Awadhi Chicken Biryani recipe (Lucknowi Chicken Biryani)

Awadhi Chicken Biryani recipe with step-by-step photos and a video recipe. Awadhi Chicken Biryani (also known as Lucknowi Chicken Biryani) is made with long grain basmati rice, meat, and mild spices. This biryani has subtle flavors and a sweet aroma. A popular recipe from Awadhi cuisine. This cuisine is the native cuisine of the city of Nawabs, Lucknow, in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.  

Historically, Lucknow was the capital of the Awadh region. Awadh has its own distinct Nawabi-style cuisine. Awadhi cuisine is popular for its non-vegetarian dishes like Kakori kababs, Tunde kababs, Shami kababs, Boti Kebabs, Kormas, and Dum style Biryani.

Biryani is widely popular in Awadhi cuisine. It is prepared using the traditional dum style cooking technique (cooking over a slow fire). With this technique, the chicken, rice, aromatic spices, and sweet flavors mingle together. It results in moist, aromatic, and flavorful Lucknowi chicken biryani. The same recipe can be used to make mutton biryani.

Jump to:

• About this recipe
• Ingredients and Substitutions
• Step by step instructions with photos
• Tips to make the Best Awadhi Chicken biryani
• FAQs
• Recipe Card

About this recipe

In this recipe post, I am sharing how to make an Awadhi Style Chicken Biryani recipe. It is also known as “Awadhi Murgh Biryani” or “Lucknowi Chicken Biryani”.

“Murgh” means chicken. Murgh biryani means chicken biryani. This biryani is mildly spicy with perfectly cooked meat & rice. It has all the delectable flavors of Awadhi cuisine.

Awadhi biryani is a popular North Indian biryani from the "land of Nawabs" ( Lucknow). Lucknowi cuisine or Awadhi cuisine is an amalgamation of both Mughlai & Nawabi cuisine.

Lucknowi biryani is made with mild aromatic spices, meat, and long grain basmati rice. It has subtle flavors and a sweet aroma. You can serve it with Raita & Salad.

In this Awadhi biryani recipe, I have not used meetha attar & yellow chili powder as it is not easily available everywhere.

You may also like these other popular biryani recipes from this website

1. Hyderabadi chicken dum biryani
2. Hyderabadi biryani
3. Egg biryani in a pressure cooker
4. Chicken biryani in a pressure cooker

Ingredients and Substitutions

• Chicken - Chicken with bones is ideal to make biryani. You can also use chicken legs or thighs.
• Basmati rice - Use aged long grain basmati rice to make biryani.
• Onions - I have used red onions for this recipe.
• Yogurt - Use fresh curd/yogurt. Homemade curd is always the best. It should be sweet to taste. If it is sour then it may spoil the taste of biryani.
• Green chilies - You can skip the addition of green chilies if you do not prefer a spicy dish.
• Ghee - Ghee is the soul of biryani. You can cut down the quantity. Do not substitute it with oil.
• Spices - Bay leaf, cumin, cinnamon, cardamoms, and cloves.
• Flavoring - Ginger-garlic paste, salt, cardamom powder, and mace powder. You can make mace powder in small quantity by using mortar and pestle.
• Red chili powder - Yellow chili powder is used to make this biryani. I have substituted it with red chili powder. Adjust the quantity of red chili powder as per its spiciness. Do not use Kashmiri red chili powder here. It will give bright red color to it. This biryani should look yellow in color.
• Saffron - It gives a very nice aroma and color to the Lucknowi chicken biryani. Skip if you do not have it.
• Kewra water - Gives a beautiful aroma to the biryani.
• Rose essence - Meetha attar is used to make this Lucknowi chicken biryani recipe. You can substitute it with rose essence or skip it.

For the detailed list of ingredients & their measurements, please check out the recipe card below.

Step by step instructions with photos

Preparations

1. Wash & soak the basmati rice in water for 30 minutes.
2. Make birista (fried onions). Heat oil in a deep-bottomed pan. Fry some sliced onions until golden. Stir continuously so that the onions are evenly brown.
3. Take it out and spread it on a kitchen tissue. You can skip this step if you are using a store-bought birista.

Making the chicken gravy

1. Heat 1 tablespoon ghee (clarified butter) & 2 tablespoon refined oil on medium heat.
2. Add the whole spices & sauté it for a minute.
3. Next, add the sliced onions & sauté until the onions are golden.
4. Add the chicken pieces and cook until the chicken changes its color from pink to white.
5. Now add ginger garlic paste & salt. Cook for 2 minutes until raw smell from ginger and garlic leaves.
6. Add curd & combine. Cook until the mixture comes to a boil.
7. Cover and let it cook on low-medium heat until the oil starts to leave from the sides. It will take around 15 minutes.
8. Add red chili powder, cardamom powder, mace powder & green chilies. Mix it well. Cover and cook until oil separates from the gravy.
9. Add 1 cup of water & mix it well. Lower the heat and cook for 20 minutes.

Cooking the biryani rice

1. On another burner, heat 5 cups of water in a vessel on high heat. Add ghee/clarified butter, kewra water, rosewater, whole spices & salt.
2. Let the water come to a boil.
3. Drain the soaked basmati rice & keep it aside.
4. Next, add the basmati rice. Stir it gently.
5. Let the water comes to a boil again. Check the rice grains. It will be soft but it will split when you press it with your fingers.
6. Remove from heat & drain the rice in the colander. Keep it aside.

Layering the chicken and rice

1. Before we start the layering make sure the chicken is cooked. Remove from heat.
2. I have used the same pot to layer the biryani.
3. Remove the chicken pieces. You can see the oil in the base. This oil has all the flavors. Remove half of the oil from it to a bowl.
4. Next, start layering. Make sure there is some oil at the base of the pan/pot.
5. First layer half of the cooked rice.
6. Next, layer the cooked chicken.
7. Sprinkle some fried onions, mace powder, cardamom powder, kewra water, rose essence & ghee/clarified butter.
8. Layer the rest of the rice & spread it evenly.
9. Sprinkle some cardamom powder, mace powder, kewra water, rose essence, mint leaves(optional), fried onions, saffron milk, oil that we reserved after removing the chicken, & ghee/clarified butter.

Cooking the Awadhi chicken biryani on Dum

1. Close the lid & seal with wheat flour dough.
2. Place an old iron tawa on the burner & keep the biryani pot over it.
3. Cook on medium-high heat for 5 minutes.
4. Lower the heat and cook on the lowest heat for 10 minutes.
5. Remove from the heat and keep it aside for 10 minutes.
6. Open the seal. Carefully open the seal as it is hot. Always remove the seal when you are ready to serve the biryani.
7. Serve Awadhi chicken biryani hot with raita, salad, and a  lemon wedge.

Tips to make the Best Awadhi Chicken biryani

• Use a thick bottom pan to make this dish.
• Rinse the rice well with water to remove excess starch.
• Soaking the rice in water reduces the cooking time.
• Cook the chicken on low heat and make sure it is completely cooked before you start layering the biryani.
• Always make sure that the biryani rice should be 90% cooked and the rest 10% will be cooked on dum.
• If you are using rose essence or meetha itar for the first time then first check how concentrated it is. It is good to dissolve 2 drops of essence in 2-3 teaspoon of water and then add it according to your liking. Essence can spoil your dish by overpowering its aroma.
• You can seal the biryani pot with aluminum foil too.
• Do not cut down the quantity of ghee in the recipe.
• Mace powder and cardamom powder are important ingredients. Do not skip it.
• Please follow the timings of dum cooking Awadhi biryani exactly as mentioned in the recipe.

FAQs

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