I think I am probably the 1 millionth person posting about a basic biryani recipe I swear by. I don’t blame you if you are skeptical about it, especially if you’ve tried biryani recipes before that didn’t pan out. But I will tell you this, if there is one thing people of Karachi, Pakistan know how to do, its make a Delicious biryani! and rest assured, this is a Karachi classic biryani which will not disappoint.

A typical Dum biryani has these layers:

1. A curry with some sort of protein, known as korma. This one has a Chicken korma
2. A layer of parboiled rice
3. Garnish layers with at least 1 layer containing food color.

Here’s how to make a traditional Dum style Chicken Biryani

Preparing the Chicken Qorma

I know looking at an entire rainbow-sque ingredients can seem a little daunting for new cooks. But I promise you! I will walk you through the process, and its wayyyy easier than it looks. I’m using my own biryani spice mix for this recipe but incase you feel intimidated by it, you can use boxed spices as well. (all substitutions mentioned at the end)

Start by blending yogurt and green chilies together in a blender and setting it aside.

Then add oil, mint leaves and sliced onions in a pot and fry it at medium flame. Take your onions to that beautiful golden brown color and then remove about 1/2 cup of the onions to use later for garnish.

NOTE: You can use pre-fried onions as well, skip this step and directly add mint leave in oil to fry them. And continue recipe as is.

As soon as you take the small amount of the fried onions out, add 1/4th cup of water in the pot to stop the onions from frying any more. Then add your spices and tomatoes. Saute them a lil bit. Add more water and cover to let tomatoes soften up. It will take roughly about 5 mins

After your tomatoes have softened up, simply use a hand blender and blend your qorma base to get a smooth mix. This will give your qorma a smooth masala, plus blended masala becomes more in quantity too.

You can now add the remaining ingredients. This includes; chicken, dried plums aka aloo bukhara, chicken cube, garlic ginger paste and the yogurt and chili paste. Mix everything and that’s it! Cover your chicken korma and let it simmer for 15 to 20 mins at medium flame.

NOTE: Raw chicken should always be sauteed in oil first when adding to curries and gravies. Biryani is one of the few dishes where it is ok to add raw chicken to a masala base.

After 15 to 20 mins, your korma will look like this. Now we are going to add 2 ingredients that add the “biryani fragrance” to our biryani. Kewra water and a mace and nutmeg powder (jayfil javetri). You can also only add the kewra water incase you don’t have the latter.

TIP: You can also remove all the oil from your Chicken korma at this point if you want to.

Preparing the Rice

The rice in biryani with cooked chicken are always par-boiled, for a lack of better term. In reality the rice are boiled but they are boiled for a smaller amount of time and left a little harder than parboiled rice. I am using long grain basmati rice, which is the perfect choice for biryani. You wash it twice with water, drain it and then finally soak it for about 20 mins. It roughly takes about 2.5 to 3 litres of water to 3/4kg to 1kg rice.

Get the pot ready to boil water, along with all the ingredients shown in the picture, including whole spices, salt and vinegar.

NOTE: Always boil the water at high flame and let the water start bubbling before adding rice.

Add your pre-soaked rice into the bubbling hot water. It will take a couple of minutes for the water to start boiling again.

Start noting the time once your water starts boiling again. It roughly takes between 3 to 4 mins for the rice to be “parboiled”. Keep an eye on your rice and ideally, don’t multitask right now.

NOTE: You want your rice to be semi-cooked. Check a grain of rice. It must be able to break from the centre but not get mushed up when you press on it.

Strain your rice with a wide strainer and get ready to assemble your biryani.

Assembling the Biryani

The ingredients for assembly as pretty straight forward. You can skip the tomatoes if you want to. There are no lemons in this biryani. For the amber color, I mix the color with milk for easy color distribution.

• Start layering but adding 1/3rd of the rice on the bottom. Doesn’t have to be accurate, just do it with approximation. Don’t worry if some of your rice have clumped together, that’s a good thing.
• Then use 1/3rd of all of your garnish and spread it over your rice (except the color)
• Now layer half of your chicken qorma evenly all over the rice.
• Repeat till you get to the top. Add a layer of food color mixed with milk on the top in the form of a cross. And the usual garnishes.

Cover your pot with foil first to reinforce a proper seal, and then put your lid on. Put a simmer ring or a tava underneath your pot when you put it back on the flame. Turn on the flame at high for 5 mins and then at medium low for another 10 mins.

PRO TIP: Foil helps in sealing the pot properly to allow steam to be created inside the pot. You can also use a dutch oven instead or keep some weights on tops of your lid to make sure the seal is reinforced.

Remove the lid from the side slightly to check if there is steam in your pot. If you see steam, keep the lid back and turn off the flame. Let your biryani rest for 10 minutes and then open to serve.

Use a wide spatula or a flat slotted spoon or a plate to mix the biryani. Serve with raita and salad.

Subtitutes and Remixes

• Spices – You can skip the home spice mix and use boxed as well. For this recipe, I would recommend using half a packet of Shan Bombay biryani masala and half a packet of Shan Sindhi Biryani masala.
• Heat – This recipe is definitely spicy! Reduce the level of green chilies and red chili powder to reduce heat, but don’t skip either of them completely.
• Potatoes – For potato lovers, here’s what you need to do:
  – Use 1 kg rice instead of 3/4th kg
  – Increase salt and red chili powder, each both by 2 tsp each ) or to taste
  – Add potatoes and chicken together while cooking.
  – Increase 1 tomato and 1/4th cup yogurt in the Qorma
• More quantity – It’s always good to know your rice to chicken ratio in case you want to double your quantities
  For every 1 kg chicken, use 3/4 kg rice.
  For every 1 kg chicken + potatoes, use 1 kg rice.
• Garnish – You can skip the tomatoes and reduce the coriander and mint, according to your liking. But definitely include mint and fried onions in your garnish

Other Biryani Recipes for you:

Chicken Tikka Biryani
Quick Karhai Chicken Biryani

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Pakistani Chicken Biryani

A traditional spicy Karachi Chicken Biryani, made with layering spicy chicken curry with rice.

