My mother is visiting and I am taking full advantage of her being here by having her teach me some new dishes. I have never made Biryani (layers of rice and a meat or vegetable curry – an Asian lasagna of sorts) before and have always thought of it as a complicated dish. My mother learnt this recipe from her aunt in Singapore while we lived there and I am thrilled to add it to my repertoire especially since Ria scarfed it down like a champ. Serve with some simple greens. Scale recipe for a dinner party and impress your guests!
Chicken Biryani
This is a bit of a fusion dish – Indian and Chinese, which is typical of Singaporean food. A little more time consuming than most of the dishes we post on this blog but sometimes a little bit of trouble goes a long way. Works great for a Sunday one-pot family dinner.
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thigh or breast cut into 1-inch cubes
2 cups rice
1 cinnamon stick and 2 bay leaves (optional)
For marinade:
1 tbsp soy sauce
½ tbsp dark soy sauce
½ tbsp red chilly powder (optional or use less)
salt & pepper to taste
For gravy/sauce:
1 lb onions or shallots, finely chopped
3-4 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp ginger, minced
3 medium tomatoes, diced
1 tbsp cumin powder
Method
- Marinate chicken in soy sauces, chilly powder (if using) and salt and pepper for 2 hours or as long as a day.
- When ready to cook make rice in saucepan or rice-cooker. You can flavor the rice with a bay leaf and a cinnamon stick if you like. Set it aside when ready.
- Heat oil and add diced onions/shallots and caramelize for 10-15 minutes. If the onion or shallot sticks add some water to “unstick” the bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Add ginger and cumin powder and fry for another 5 minutes.
- Continue to fry for 10 minutes after adding the tomatoes and then add the chicken.
- The chicken should take 15-20 minutes to cook through and will require some watching over and stirring so it doesn’t stick.
- Layer rice and chicken gravy in a serving dish or casserole like a lasagne – one layer rice, one layer chicken gravy ending with the chicken.
Love love love indian food! Mom’s are the best.
You’ll have to try this one and tell us how you like it!
Biryani is my most favorite thing in the world. I can have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I learned to cook it from my roommate when I was in London. It is slightly different from yours. But whatever the version I love it. And your biryani has that beautiful color yummy.
Would love to try your recipe! I am big fan myself and glad I can make it now!
I have to try this!! Yum!
I actually thought of you when I was posting this and was pretty sure you would like it
Yum. This sauce sounds divine. I love Indian food but I can never make my sauces at home similar to the ones I have at the restaurant. I can’t wait to try it. Thanks, Simran!
Do try it and let is know how it turns out. I was surprised by how easy it was.
What a coincident! I’ve just made and post chicken and rice, too. Similar to biryani… but Thai version.
your version seems easy and simple, too.
Now I’m thinking of making biryani
The picture looks so stunning. I will have to try it.
I love biryani and have always wanted a good recipe for it. Thanks so much for posting–I will definitely give this a try.
Oh I lived in India for a year and I miss home made Indian food soooo much. I will have to try this. Your recipe seems easy enough for me to avoid making a disaster
It is super easy – I was surprised. Do try it!
I am so so hungry now. I adore Indian food including biryani
Yum, love biryani!
My husband is retired so is now in charge of two dinners a week. This seems simple enough to me that he could do it on his own. However, for him it might be a challenge as I don’t think his patience level is there yet. I’ll let you know if I talk him into doing this. Wish me luck.
Yes do let us know and good luck! I often tell my hubby things take shorter than they should just to “sell” them to him…..I think he is catching on
This looks so tasty. I love beriyani but don’t make it enough at home for it is quite a troublesome dish for me.
Your version seems a lot easier and I can’t wait to try this out.
It is a pretty troublesome dish…this one was super easy. I was surprised too!
Thank you for sharing your mom’s recipe! This is a definite one to try for one our dinners this week. I have fond memories of my visit to Singapore for my son’s wedding and all the great food we ate there. I can’t wait to return so I can eat some more!
Singapore is food paradise. I miss it so much! Let us know how it turns out.
Great recipe, I’m going to give this a try.
[...] Mom’s Biryani + vegetables to steam or reheat + store bought naan [...]