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.
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
- Hyderabadi chicken dum biryani
- Hyderabadi biryani
- Egg biryani in a pressure cooker
- 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
- Wash & soak the basmati rice in water for 30 minutes.
- 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.
- 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
- Heat 1 tablespoon ghee (clarified butter) & 2 tablespoon refined oil on medium heat.
- Add the whole spices & sauté it for a minute.
- Next, add the sliced onions & sauté until the onions are golden.
- Add the chicken pieces and cook until the chicken changes its color from pink to white.
- Now add ginger garlic paste & salt. Cook for 2 minutes until raw smell from ginger and garlic leaves.
- Add curd & combine. Cook until the mixture comes to a boil.
- Cover and let it cook on low-medium heat until the oil starts to leave from the sides. It will take around 15 minutes.
- Add red chili powder, cardamom powder, mace powder & green chilies. Mix it well. Cover and cook until oil separates from the gravy.
- Add 1 cup of water & mix it well. Lower the heat and cook for 20 minutes.
Cooking the biryani rice
- On another burner, heat 5 cups of water in a vessel on high heat. Add ghee/clarified butter, kewra water, rosewater, whole spices & salt.
- Let the water come to a boil.
- Drain the soaked basmati rice & keep it aside.
- Next, add the basmati rice. Stir it gently.
- 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.
- Remove from heat & drain the rice in the colander. Keep it aside.
Layering the chicken and rice
- Before we start the layering make sure the chicken is cooked. Remove from heat.
- I have used the same pot to layer the biryani.
- 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.
- Next, start layering. Make sure there is some oil at the base of the pan/pot.
- First layer half of the cooked rice.
- Next, layer the cooked chicken.
- Sprinkle some fried onions, mace powder, cardamom powder, kewra water, rose essence & ghee/clarified butter.
- Layer the rest of the rice & spread it evenly.
- 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
- Close the lid & seal with wheat flour dough.
- Place an old iron tawa on the burner & keep the biryani pot over it.
- Cook on medium-high heat for 5 minutes.
- Lower the heat and cook on the lowest heat for 10 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and keep it aside for 10 minutes.
- Open the seal. Carefully open the seal as it is hot. Always remove the seal when you are ready to serve the biryani.
- 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
No, it is not spicy. Lucknowi biryani is soft, aromatic, and less spicy compared to any other biryani. It has a sweet aroma coming from the kewra water, rose water, mace powder, cardamom powder & meetha attar.
1) Hyderabadi Biryani is spicy. Lucknowi biryani has subtle flavors (less spicy) and a sweet aroma. It gives a cooling effect on the body.
2) Traditionally, to make Lucknowi biryani mint & coriander leaves are not used. But mint & coriander leaves are definitely used to make Hyderabadi biryani.
3) Yellow chili powder & meetha attar are the unique ingredients of Lucknowi biryani. Meetha attar gives a sweet aroma to Lucknowi biryani. Both are not used to make Hyderabadi biryani.
You can serve it with burani raita or onion-tomato raita and salad.
Yes, “Awadhi Biryani” is also known as “Lucknowi biryani”. Earlier, Lucknow was the capital of the Awadh region, controlled by the Delhi Sultanate, and later the Mughal Empire & Nawabs of Awadh. Lucknowi cuisine or Awadhi cuisine is an amalgamation of both Mughlai & Nawabi cuisine.
If you make this Awadhi Biryani recipe, please leave a comment and a starred review below.
