Butter chicken biryani
Butter chicken biryaniis a fusion of two Indian favorites - creamy butter chicken gravy and biryani, layered with fresh herbs and fragrant spices. Make this rich, buttery, and mildly spiced restaurant-style dish easily at home with step by step photos and a quick video tutorial. Serve with raita, salan or salad for a complete meal.
Servings: 4 people
Calories: 480kcal
Equipment
- 1 Heavy bottom pot or Heavy bottok Wok
Ingredients
To make tandoori chicken
- 700 gram boneless or bone-in chicken cut into pieces
- 2 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
- ¼ cup thick curd/yogurt
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 2 teaspoon coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- salt to taste
- 1 teaspoon tandoori chicken masala
- 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder
- 2 teaspoon mustard oil
To make the butter chicken masala
- 10 cloves of garlic
- 2- inch ginger roughly chopped
- 1 small onion
- 1 small bay leaf
- 1- inch cinnamon
- 4 cloves
- 10 peppercorns
- 3 green cardamoms
- 1 black cardamom
- 6-7 cashews
- 5 big tomatoes
- 2 teaspoon butter
Making the spice powder (optional - for restaurant-style flavor)
- 4 cardamoms
- a small piece of nutmeg
- 2 petals javitri mace
For cooking biryani rice
- 2 cups of basmati rice
- 1- inch cinnamon (Dalchini)
- 1 star anise (Chakra phool)
- 2 green cardamoms (Choti Elaichi)
- 1 black cardamom (Badi Elaichi)
Other ingredients
- 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder
Assembling & layering the biryani
- 2 tablespoon cream
- fried onions
- 1 green chili
- 1 teaspoon Kasuri methi
- coriander leaves
- mint leaves
- 1 teaspoon Biryani masala powder
- saffron milk - a pinch of saffron soaked in 3 tablespoon warm milk. (optional)
- 2 tablespoon ghee/clarified butter
Instructions
Preparations
- Marinate the chicken with the ingredients mentioned in the ingredient list. Set it aside for 30 minutes.
- Rinse & soak basmati rice in water for 30 minutes. Drain the water & set it aside.
- Fry onion slices in hot oil until golden & crisp. Remove & spread it on an absorbent paper. If using store bought fried onions (birista) then you can skip this step.
- Crush cardamom, mace & nutmeg to a fine powder. Set it aside.
Making butter chicken masala
- Boil 1 cup of water on high heat. Add garlic, ginger, onion, whole spices, tomatoes & butter. Cover & cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat & let it cool down completely. Transfer the ingredients to the mixer/grinder jar. Do not add water & grind it to a fine paste. The butter chicken masala is ready. Set it aside.
Cooking biryani rice
- Boil 6 cups of water on high heat. Once the water boils, add salt, whole spices & basmati rice. Cook until the water comes to a boil again and the rice is 80% cooked. It will take around 5 minutes. To check, take the rice grains between finger & thumb. It should split (not mushy). Drain off the water & keep it aside.
Making tandoori chicken
- Heat 3 tablespoons of oil over high heat. Add the marinated chicken (Be careful, not to add the extra marinade while pan-frying the chicken) & fry on both sides until crisp. Then lower the heat & cook it on low heat for 5 minutes until cooked.
- Create some space in the middle (refer the image). Place a bowl with hot charcoal in the middle. Pour some ghee/clarified butter. Cover & set it aside. It will give a smoky flavor to the chicken. (This step is optional)
Making butter chicken biyrani gravy
- Heat 1 teaspoon oil & 1 teaspoon butter over low to medium heat. Add Kashmiri red chili powder. Fry it for a minute. Immediately add the prepared butter chicken sauce base & cook until it comes to a boil.
- Add tandoori chicken to the gravy. Cook until it comes to a boil again. Taste & adjust salt. Reduce the excess gravy on low heat. There should not be too much gravy before you start to layer the biryani. Otherwise the biryani will become soggy.
Assembling and layering butter chicken biryani
- Lower the heat & add cream, fried onions, green chilies, kasuri methi & prepared cardamom, mace & nutmeg powder, coriander & mint leaves. Layer the rice. Over it layer fried onion, mint leaves, coriander leaves, Biryani masala powder, saffron milk & ghee/clarified butter.
- Create some space for the steam to escape with the ladle. If you are not creating the space the biryani will not cook properly. Compared to other biryani, this biryani needs this additional step.
Dum cooking biryani
- Close with the lid. Cook for 15 minutes on low flame. Butter chicken biryani is ready to serve. It tastes best when served with Raita & Salad.
Video
Notes
- Make sure the tandoori chicken is completely cooked when you add it to the gravy.
- If you like the taste of mustard oil then only add it to the recipe. Mustard oil has its own flavor & aroma. You can substitute it with normal cooking oil.
- If you have kewra water then add a few drops to the biryani while layering it.
- For pan-frying the chicken, make sure the pan is very hot. It will seal the outer edges of the chicken. The chicken will be crisp outside & nice & moist inside.
- Use long-grain-aged basmati rice to make biryani.
- Before you start layering the biryani, make sure, there should not be too much gravy left at the base of the pan. You can heat it on low heat & reduce the gravy.
- Once you finished assembling & layering the biryani then make some space with the ladle for the heat to escape. Only after that close with the lid & dum cook the biryani. This process is shown in the step-by-step process below & the video.
- Always use a heavy bottom utensil/pan to make biryani.
Nutrition
Calories: 480kcal