For the rice,

2 cups basmati rice
4 cups water
1 tsp salt

For the chicken,

8 bone in skin on chicken thighs
salt and pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
2 medium red onions, thinly sliced
12 roma tomatoes, halved
2 tbsp minced or pressed garlic
juice of half a lemon
2 potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup water

Serve with,

garnish with fresh parsley
serve with a side of tzatziki (make our tzatziki recipe)

Instructions:

Add all of the spices to a small bowl and mix together. Set aside.
Season the chicken thighs well with salt and pepper and set aside on a plate.
Rinse the rice – rinse the rice under cold water until the water runs clear.
Par boil the rice – add 4 cups of water to a pot and a big pinch of salt. Once boiling, add rice and cook for 8 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Heat ½ cup olive oil in a large high-sided pan (with a lid) over medium heat. Once hot, add the sliced onions and cook until golden brown. Remove half of the onions to a bowl and set aside for the topping.
Turn the pan to medium-low heat, add the tomato halves and cook for 8-10 minutes.
Remove the tomato skins that have been released from the tomatoes and cook for 4-5 more minutes until you get more of a passata/puree consistency. Stir in the minced garlic.
Turn the heat to medium and add in the seasoned chicken thighs and spice mixture. Stir to combine and let cook for 5 minutes.
Add the potatoes and juice of half a lemon and cook for 10 more minutes, stirring occasionally. The chicken should be half-cooked at this time.
Spread the partially cooked rice over the chicken followed by pouring in ½ cup water over the rice and topping the rice with 2 tbsp of butter.
Cook on low heat (making sure it’s a low simmer) with the lid on for about 20-25 minutes until the chicken is fully cooked (165F) and the rice is fluffy. Remove the bay leaves. Garnish with the reserved onions and fresh parsley. Serve with tzatziki.

#OnePotRecipes #Biryani #ChickenRecipes