Chicken and rosewater biryani
The rice in a biryani should be so dry and fluffy that when you throw a handful on the floor, all the grains should separate. The secret is to parboil the rice so that the surface is soft and cooked but the centre is still hard, and also to make sure that the main ingredient, i.e. the chicken, mutton, seafood or vegetables, is intensely flavoured but not surrounded by too much ‘gravy’, which will make the rice soggy when the final cooking in a sealed pot takes place.
Estimated Nutrition (whole recipe, rough)
Counts 15 of 18 ingredients — the other 3 aren't in our nutrition table and contribute nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume — 15 portions →
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Rice | 1 cup cooked (158g) white | 206 |
| Chicken | 100g cooked | 165 |
| Olive Oil | 1 tbsp (14g) | 119 |
| Yogurt | 170g plain Greek | 100 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Tomato | 1 medium (123g) | 22 |
| Turmeric | 1 tsp ground (3g) | 9 |
| Cumin | 1 tsp ground (2.1g) | 8 |
| Clove | 1 tsp ground (2g) | 7 |
| Cinnamon | 1 tsp ground (2.6g) | 6 |
| Cardamom | 1 tsp ground (2g) | 6 |
| Garlic | 1 clove (3g) | 4 |
| Ginger | 1 tsp grated fresh (2g) | 2 |
| Bay Leaf | 1 leaf (0.6g) | 2 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Coriander | not in our table | 0 |
| Ghee | not in our table | 0 |
| Saffron | not in our table | 0 |
Totals for the whole recipe, adding one typical portion per ingredient — listed above. Quantities in the recipe are not counted, so this is a rough guide only — not suitable for medical or dietary planning.
Ingredients
- 250ml/9fl oz natural yogurt
- 6 garlic
- 6cm/2½in (30g/1oz) piece ginger
- 3 green chillies
- 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- 500g/1lb 2oz skinless, boneless chicken thighs
- 300ml/10fl oz vegetable oil
- 3 medium onions
- 10 whole cloves
- 6cm/2½in piece cinnamon
- 5 green cardamom
- 2 Indian bay leaves
- 1 tsp cumin
- 2 medium tomatoes
- 1 tsp salt
- 600g/1lb 5oz basmati rice
- 1 tsp salt
- 100g/3½fl oz ghee
- pinch saffron
- 2 tsp rosewater
- 20g/½oz cashewpistachios
- , to serve raita