cooking · main dish
Spicy Chicken Biryani
From a video by Ruby Ka Kitchen · 9 min watch
A quick one-pan spicy chicken biryani with whole spices bloomed in oil, yogurt and spice marinated chicken cooked until mostly tender, then layered with parboiled basmati rice, fried onions, kewra, nutmeg, and colored water before finishing on a tawa.
main dishIndian

Source video — Ruby Ka Kitchen on YouTube
From the creator
Total time
~1 hour 15 minutesEstimated by Unreel from the recipe steps — the creator didn't state this.
Hands-on
~55 minutesEstimated by Unreel from the recipe steps — the creator didn't state this.
Servings
6 servings
Difficulty
HardEstimated by Unreel from the recipe steps — the creator didn't state this.
Extraction confidence: high
Auto-generated from the video and rewritten in our own words. Double-check quantities against the source before cooking.
Ingredients
Ingredients scaled to 6 servings
- ½ cup cooking oil
- 1 bay leaf
- 6–8 small cardamom
- 1 star anise
- 6–8 cloves
- 1 nutmeg
- 1 mace
- 1 tsp white cumin
- 1 cup yogurt
- 1 tbsp garlic paste
- 1 tbsp ginger paste
- 2 lb chicken
- 4 tbsp coriander powder
- 1 tbsp red chili powder
- 2 tsp garam masala powder
- 1 tsp kashmiri chili powder
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 4 tbsp tomato puree
- 2 tsp salt
- ¼ tsp kewra essence
- ¼ tsp cardamom powder
- ⅛ tsp nutmeg
- ⅛ tsp orange food color
- ½ cup fried onions
- 4 cups basmati rice
- 6 tbsp cooking oil
- ½ cup fried onions
- ⅛ tsp yellow food color
- fresh coriander leaves, to taste
Preparation
- Step 1Heat a heavy-bottomed pan. Add around half a cup of oil. Once hot, add one bay leaf, 6-8 small cardamoms, one star anise, 6-8 cloves, one small piece of nutmeg, one mace blade, and one teaspoon white cumin. Allow the spices to infuse in the oil for 30-40 seconds without overheating them.
- Step 2Add one cup yogurt, one tablespoon garlic paste, and one tablespoon ginger paste. Mix thoroughly.
- Step 3Add the chicken pieces (about 2 lb bone-in and some boneless). Add four tablespoons coriander powder, one tablespoon red chili powder, two teaspoons garam masala powder, one teaspoon Kashmiri chili powder, one teaspoon turmeric powder, four tablespoons tomato puree, and two teaspoons salt. Mix well. Cover and cook on medium to medium-low heat for around 15 minutes until the chicken is 80-85% cooked and tender but not fully done.
- Step 4Add around quarter teaspoon kewra essence, quarter teaspoon cardamom powder, and about 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg. Add 1/8 teaspoon orange food color dissolved in two tablespoons water. Mix well. Sprinkle half a cup of fried onions over the top.
- Step 5Spread the 4 cups of 95% boiled basmati rice evenly over the chicken. Drizzle around six tablespoons oil over the rice. Sprinkle the remaining half cup of fried onions on top. Drizzle 1/8 teaspoon yellow food color dissolved in two tablespoons water over the rice. Cover the pan.
- Step 6After 2-3 minutes, transfer the covered pan to a hot tawa over medium-low heat. Cook for 15-20 minutes to complete the dum process.
- Step 7Turn off the heat. Allow the biryani to rest for 10 minutes so the flavors settle.
- Step 8Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve.
Notes
- Chicken should be 80-85% cooked before adding rice
- Rice should be boiled 95% - just underdone
- Kewra: use quarter teaspoon if essence, one tablespoon if water
- Tomato puree can be replaced with small diced tomatoes or ground tomatoes
- Cover and cook on medium-low flame for 15 minutes after adding chicken
- Final cooking on tawa (flat griddle) for 15-20 minutes on medium-low flame
- Rest for 10 minutes before serving