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Awadhi Chicken Biryani recipe (Lucknowi Chicken Biryani)
Equipment
- Heavy bottom pot or Wok
Ingredients
- 2 cups basmati rice (aged, long-grain)
- 2 onions sliced, to make birista (fried onions)
For making the chicken gravy
- 500 g chicken ,cut into cubes
- 3 onions sliced
- 2 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
- salt to taste
- ¾ cup thick curd/yogurt
- 1 teaspoon red chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon green cardamom powder (elaichi powder)
- ¼ teaspoon mace powder (javitri powder)
- 2 green chilies
- 1 tablespoon Ghee + 2 tablespoon refined oil
Whole spices to cook the chicken gravy
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1- inch cinnamon
- 4 green cardamoms
- 5 cloves
To cook biryani rice
- 1 tablespoon ghee/clarified butter
- ½ teaspoon kewra water
- ½ teaspoon rose water
- salt to taste
Whole spices to cook the biryani rice
- 1 bay leaf (Tej patta)
- 1- inch cinnamon (Dalchini)
- 5 cloves (Laung)
- 3 green cardamoms (Choti Elaichi)
For layering
- saffron milk to prepare - add a pinch of saffron in ½ cup of warm milk
- 1 teaspoon mace powder (Javitri powder)
- 1 teaspoon cardamom powder (Elaichi powder)
- 2-3 drops kewra water
- 2-3 drops rose essence
- 2 teaspoon ghee/clarified butter
- handful of mint leaves (optional)
Instructions
Preparations
- Wash & soak the basmati rice in water for 30 minutes.
- Make barista (fried onions). Heat oil in a deep bottomed pan over medium high heat. Fry the sliced onions until golden. Stir continuously, so that the onions are evenly brown.
- Take it out and spread on a kitchen tissue. You can skip this step if you are using a store-bought birista.
Making the chicken gravy
- Heat 1 tablespoon ghee (clarified butter) & 2 tablespoon refined oil in a deep bottom pan on medium heat.
- Add the whole spices & sauté it for a minute.
- Next, add the sliced onions & sauté until onions are golden.
- Add the chicken pieces and cook until chicken changes its color from pink to white.
- Now add ginger garlic paste & salt. Cook for 2 minutes until raw smell from ginger and garlic leaves.
- Add curd & combine. Cook until the mixture comes to a boil.
- Cover and let it cook on low-medium heat until oil starts to leave from the sides. It will take around 10 minutes. Stir it in between.
- Add red chili powder, cardamom powder, mace powder & green chilies. Mix it well. Cover and cook until oil separates from the gravy.
- Add 1 cup water & mix it well. Lower the heat and cook for 15-20 minutes. Or until the chicken is cooked.
Cooking the biryani rice
- On another burner, heat 5 cups of water in a vessel on high heat. Add ghee/clarified butter, kewra water, rose water, whole spices & salt.
- Let the water comes to a boil.
- Drain the soaked basmati rice & keep it aside.
- Next, add the basmati rice to the boiling water. Stir it gently.
- Let the water comes to a boil. Press the rice grains. It will be soft but it will split when you press it with your fingers.
- Remove from heat & drain the rice to a colander. Keep it aside.
Layering the chicken and rice
- Check whether the chicken is cooked or not. Chicken should be completely cooked before we start layering. Remove from heat.
- I have used the same pot to layer the biryani.
- Remove the chicken pieces. You can see the oil in the base of the pan. This oil has all the flavors. Remove half of the oil from it. Put it in a bowl. We will use this oil later.
- Let's start the layering. Make sure there is oil at the base before you start layering the biryani.
- First layer half of the cooked rice.
- Next, layer the cooked chicken.
- Sprinkle some fried onions, mace powder, cardamom powder, kewra water, rose essence & ghee/clarified butter.
- Layer the rest of the rice & spread it evenly.
- 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 Lucknowi chicken biryani on Dum
- Close the lid & seal with wheat flour dough.
- Place an iron tawa/griddle on the burner & keep the biryani pot over it.
- Cook on medium-high heat for 5 minutes.
- Lower the heat and cook on the lowest heat for 10 minutes.
- Remove from heat and keep it aside for 10 minutes.
- Open the seal. Always remove the seal when you are ready to serve the biryani.
- Serve Lucknowi biryani hot with raita, salad, and a lemon wedge
Video
Notes
- Always soak basmati rice for 30 minutes before making biryani.
- 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.
- While cooking biryani on dum make sure you are using a heavy bottom pan.
- Also, cook the biryani on the lowest heat during dum cooking.
- If you do not want to seal it with the dough you can cover the pot with aluminum foil and cook on dum.
- You can also place a heavy-fitting lid & then cook it on dum.
- You can skip adding mint leaves as it is not added in Lucknowi biryani. I like to have some mint leaves in my biryani.
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Veronika Singh
Great recipe with balanced spices. I really loved the recipe and will definitely give it a try.
Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Preeti
Do try and share your feedback with us. Have a good day 🙂