Course Main Course

Cuisine South Asian

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Servings 6 servings

Calories 650kcal

Author Wajiha

Ingredients

Chicken Qorma

• 1 kg chicken cut into smaller pieces.
• 1 tbsp garlic ginger paste
• 3 large tomatoes cut into 4 slices or 1 cup of canned tomatoes
• 7 to 8 green chilies
• 1 cup mint leaves
• 7 to 8 dried plums aloo bukhara (OR dried apricots)
• 4 medium onions sliced or 1 1/2 cup brown fried onions
• 1 chicken bouillon cube optional
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tsp red chili powder
• 1 tbsp kashmiri red chili powder
• 2 tsp cumin powder
• 1½ tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp garam masala powder
• 2 tbsp kewra water
• 1 cup yogurt
• 3/4 cup oil
• 1/2 tsp mace and nutmeg powder optional (jayfil javetri)
• 1 cup water

For the Rice

• 3/4 kg long grain basmati rice soaked in water for 20 mins
• 3 to 4 bay leaves
• whole spices: 10 black peppercorns 5 cloves, 3 black cardamom, 5 green cardamom, 1 stick of cinnamon.
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• 3 tbsp salt

Garnish

• 1/4 cup milk mixed with orange food color.
• 1 tomato cut in slices
• 4 green chilies
• 3/4 cup coriander leaves chopped
• 3/4 cup mint leaves chopped
• 1/2 cup brown fried onions removed from qorma or 1/2 cup pre-made brown fried onions
• maze
• nutmeg

Instructions

Chicken Qorma

• Blend the green chilies with the yogurt to form a smooth paste and set aside.
• Add oil in a pot along with sliced onion and mint leaves. Fry them at medium flame till the onions turn golden brown. Reduce the flame to low and remove roughly about 1/2 cup of brown onions for garnish.
• Add 1/4th cup of water in the onions to stop frying. Add all the spices (except nutmeg and mace powder) and tomatoes. Saute for a minute and add 3/4th cup of water and cover the pot to allow the tomatoes soften up for 5 mins.
• Use a hand blender to blend the tomatoes and onions together.
• Now add the chicken, garlic ginger paste, dried plums, chicken cube and the yogurt chili mix. Mix everything well.
• Cover the pot and let the qorma simmer for 15 to 20 mins at medium to low flame.
• Remove the lid and check if the chicken is cooked. Turn off flame and add kewra water and mace nutmeg powder and simply mix.
• You can also remove extra oil at this point if your want

Rice

• In a large pot, boil water for the rice at high flame. Add all whole spices, vinegar, salt and bay leaves.
• Once the water starts bubbling, add in the pre-soaked basmati rice.
• Boil the rice for 5 mins and check a grain of rice. You should be able to break the grain of rice with fingers but the grain should still be hard and in-edible. That’s the perfect rice for Biryani layering.
• Strain the rice in a large strainer and set aside for layer.

Assembling

• Use a large pot for assembling the rice. Usually this is the pot used to boil the rice.
• Add 1/3 of the rice to layer the bottom of the pot.
• Garnish the rice with mint, chopped coriander, slices of tomatoes, 1 green chili. Sprinkle a little maze nutmeg powder.
• Add 1/2 of the chicken qorma on the rice spreading it out as evenly as possible.
• Add another 1/3 of the rice on top of qorma
• Repeat same garnish.
• Layer with the remaining chicken qorma
• Finish off with the remaining rice.
• Drizzle the rice with milk and color mix in the form of a cross.
• Garnish the top layer as well, this time including fried onions as well.
• Cover the pot with foil and then add the lid to make a strong seal.
• Place an insulator below the pot on the stove, like an old pan, a tawa or a a flat griddle pan.
• Turn on the flame at high for 5 to 6 mins, then reduce to medium low for another 10 mins.
• Remove the lid and open the foil slightly to check if you can see steam (be careful to not burn yourself. If you can see steam, that means your biryani is done. Cover the foil again and place the lid back on. Let the biryani rest for another 10 mins before serving.
• If you don’t see steam, increase the flame for 2 to 3 mins.
• 
  Serve with raita and salad.

Notes

If you don’t want to use home made biryani masala, you can also use half a packet of Shan bombay biryani masala and half a packet of shan sindhi biryani masala,

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 650kcal | Carbohydrates: 82g | Protein: 56g | Fat: 61g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 45g | Cholesterol: 177mg | Sodium: 980mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 21g

The post Pakistani chicken biryani, Karachi special appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

It only took me 6 months to perfect this recipe. A lot of blood and sweat, some tantrums, and NUMEROUS trials later, I have finally given my quest to the best WHITE biryani a rest. There may or may not have been an awkward celebratory dance ritual. Let’s dive right in!

What is White Biryani?

If you’ve had the regular colorful biryani, the White biryani is just as the name suggests, biryani with no food coloring. You have white and brown colored rice wrapped with flavorful spiced mutton pieces around it. Also known as “Sofiyani Biryani”, this biryani sees its root in Hyderabadi Cuisine made during the Mughal Era. But, might I add, Don’t be fooled by the lack of color this biryani has, it is Just as spicy as a regular biryani with a melt in your mouth textured protein.

Ingredients and their Substitutions

The ingredient list of any biryani you make at home without packet spices seems a little daunting at first! But hold on! They are very simple ingredients and you can totally get away by skipping a couple here and there. I’ve mentioned substitutes for you to use too.

• Meat – I used goat meat aka Mutton for Desi folks. A mix of boneless and bone in pieces are best. Just bone in pieces works too but definitely add some bones in the qorma for that rich mutton flavor.
  
