6 Famous Biryani Recipes Of India , Which You Must Try

Briyani has always been a satisfying hunger for all age groups.  The word “Briyani” means fried before cooking. Briyani is an authentic Mughal Dish and was invented in the 16th century. But many historians believe that Biryani was mainly originated from Persia. This dish was bought in India by the Mughals. Further, this dish was developed and experimented with by the Mughals in their Mughal Kitchen. There is a popular story known to everyone related to this biryani. Being a biryani lover you should also know this story. The story says that during the wars Mumtaz Begum, wife of Mughal King Shah Jahan, once visited the army barracks, where the soldiers lived, and found the Mughal Soldiers looked undernourished as the wars were going on and the soldiers did not get enough food. Seeing this she decided to prepare food that contains a balanced diet for the soldiers. So that the soldiers could get a proper meal. She prepared a dish with meat and rice mixed up with many spices and cooked over firewood. The food was so yummy that from then this mixture of rice and meat with spices has become worldwide and is now popularly known as briyani.

Another story says that briyani was bought to India by Turks, Mongol conqueror Taimur. Nawabs of Lucknow and Nizams of Hyderabad are also known for there delightful delicacy in this food. Many also says that biryani is of South Indian origin and is derived from pulav.

Briyani is traditionally cooked over charcoal in an earthen pot, unlike in ancient times.  There are many other ways of preparing biryani. Briyani is famous all over India and also across the globe. The main ingredient used in preparing biryani is rice, meat, and spices. Every state has there own style of preparing this dish. Every state has some specialty and uniqueness in preparing the dish and its taste is different. All the types of biryanis are equally yummy and mouthwatering.

Here are a few famous biryani variations that are popular across India

Mughlai Biryani

Mughals have always appreciated the art of cooking. Mughals have been always been fond of lavish food habits. The Mughlai biryani traditionally consists of rice scented with kewra water and deliciously spiced meat. The aroma of the spices and kewra water can make anyone fall in love with this dish. This biryani consists of spicy and gravy chicken.

Lucknow Biryani

Lucknow biryani is also known as pukka biryani. Pukki means Billy goat. In Lucknow biryani, the meat and rice are cooked separately and then layered in a copper vessel at last. This briyani was influenced by the Nawabs of Awadh. These Nawabs were the origins of Persia. As this biryani is influenced by nawabs therefore the specialty of this biryani is that it contains cashew, nuts ad many more dry fruits.

Bombay Biryani

Bombay biryani is originated from Bombay now Mumbai. Bombay biryani is slightly sweet in taste. It consists of spices zesty and plum is used in this platter. This biryani is made with mixed vegetables.  Bombay biryani also contains some dry fruits in them. This biryani is also cooked in the same process alike the other biryanis.

Kashmiri Biryani

Kashmiri biryani is cooked in yogurt, ghee, saffron, and many more spices with rice and meat in it. This Kashmiri biryani leaves a strong aromatic fragrance which makes this biryani a delight for everybody. Alike other biryanis this is also cooked in the same way. The only difference in this biryani is that it contains a lot of saffron.

Hyderabadi Biryani

Hyderabadi biryani is famous all across India. It is believed that This biryani came into existence after Niza Ul Mulk was appointed the new ruler of Hyderabad. His chefs experimented with 50 types of biryanis which consist of fish, shrimps, deer meat, hare meat, quail, etc. They also used saffron in this dish which made this dish more exciting. The aroma is just mesmerizing. There is also Hyderabadi dum biriyani which is left on slow fire or dum for the aromatic fragrance.

Kolkata Biryani

Here is last but not least, the famous Kolkata biryani. Alike Hyderabadi biryani Kolkata biryani is also famous across India. No other state can beat the taste of Kolkata biryani, And we Bengalis always had an emotion toward this Kolkata biryani. We may live in whichever part across India and taste loads of biryani but our love for Kolkata biryani is always at the top. It is said after being banished by the British, Nawab Wajid Ali Shah recreated biryani in Kolkata.  Bengal was fully banished by the British. They exploited Bengal very badly.  The people of Bengal became very poor. As the local people at that time were unable to afford meat they replaced the meat with thick golden brown fried potatoes and added a few more spices. Later when they could afford meat, they used meat with marinated curd in it cooked separately from the rice. Boiled eggs are also added to this biryani. We Bengalis have a separate love for potatoes and that’s the reason for the longings of Kolkata biryani.

The famous Kolkata Biryani recipe is as follows :

CHICKEN BRIYANI

Briyani has always been a satisfying hunger for all age groups.  The word "Briyani" means fried before cooking. Briyani is an authentic Mughal Dish and was invented in the 16th century.