• Powdered and Whole Spices – Both the spices are used generously in a biryani. There is no red chili powder or turmeric for white biryani. Whole spices are generally removed while eating. You can use tie the whole spices in a spice bag or a muslin cloth if you don’t want to bite on them. I’ve used whole red chilies, you can simply use red chili flakes.
  
• Qorma base – The qorma base for this recipe uses only fried onions and yogurt. You can fry onions on your own or get the packet pre-fried onions available in Indian/Pakistani stores. I also have a Guide on how to fry onions if you want to read it.
  
• Cream – This is a GAME changer for White biryani. For all the experiments I’ve done, adding a small amount of cream in the meat towards the end, made all the difference to bringing together a rather melt in your mouth kind of biryani. I used fresh cream and I would not recommend skipping it. Here are other options you can use: Tetra pack creams, media crema or table cream, tin pack cream by Puck or Almarai, cooking creams and if you Don’t have any of them, then Greek yogurt. If you live in Pakistan or India and you have some left over “malai” from boiling your milk, that will work too!
  
• Dried Plums – Also known as prunes. They bring the tart to the this biryani. You can use tomato instead if you are out of dried plums.
  
• Ghee and Oil – I’ve used a mix of oil and ghee for this recipe for flavor.
  
• Rice – Aged Long grain Basmati rice or newly Harvested long grain Basmati rice are best for all types of biryani. You can easily find it in any Indian/Pakistani store or online too. You can also use Sela rice if this is your first time making biryani. Just make sure to soak it according to packet instructions.
  
• Aromatics – I’ve used 3 ingredients that are simply added for enhancing the aroma of the biryani and have very little flavoring effect. There is Saffron Kewra water, mace and nutmeg (aka jayfil javetri). Kewra water is a Pandan leaf extract which elevates the biryani smell to a next level! Saffron kewra water is infused with Saffron. You can skip these ingredients if you don’t have them or use simple Kewra too. The taste of your biryani doesn’t depend on these so all’s good!

White Biryani Masala

Biryanis are made with heavy handed spices which are more pronounced than regular curries because the flavor mellows down once it is mixed with rice. The white biryani masala is unique in that it doesn’t use ANY red chili powder or turmeric. Most of its heat comes from whole spices, green chilies and whole red chilies. There will be no grinding necessary for this recipe. Just simply use a combination of powdered spices (easily available at all grocery stores) and whole spices.

NOTE: Don’t worry if you are missing some spices here and there, it’ll still come together and taste amazing!

Powdered Spices

• Salt
• coriander powder
• cumin powder
• black pepper powder
• Garam masala powder
• Green chilies – Use the smaller dark green ones which are spicier than Serrano. They are usually sold internationally as Thai Bird Chilies.
• 10 tangy prunes (dried Aloo bukhara) – (You can use 2 tomatoes instead)
• Whole button red chilies (you can use red chili flakes instead)

NOTE: It is important to use the right green chili in this recipe to bring heat to the biryani. Taste test the curry once its ready and if it doesn’t feel spicy, add additional red chili flakes to bring heat.

Whole Spices

• Green cardamom
• Bay leaves
• Black peppercorns
• Black cardamom
• Star anise
• Cinnamon stick
• Bitter cumin seeds (shah zeera) – You can use regular cumin seeds here

You can tie the whole spices in a muslin cloth or spice bag to avoid biting into it by accident.

How to make White Biryani – 3 Main steps

There are 3 Main steps to making any good biryani: Making the curry, Parboiling Rice and Assembling for Final Steam aka “Dum”

STEP 1 – Making the Mutton curry or Qorma

In this step, we prepare the mutton in curried spices and while it’s cooking, we soak rice on the side and parboil it.

NOTE: Always sauté mutton or any protein in oil and garlic ginger paste at
high flame until it changes color and you don’t see any liquid in the pot. This helps in getting rid of any ‘smell’ that the goat meat or beef might carry.

After sautéing mutton in oil, add the biryani masala, dried plums, fried onions and MOST of the yogurt. Let the mutton cook in the water that leeches out from the yogurt before adding any additional water to tenderize the meat. This takes about 10 mins, after which you can add water and let the mutton simmer.

Once your mutton is fully cooked, you will see oil separating on the side. Reduce the flame to low and add the second set of ingredients. This includes left over yogurt, cream, button red chilies, and some mint and coriander leaves. We are NOT going to cook this down. Simply mix and cook for 2 mins until you turn the flame off. This semi-raw yogurt and cream are a GAMECHANGER for this recipe!

STEP 2 – Parboiling the Rice

Parboil your rice in a pot of boiling hot water. I only add 2 ingredients to my boiling water. Salt and Vinegar.

PROTIP: The vinegar helps in retaining a nice white color for the rice plus prevent them from breaking if they are slightly overcooked.

Here are some tips to ensure perfect parboiled rice.

• Only add rice to water once it starts to boil.
• Ideal boiling time for biryani rice is between 4 to 5 mins
• If you check a grain of rice between your fingers, it should break easily but still retain its shape, that’s the point where you stop boiling
• When in doubt, go for rice that are slightly underboiled than overboiled. You can always steam for longer.
• Drain the rice immediately to avoid over cooking
• Use a pot big enough to allow the rice to boil without clumping together.

STEP 3 – Assembling for Final steam (aka dum)

To layer, you will need your rice, mutton curry and garnish.

Garnish

• For this recipe, I use lemon, lots of fried onions and mint leaves.
• I also use a few pinches of ground nutmeg and mace (jayfil javetri). You can skip the ground nutmeg and mace if you don’t have them at hand, they just add the “biryani aroma” to the dish. Some South Asian shops also carry “biryani essence” which you can use instead or skip it altogether.
• But I definitely won’t recommend skipping the onions because mannn the way they compliment this dish is beyondddd perfect!

For layering the biryani, I always start with rice for this recipe. Since the oil in this recipe is towards the low side (compared to other biryanis,) I usually grease my pot too. Add in rice and then a layer of garnish. And finally, the mutton curry. Repeat again so that you have rice on top.

PROTIP: After the final layer, add a little bit of milk or diluted yogurt on top. This helps in evenly cooking the rice.

And then I seal the biryani and steam it at high for 8 minutes and then medium low for another 15. Perfect biryani EVERYTIME!

TIPS for perfectly Assembling and steaming Biryani

• Always make sure your pot is big enough so that there is at least 1/4th of the pot empty after your biryani is assembled.
• Seal your pot well to allow proper steaming. You can do this by either using a layer of foil between your lid and pot, or keep weights on top of your lid.
• Don’t open the pot multiple times to check in, you’ll allow the steam to escape and the top half of your biryani won’t cook through.
• Allow the biryani to “rest” for 10 minutes after steaming and before you start plating it out.
• Ideally, use a flat spoon like a spoodle or a plate to dish out biryani, to avoid breaking the rice grains.

I love serving all my biryanis with a nice kachumbar salad and a thick raita.

FAQs

Can I use this Recipe to make beef or Chicken white biryani?

Absolutely! Use same method for beef Biryani. For Chicken Biryani, skip adding water to qorma and simply cook it only for 10 mins in the yogurt water.

Which pot should I use to make Biryani?

To make the mutton curry and for steaming, its best to use a heavy bottomed pot or a Dutch oven. If your pot isn’t heavy bottomed, use a heat diffuser underneath it, like a flat griddle or a “tava”. This will prevent your curry from sticking to the bottom when its cooking and rice while steaming.

How can I double the recipe?

For Biryanis, I personally prefer I ratio of 1kg protein to 750gms of rice. Use the same ratio to double up. For reference, 750gm of rice is about 4 cups.

What do I serve with Biryani?

A good biryani only needs a raita (herbed yogurt), a tossed salad and a cold coke. That my friend is a wholeee mood. But you can add potato cutlets , on the side.

Can I add potatoes to this recipe?

Most biryani lovers would almost call a potato less biryani a crime, but sadly I’m on the potato-less side of that debate. Don’t shoot! If you want to add potatoes, just go ahead and use similar ratio for rice and mutton. For e.g 1kg mutton will now need 1 kg rice, which is 5.5 cups.

To prepare the aloo, peel and cut them according to the size of your liking. Boil them separately with salt and vinegar for 5 mins. Coat them with garam masala and/or chat masala and fry them. Simply add them while layering.

Other Biryani Recipes

Chicken Tikka Biryani
Pakistani style Chicken Biryani
Quick Biryani

Print

White Mutton Biryani

A contemporary variation of the traditional Indian/Pakistani Biryani, made with spicy curried meat, rice and garnish, without the use of color.

Course Main Course

Cuisine South Asian

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Total Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Servings 6 servings

Calories 800kcal

Author Wajiha

Ingredients

Qorma

• 1 kg Bone in Mutton cut into pieces
• 2 tablespoon garlic ginger paste
• 2 tablespoon salt
• 2 tablespoon coriander powder
• 2 tablespoon cumin powder
• 1 tablespoon black pepper powder
• 2 teaspoon garam masala powder
• 20 serrano green chilies
• 10 Dried prunes Aloo bukhara
• 1/2 kg onions 4 to 5 big onions OR 4 cup sliced onions
• 1/2 kg yogurt divided into 400gm and 100 gm
• 1/4 cup cream see notes
• 2 tablespoon vinegar
• 1 cup mint leaves and chopped coriander leaves mix
• 6 to 7 button red chilies
• 1 tablespoon Saffron infused Kewra water see notes
• 1/4 cup desi ghee or butter
• 1/4 cup cooking oil

Whole Spices

• 5 green cardamom
• 2 bay leaves
• 8 to 10 black peppercorns
• 2 black cardamom
• 2 star anise
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 tablespoon bitter cumin seeds shah zeera

Garnish

• 3 to 4 pinches of Nutmeg and mace coarsely ground jayfil javetri
• 2 lemon cut in slices
• 1 cup mint leaves
• Fried onions
• 5 to 6 Green chilies optional

Rice

• 750 gm Long grain Basmati rice soaked in water for atleast 20 mins
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• 5 tbsp salt or to taste

Instructions

• Mutton Qorma
• Add green chilies and water in a blender to make a thick paste. Set aside.
• Fry onion slices in oil until deep golden in color, remove from oil and set aside. (Skip this step if you are using pre-fried brown onions)
• Leave back 1/4 cup oil from the onions in a large pot and add ghee. Add your washed mutton and saute the mutton at high flame, until all the water from the mutton doesn’t dry up (should take 4 mins)
• Add all the following ingredients in the pot: Green chili paste, garlic ginger paste, salt, whole spices, coriander and cumin powder, black pepper powder, garam masala powder. Sauté your mutton in the spices for another 4 mins to allow the spices to temper.
• Add most of the beaten yogurt (400 gm), prunes and half of the fried onions in the pot. Stir it around and cover. Let the mutton cook in the yogurt for about 15 mins.
• Add 3 to 4 cups of water and increase flame to allow the water to boil. Bring flame to medium and cover the pot. Let the mutton cook for another 30 to 40 mins till the mutton becomes tender. IF you are using a pressure cooker, adjust the water level accordingly.
• Once your mutton is tender, reduce flame to low and add all the remaining ingredients for the qorma: leftover yogurt, cream, button red chilies, mint and coriander leaves, kewra water and vinegar. Stir to mix the qorma together and only cook for 3 more minutes.
• Adjust sauce or spiciness at this point. Your qorma should taste more salty than regular qorma and spicier than regular qorma
• Rice
• Boil rice in water along with vinegar and salt.
• Only boil rice for about 5 mins or check to see if you can break your rice by your fingers. They should be harder than when you boil your rice for steamed rice.
• Strain your rice in a colander and set aside.
• Assembling
• Grease the bottom of your pot with oil or ghee that you will use to assemble your biryani.
• Add a first layer of rice, using up almost 1/3 of the rice. Use a plate or a flat spoon to do this.
• Then add about 1/3rd of the garnishes
• Next will be a layer of the mutton qorma. Use half of the qorma.
• Add another layer of rice and repeat the process.
• Finish off with the top layer being of rice and then garnish. (keep some fried rice aside to use for garnish while serving)
• On the top, add 1/4 cup of milk or diluted yogurt into the rice
• Cover with foil and then the pot lid.
• Ideally, add a girdle or a flat pan below the biryani pot when you bring it back on the flame.
• Cook biryani at high flame for 8 mins and then reduce the flame to medium low and cook for another 15 mins.
• Remove the lid slightly to check if there is steam build up inside the pot. IF you can see steam, turn off flame and let the biryani rest for 10 mins before mixing and serving.
• Serve with raita and salad.
  