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

0 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian

Servings 2 Servings

Calories 202 kcal

Ingredients

  

SPICES

• 2 bay leaf
• 4 cardamoms
• 6 cloves
• 1 inch cinnamon stick
• 1 strand mace
• 1 star anise
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds

MARINATION OF CHICKEN

• 4 pieces chicken leg piece
• 2 tablespoon oil
• 2 tablespoon yogurt
• 1 tablespoon ginger paste
• 1 tablespoon garlic paste
• 1 tablespoon onion paste
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon turmeric powder
• 1 tablespoon red chili powder
• 1 tablespoon garam masala
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon chicken masala

OTHER INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups basmati rice
• 2 tablespoon ghee
• 2 tablespoon oil
• 1 cup onions finely chopped
• 2 medium sized potatoes
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon red chili powder
• 1 tablespoon turmeric powder
• half tablespoon salt
• 2 tablespoon briyani masala
• 5 strands saffron
• 5 tablespoon milk
• 1 tablespoon rose water
• 1 tablespoon kewra water
• 1 tablespoon meetha atar

Instructions

 

STEP 1

MARINADE THE CHICKEN

• Take a bowl and add the chicken leg pieces to it. Make slits on the pieces.
• Now add the yogurt, ginger, garlic and onion paste. Next add the salt, red chili powder, turmeric powder, 1 teaspoon of oil, garam masala, chicken masala and the lemon juice.
• Mix them very well so that the chicken gets coated nicely.
• Cover the bowl and set aside for about 1 to 2 hours.

STEP 2

PREPARE THE RICE

• Take the basmati rice wash it properly 2 to 3 times and then soak it in water for about 30 minutes.
• After 30 minutes take a big vessel with half of the water in it and put it on a high flame then add bay leaves, 2 spoons of oil, cardamoms, cloves, mace, star anise and cinnamon sticks after that let the water boil.
• After the water starts boiling put the shocked basmati rice in the water and let the rice to boiling.
• Check the rice constantly till it is cooked at 80%, when the rice is cooked 80% as needed put the flame off.
• Drain the starch out of the rice immediately.
• After this spread the rice on a big plate and let the rice cool down completely so that the rice does not get stuck to one another.

STEP 3

PREPARE THE CHICKEN

• After 2 hours, put a pan in the oven and put 2 tablespoons of oil in it.
• Add 2 tablespoons of slices of onion in the oil and fry the onions.
• After the onions become golden brown put the marinated chicken on it and stir it properly.
• Cover the pan with a lid for 10 minutes in low flame and let the chicken cook properly.
• After 10 minutes open the lid of the pan and cook the chicken for more than 10 to 15 minutes in low flame you can add little water also.
• Turn off the flame when the gravy of the chicken gets a little dry and the chicken gets soften.

STEP 4

OTHER PROCESS

• Take a pan and add 2 tablespoons of oil to it.
• Next, add the cup of onion slices to it.
• Stir fry the onions very nicely till they become crispy and deep golden brown in color.
• Turn off the flame and keep them aside.
• Next, take water in a pot and add the eggs to it.
• Let the eggs get boiled very nicely.
• Remove the shells of the egg and keep them aside.
• Next, take a pot and add water to it.
• Now add the potatoes to it and boil them till they are softened at 90%.
• Remove them from the water and wash them properly in cold water.
• Now take a pan and heat it in a oven and 1 tablespoon of oil to it.
• Now add the boiled potatoes to it.
• Next add 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder, 1 teaspoon of red chilli powder.
• Toss them properly so that potatoes gets coated with the spices.
• Fry the potatoes till they turn golden brown.
• Keep them aside.

STEP 5

PREPARE THE SAFFRON MILK

• For this, we need to take warm milk in a bowl, add a pinch of saffron to it, and let it soak for 10 to 15 minutes.
• After 15 minutes when the color of the milk gets changed, take the saffron out of the milk.
• Now add kewra water and Rose essence and meetha attar to the milk one by one mix it well and keep it aside.

STEP 6

FINAL LAYERING OF BIRYANI

• For this take a big vessel and dry it completely.
• First cover the bottom of the vessel with some bay leaves
• On the top of the bay leaves put a thick layer of rice.
• Place the pieces of chicken and potatoes on the first layer of the rice.
• Next, add some gravy of the chicken to this layer.
• Next, add some sprinkles of biryani masala, a pinch of salt, and some fried onions. Our first layer is complete.
• Next again cover this layer with a thick layer of rice.
• Next add the rest of the gravy left, fried onions and saffron milk, and a pinch of biryani masala.
• Now add some more rice on the top and sprinkle the ghee on the top of the rice.
• At last, add the boiled eggs to the top and cover the lid.
• Now put the Biryani vessel in the oven with the lowest flame.
• Now cover the side of the lid of the vessel with a sticky dough made of flour, so that no air can come out of the lid. This process is called putting the Biryani on dum.
• This process takes 30 to 45 minutes and the biryani gets fully cooked. We can understand that the Biryani is fully cooked when the vessel of the biryani and the lid of The vessel becomes very hot. Then we can turn off the heat.
• Our special Briyani recipe is ready to be served.

Notes

• We can serve this chicken biryani with raita and lots of salads.
• We can skip the egg if you want.
• You can add the biryani masala prepared at home.

Keyword Briyani recipes, Chicken Biryani, chicken recipes