Notes

• You can use regular Kewra water if you don’t have Saffron infused Kewra

You can use any thick cream or cooking cream you like. I used the fresh cream available in the dairy section, but you can use the canned ones, tetra pack ones as well.

More tips and tricks on the blogpost

Nutrition

Serving: 6serving | Calories: 800kcal | Carbohydrates: 81g | Protein: 55g | Fat: 64g | Saturated Fat: 26g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 33g | Cholesterol: 205mg | Sodium: 508mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 23g

The post Homemade White Mutton Biryani appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

If you are kinky for biryani like me, I also have a quick biryani recipe on the blog. If you are making this recipe for the first time, I will request you to make it as closely as you can, with minimum substitutions.

Let’s see how all of it comes together.

Layers of this Biryani

This biryani, like any other biryani has the following components that makes up each layer:

• Marinated baked/grilled chicken tikka
• A Tikka curry/Qorma base
• The parboiled basmati rice
• The garnish and color layer

Making Chicken Tikka

This recipe calls for marinating chicken pieces in Tikka spice mix. I used my homemade tikka spice mix to marinate the chicken. But if you have a packet Tikka mix lying around, you can use that as well. Use the whole packet along with any extra ingredients the packet calls for. You can leave the chicken to marinate for anywhere between 2 to 8 hours.

You can also smoke the chicken with a piece of coal at this point or do it later while baking.

There are two ways in which you can cook this marinated chicken. You can chose whichever one you prefer:

Method #1 – Baking the chicken

If you opt for this, all you have to do, is simply:

• Line a baking tray with parchment paper, grease it,
• Place your chicken pieces, spray on top of the chicken
• And bake, ending with the gas griller for the char.

This method is great if you are trying to watch your calories, plus also it’ll save you time. Your chicken can be baking in the oven and you can be working on the qorma on stove simultaneously. And be done with both at once.

Method #2 – Pan frying or grilling the chicken

If you don’t have a gas oven or don’t feel like heating it up, you can always opt for the old school way of pan frying the chicken or grilling it. But the chicken sometimes doesn’t cook all the way through this way, so you’ll have to toss it in the qorma to cook for 10 mins as well.

Make the Tikka Qorma

The masala in this biryani is slightly different to regular biryanis. It is mostly based on onions and yogurt, with only 1 tomato and all ingredients are chosen very deliberately to reach a certain flavor profile.

Tip: ALWAYS turn off flame right BEFORE you reach the perfect golden color. The oil is pretty hot at this point so if you wait till your onions get to the right color and THEN turn off the flame, it’ll most probably take your onions to a much more dark shade, and possibly burn them.

Once you turn off the flame, remove roughly about a cup of the fried onions to use for garnish later.

Now the pot has roughly about 1 1/2 cup of oil along with the fried onions in it. I strain most of the oil out, leaving roughly 4 to 6 tbsp behind. Any qorma only needs enough oil to brown the onions. If that’s done, you don’t need anymore. If you’ve fried your onions at the right temperature, you will notice that MOST of the oil is out, almost as much as you had put in.

Adding Spices

Once you’ve removed all the oil, add 1/2 cup of water and turn the flame back on again. Now we are going to add allllll the spices, garlic ginger paste, salt and chopped tomatoes.

At this point, show some saute action (aka Bhunna). Saute at medium flame long enough to see oil separate on the side. This step helps in tempering the spices.

Go ahead and add another 1/2 cup of water, beaten yogurt and food color. Mix well and cover the lid for 10 mins at medium flame. When you see slight oil seperation on the sides, use a hand blender/immersion blender to blend the Qorma. This step will give you a more smooth mix and is a very common technique used by lots of Biryani places in Pakistan.

After the immersion blender, give it another 3 mins for the oil to come up again. Once it does, turn off the flame. Your qorma base is ready.

NOTE: If you opted for pan frying the chicken instead of baking it, add it in the qorma masala when you add in the yogurt to let the chicken cook for 10 mins as well

Soaking and Boiling the Rice

• For any biryani use long grain aged Basmati rice. They hold their shape well and don’t mush together.
• I soak rice for about 20 to 30 mins (which is the standard time for most rice brands)
• While boiling rice, chuck in some whole spices, salt, vinegar and kewra water as well. The vinegar helps the rice to have a really nice vibrant white color and stabilizes its shape too.
• Par-boil the rice for roughly 5 mins. Check a grain to see if it breaks in the center with your hands easily. That’s your cue to drain the water from the rice and set aside.

Garnish for the Biryani

After your tikka, qorma, and rice are ready, lets look into the garnish. The garnish I’ve selected for this biryani are things that compliment the Tikka flavor profile. This particular biryani uses:

• Fresh mint leaves
• 1 cup Fried onions (kept aside while making qorma)
• Lemon slices and lemon juice- To add a little sourness
• A zesty yellow food color mixed with milk. The yellow color compliments the reddish orange hue of the Tikka and Qorma, which is why we opted for this instead of the standard orange color for biryani.
• You can also add a few drop of biryani essence in the color (optional)

Layering the Biryani

My biryani layering sequence looks something like this:

• First a layer of 1/3 of the rice.
• Then goes in the garnish
• Next is a layer of 1/2 of the chicken pieces
• I also sprinkle some freshly squeezed lemon juice on the chicken pieces.
• Then 1/2 of the qorma masala on top of it.
• Repeat once more.
• Top layer with rice, garnish and food color in it.

Cover the pot with a layer of aluminum foil and then place your lid on top of it. This helps in sealing in the steam that builds up in the pot.

Place a griddle or tava below the pot on the flame. Standard biryani cooking time is 8 mins on medium high flame and another 10 mins on medium low flame.

Tip: Always use a pot size (pateeli) that can hold all your rice and chicken and still has about 1/4 empty space. This helps in mixing the biryani and also creates better steam cooking environment.

You can lift the lid slightly to check if you see any steam build up in the pot, this will ensure that your biryani is cooked. Ideally, let your biryani rest for another 10 mins before dishing it out.

Alternates, Fixes and Remixes

How to make biryani less spicy?

• This biryani is definitely spicy! “chatpati” in Pakistani terms. If you can’t handle spicy food, you can reduce the level of green chilies in the qorma by half and reduce the red chili powder by half as well.
• Note: The green chilies I use were medium hot, so if the green chilies you are using are very high in heat, (usually the really small green ones are hottest) then you need to reduce them by half anyways.

What to do with the left over oil?

The oil that’s left over from frying the onions, chilies and mint leaves is going to be super aromatic and infused with great flavor. You can use this oil practically in all kinds of savory cooking, greasing, frying etc.

What if I want to add potatoes?

Potatoes have a tendency to absorb spices and salt from gravies. If you plan to add potatoes in this recipe, you will have to increase both salt and spice, plus add a tomato as well. You will also have to add another 250 gm of rice to incorporate the added potato.

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Chicken tikka biryani

A Pakistani modern fusion between Chicken tikka and traditional Chicken biryani to create a delicious layered rice and chicken tikka masala dish.

Course Main Course

Cuisine South Asian

Prep Time 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 5 minutes minutes

Servings 6 servings

Calories 1066kcal

Author Wajiha

Ingredients

Chicken Tikka Marination & Qorma

• [1 packet of Tikka masala or Homemade tikka spice mix]
• 1 medium sized chicken cut into pieces
• 6 medium onions sliced 4 cups
• 14 green chilies
• 1 cup of mint leaves
• 1 medium tomato
• 2 cups of oil
• 2 cup yogurt
• 1 cup water
• 1 tbsp of salt or to taste
• 1 tbsp garlic ginger paste

Spices

• 1 tsp of black pepper powder
• 1 1/2 tsp of red chili powder
• 2 tsp of cumin powder
• 1 tsp of garam masala powder
• 1/2 tsp of turmeric
• 2 tsp of coriander powder
• 1 pinch of crushed Nutmeg Jaifil
• A pinch of crushed Maze Javetri

Rice

• 3/4 kg Long grain Bastmati rice
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• 1 tbsp kewra water
• 1 tbsp oil or ghee
• 4 to 5 bay leaves
• 10 whole black peppers
• 5 cloves
• 5 green cardamom
• 2 black cardamom
• 1 piece of cinnamon stick
• 4 tbsp of salt or to taste

Garnish

• 2 lemons cut up in slices
• 3 tsp of lemon juice
• 1 cup of fresh mint leaves
• 2 tbsp of milk mixed with Strong yellow food color zarda color
• 1 cup of fried onions
• few drops of biryani essence optional

Instructions

• Chicken Tikka
• Marinate chicken pieces in chicken tikka masala and leave it for 2 hours or overnight.
• You can also smoke the marinated chicken with a piece of coal. (optional)
• Preheat oven at 180° C (350 F)
• Line a baking tray with parchment paper and spray it generously with roasting spray or cooking oil. Place the chicken pieces on the tray and spray another coat of cooking spray on top of the chicken.
• Pop the tray in the oven for 20 mins and turn on the top grill for the nice char in the last 5 mins.
• Alternatively you can also grill the chicken on a grill pan or pan fry them as well. (See note)
  
• Chicken Qorma
• In a pot, add oil, sliced onions, green chilies and mint leaves. Fry them at medium heat until they turn crispy golden brown. Remove about a cup of the fried onions and set aside.
• Strain out most of the oil as well. (Leaving 4 to 5 tbsp in the pot)
• Add 1/2 cup of water in the fried onion mix and turn the flame back on at medium. Add in all the spices, salt, chopped tomatoes and garlic ginger paste. Saute the curry base until the oil separates and comes on top.
• Reduce flame to low and Add another 1/2 cup of water.
• Now add beaten yogurt and a little food color. Cover the pot and let the Qorma base simmer for 15 mins.
• Open the lid and use a hand blender/immersion blender to reach a smooth Qorma consistency. Qorma is ready.
• Rice
• Soak rice for 20 mins in water.
• Boil water in a pot with salt, vinegar, oil, kewra water and whole spices.
• Add soaked rice in boiling water. Boil for about 5 mins or until a grain of rice can break in your hand but retains its shape. Strain the rice and set aside
• Layering and Final cooking
• Chose a pot that would be able to hold all the rice and chicken together and still be 1/4th empty.
• Add 1/3rd of the rice on the bottom of the pot
• Add fried onions, some mint leaves and 2 3 lemon slices
• Add 1/2 of the baked chicken and sprinkle a little lemon juice on it.
• Spread 1/2 of the qorma mix on top of the chicken covering the rice.
• Repeat the process one more time and finish with rice on the top layer.
• Drizzle yellow food color in the form of a cross and add garnish. Optional – add biryani essence to food color
• Cover the pot and add a layer of aluminum foil in between pot and lid to create better seal.
• Place the Pot on top of an insulator, griddle or tava on the stove
• Turn on the flame at medium high heat for 8 to 10 mins.
• Reduce the flame to low and leave it for another 10 mins.
• Open the pot to check if steam has formed inside.
• Let the biryani rest for another 10 mins.
• Mix and serve with salad and yogurt.
  

Notes

If you decide to pan fry chicken at high flame, there is a chance they are still raw. Add pan fried chicken in the qorma while adding yogurt to finish cooking.

To make this biryani with potatoes:

• Take 1 kg rice instead of 3/4th kg
• Increase the salt quantity by 1 tsp in the qorma.
• Add 1 more tomato to the qorma

The green chili measurement in this recipe is based on the green chilies I had, which were medium hot. If the green chilies you have are extremely high in heat (like the small thin ones), put half of the given quantity.

This recipe gives a spicy biryani, reduce red chili to 1 tsp if you can’t eat very spicy food.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 1066kcal | Carbohydrates: 102g | Protein: 36g | Fat: 60g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 46g | Cholesterol: 93mg | Sodium: 1459mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 24g

The post Chicken Tikka Biryani appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

Pair it with a hearty bowl of kachumbar salad and raita, and you have yourself a party!

INGREDIENTS AND STEPS FOR MAKING BIRYANI

Firstly, the rice is prepped pretty much similar to any recipe, soaked in water and boiled in whole masalas with vinegar and kewra water. One medium chicken is enough to serve 6 adults.

This recipe calls to add brown onions to your gravy and I usually keep a packet of frozen fried onions in the freezer for such days. While this recipe calls for onions, I’ve even made this recipe without it and it still turns out fine so you can skip it if you don’t have the time to fry them. Just blend your tomatoes and chillies and ginger garlic in a blender and you have your masala base ready.

Literally all you have to do is dump all your ingredients in the pot and just let it cook. I tend to add yoghurt later since it has a tendency to burn the masala if added at an early stage. But you can keep an insulator or a pan right below your pot and add yoghurt from the start.

GARNISHING

Biryani is as much a treat for the eyes as it is for your palate. Your Biryani needs to look like the royalty it is. Don’t ever be stingy when it comes to the Garnish of the Dish. This one needs all the fresh ingredients above, to bring out the freshness of your Biryani.

The quantity for this recipe will give you roughly 3 layers of rice and 2 layers of chicken. Make sure to add some garnish before every addition of the Qorma to the pot.

And the top is where you add your color, Please don’t add red food color to this biryani, this one requires a more orangish food color. Every Biryani has its own hue which makes it what it is,

TIP: Make sure your pot is big enough that even after all the layers, the top still has a little space left. A fully loaded Cauldron will cause your rice to be sticky and wont give it enough room to expand while it cooks. 

Always seal the pot very well. For a proper steam and cook, the better your seal, the better the flavours. If you feel your pot lid is loose, try covering up the pot with foil first and then the lid. Alternatively you can weight on top of your lid to create that internal pressure in the pot.
more on Biryani 101 in future posts.

More Recipes Like This

Do you have any questions? I’m happy to help! And of course, If you try this recipe, I’d loveeeee to see it or simply hear about it! Hit me up in the comment section below and I’ll get back to asap! Happy Cooking!

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Quick Karhayi Biryani

This version of Biryani tastes absolutely delicious with a bonus point: it is much easier and quicker to make than regular biryani!

Course Main Course

Cuisine South Asian

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Total Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Servings 6 people

Calories 850kcal

Author Wajiha

Ingredients

For Rice

• 4 ½ cup long grain Basmati rice
• 1 tbsp kewra water
• Saabit garam masala aka 5 cloves, 1 piece of Cinammon stick, 10 Round blackpeppers, 4 green cardomom, 2 black cardomom
• 1 tbsp salt or to taste
• 1 tbsp vinegar

For Chicken Masala

• 1 kg medium chicken cut up in pieces
• ½ cup oil
• 2 medium medium onion sliced
• 6 medium tomatoes cut
• ½ kg yoghurt beaten
• 8 to 10 serrano greenchillies
• 1 tbsp garlic ginger paste
• 1 tbsp Garam masala powder all spice powder
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp zeera/cumin powder
• 2 tsp red chili powder

For Layering Garnish

• 1/2 cup Mint leaves
• 1/4 cup Cut up green serrano chillies
• 1/2 cup Brown onions (left over from the chicken masala)
• ½ tomato thin slices
• 1 teaspoon Garam masala powder
• 3 pinch Orange food color mixed in 3 tbsp of milk

Instructions

METHOD TO PREPARE CHICKEN MASALA

• First of all, put oil in cauldron or pot at a medium flame and add onions and fry until brown. Remove half of the onions and turn off heat. (you can skip this step for an even quicker biryani)
• Secondly, a blender add tomatoes, green chillies with a little bit of water and blend well.
• Add tomato puree to the oil pot along with all the masalas and chicken and cover the lid. Let it cook at medium flame for about 20 to 25 minutes or when the oil separates from the curry.
• Beat yoghurt well and add to the curry and leave at medium flame for another 10 minutes or until the gravy thickens. You can remove the lid at this point and keep stirring until you reach the desired consistency of the gravy or you can let it cook on it own.

METHOD TO PREPARE RICE

• While your chicken gravy cooks, soak rice for around 20 minutes before cooking (or as long as your brand or rice demands)
• In a large pot, boil water with all the ingredients for the rice.
• Add rice as water starts to boil and allow to boil for 4 to 5 minutes.
• Check to see if you can break a rice grain with your hand, that’s the point where you remove your rice from the flame and strain it. Set it aside

METHOD FOR LAYERING

• Add a layer of rice at the bottom of the large pot.
• Sprinkle garam masala powder on the rice along with a little bit of fried onions, sliced tomatoes, green chilies and mint leaves.
• Layer with chicken qorma and repeat the process. Your top layer should be that of rice.
• Add all the garnishes on the top along with the food color this time.
• Cover the lid well and put on the stove to steam with a frying pan or a base beneath the pot.
• Keep the flame on medium to high for 5 minutes and reduce it to low medium for another 10. Finally, turn off the heat and let the Biryani rest for 5 to 10 minutes to seal the flavors before opening the lid.

Notes

Serve with salad and raita. And dig into that master piece you’ve just created!

Nutrition

Serving: 1servings | Calories: 850kcal | Carbohydrates: 128g | Protein: 38g | Fat: 37g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 9g | Monounsaturated Fat: 19g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 87mg | Sodium: 2498mg | Potassium: 995mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 1548IU | Vitamin C: 24mg | Calcium: 255mg | Iron: 3mg

Did you try out the other popular rice recipe on the blog? Chicken Malai Boti Pulao will bring some diversity to your next food spread!

The post Quick Karhayi Biryani appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

On the off chance that you’ve been living under a rock (like seriously), here’s a little biryani intro. A Biryani is a layered dish of rice and curry (mostly protein based) and has some serious garnish going on! It’s a complete meal on its own and is usually paired with a hearty salad and raita (yogurt sauce). Its eaten worldwide and I have yet to meet someone who hasn’t liked biryani after they’ve had it.

Biryani recipes you don’t want to miss out on.

The original biryani was introduced to the Mughal Kings of the Indian Sub-continent by Arab Merchants who came to trade spices from Persia. The Mughals added their own flair to the Biryani, with their own local ingredients and made it into one of the most popularly eaten foods across the Subcontinent. Since then, biryani has evolved into so many different types; based on regional cultures, communities and pure fusion ideas!

Here’s a couple of great and popular biryani versions for you to try at home.

1. Memon Style Keema Masoor Biryani by Chai & Churros

This Memoni style Biryani is generally a very popular version throughout India and Pakistan. Made with beef or chicken mince (keema) and lentils (masoor), this recipe uses slightly different spices and creates an ultimately delicious feast!

2. Lamb Biryani by Fatima Cooks

I have said this before and I will say this again, CHICKEN AND BEEF BIRYANI DO NOT cook the SAME WAY! There! I said it! I am particularly passionate about biryani and if you are too, you KNOWW that, that, is in fact true. This is a beautiful authentic Lamb Biryani recipe by Fatima. Just look at those colors!

3. Boneless Fish Biryani by Mirchi Tales

Seafood biryanis have been my recent love affair! This boneless fish biryani by Kiran screamss spicy! The recipe plays heavily on lemon of course and a combination of spices that makes this dish stand out!

4. Karachi Style Chicken Biryani

Karachiites will tell you there is no other Biryani than Karachi style Biryani. Ofcourse we are technically biased but well we are also right 😛 Don’t believe me? Try it yourself. Its aromatic, loaded with some serious masala action and delicious as hell!

5. Malabar Vegetable Biryani by Big Sweet Tooth

Meat-lovers will tell you that vegetable biryani doesn’t exist, but I knowwwww most of my vegetarian friends crave a good biryani! This one’s for all you guys! With a great Malabar twist to it! Check out this version over at Big Sweet Tooth’s page.

6. Turkey Biryani by Flour and Spice

Let’s face it, I had you at Turkey. This recipe by Sara has me intrigued since the moment I laid eyes on it. If you’ve never cooked with turkey before, or haven’t made South Asian food before, either ways! this is a great bridging recipe to get started!

7. Nalli Biryani by funcooking

So y’all know how the world lovesss good street food right? Nalli Biryani is one of those fusion style street food that became popular from the streets of Karachi, Pakistan. This came into being as a fusion of Nalli Nihari (which is a meat and bones based gravy) and biryani. Nalli means bones with some marrow in it. It went viral on youtube and facebook when someone posted a vlog of them having some at a local eatery in Karachi! Check out my friends at-home version!

8. Chicken Tikka Biryani

Another classic fusion style biryani is this Chicken Tikka biryani. It combines the flavors of a classic Chicken tikka and a biryani together. I kid you not though, this is spicy! and you would want water and/or yogurt with you when you have this! Try this today and thank me later

9. Leftover curry Biryani by Fatima cooks

If you’ve made curry aka salan, you KNOW that leftovers are a real hassle! I love my friend Fatima’s idea to turn leftover curry into a biryani! Just a little tweak here and there and you have a remixed biryani!

10. Prawn biryani by Pakistani Eats

One of the winter season’s favorite is the ultimate prawn biryani! Literally watched my mom and now my MIL kill the prawn biryani game! It’s so different than the regular biryanis and the aromas are real my friend! Try this out this season for your family!

11. White biryani by Hinz Cooking

Don’t be fooled by the lack of color, this biryani is PACKED with so much flavor! White biryani is like the underdog that no one thinks is going to be good and then it turns out and surprises you! The only difference for this biryani is a slightly different flavor profile and no food color. I love pairing this with potato kebabs! Bliss!

12. Quick Karhai Biryani

I knowwww I know! Looking at biryani recipes can be exhausting for a few of you. What can you do! Life’s busy. This ones for all my busy bees who want a GOOD biryani but are on a time budget!

13. Gujrati Biryani by Huma Kalim

Since Biryani is a unanimously famous dish throughout the South of Asia, there are numerous local flavor variations. This one’s a Gujrati Biryani by Huma! Just the color and fried onions have stole my heart! Head on over to the recipe to check out how it’s made.

14. Bohri Biryani by Recipe 52

Another variation of Biryanis are brought on by different communities across the Indo-Pak borders. This one is a Bohri Biryani Recipe made with chicken! I’m always fascinated by how even subtle change of spices and its ratios alter the taste of biryani so much! Head on to Recipe52 to check out the recipe for Bohri Biryani

The post 14 Best Biryani Recipes appeared first on Butter Over Bae.