Tamil Style Chicken Biryani
I can hear the collective yawn already – No, not another Biryani recipe! Hasn’t she posted all the possible variations out there already? Well, no, I haven’t even scratched the surface yet. Every time I make Biryani it turns out a bit different, so you should really thank me for not posting the hundreds of variations that I could. In fact every chicken or lamb curry recipe I have can be converted into a biryani recipe. But don’t worry, I promise this one is different, it is not just a slight variation of one of my already posted recipes, it is a whole new taste.
I talked about my new favorite cookbook called Aharam by Sabita Radhakrishnan in a previous post. This biryani was inspired by one of the chicken curry recipes in there called Kozhi Velai Kozhambu aka White Chicken Curry. When I saw the recipe, the creamy cashew nut, yogurt and coconut based gravy sounded like the perfect candidate for a biryani base. So instead of making the curry and eating it with plain rice, I decided to combine the two into a biryani and the result was this delicious mild flavored biryani that looked different from my usual red/brownish looking biryanis. This one goes well with a spicy meat curry or it is good on its own with a spicy raita.
Ingredients
- 1.5 lb chicken, cut into medium sized pieces
- 1 cup yogurt
- 1 can ((13.5oz) low fat coconut milk
- Oil
- salt to taste
- 2 cups basmati rice
- To saute and grind
- 1/2 cup onions thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp thinly sliced ginger pieces
- 2 tbsp thinly sliced garlic pieces
- 15 green chilies (I used Serrano)
- 15 cashew nuts
- 1″ piece cinnamon
- 2 cloves
- 4 cardamom
- 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 3 bay leaves
- 3 star anise
- 1″ cinnamon
- 1/2 cup onions, thinly sliced
- 1 cup thinly sliced onions
- a few cashew nuts, halved
Method
Wash the rice thoroughly and soak for at least 30 minutes.
Dry roast the ingredients under “To Dry Roast and Grind” and process in a spice mill or coffee grinder to a smooth powder.
Heat 2 tsp oil in a large pressure cooker and saute the ingredients under the “to saute and grind” section till onions are soft, but not browned. Place this in a food processor, add the spice powder from the previous step, and the yogurt and process to a smooth paste.
Marinate the chicken pieces with this paste and keep aside for half an hour.
Heat 2 tbsp oil and add the ingredients under “For Tempering” section and saute till the onions are softened. Add the marinated chicken and saute till dry and the oil starts to separate.
Add the coconut milk and salt and mix well and close the pressure cooker. Cook till the first whistle (when the pressure cooker has reached the full pressure) and switch off the stove.
When the chicken is getting cooked, heat about 1 tbsp oil in a large frying pan and fry the onions and cashew nuts for the garnish one by one, remove and keep aside. Add bit more oil and add the soaked rice and a little bit of salt and fry well.
When the pressure cooker is cool enough to handle, open and measure the gravy in the chicken. We need total 3.5 cups of liquid including the gravy and water to cook 2 cups of rice. So if there is two cups of gravy in the chicken, add 1 1/2 cups of water. Add the fried rice along with the required amount of hot water to the chicken in the pressure cooker.
Close the pressure cooker and cook on medium heat till the first whistle. High heat will surely burn the bottom of the biryani, so make sure it is medium heat. After the first whistle, switch off the stove and let stand till it cools down.
Transfer to a serving platter and garnish with the fried onions and cashew nuts and boiled eggs if using. Serve hot with raita and/or a spicy gravy.
Check out my other biryani recipes:
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Wow..looks delicious Sig..love the egg and fried onions garnish..:)
Biryani recipes are like shoes and bags…you can never have enough!!! Keep them coming
I can never get enough of biryani. It is raining and cold here today, your dish is killing me!
I’ll never say enough is enough… I agree about stuff turning out different each time
This looks delish!
to me you can serve biryani any time and almost all the time LOL! this looks great and as i am not very familiar with tamil cuisine i have to try it out!
No no…not at all..I actually do’t mind so many biriyani recipes
But this one is definitely worth drooling atleast for 10 mins. I couldn’t take my eye off the screen for that long. Coconut milk is usually added to a veggie biriyani and this combo is definitely new. Did it taste tangy? The garnish is awesome 
Even my everyday cooking has hundreds of variations – the result of forgetting, misreading instructions, adding before, after, or not adding at all
My first chicken biriyani – made in a rush of arrogance after abandoning the cookbook – was so sick I went off meat for a few months. The Spouse and others liked it, though. I cooked raw chicken and rice in the rice cooker, it reeked.
Any biryani recipes are always welcome Sig. The more the better
. U will try this.
Yes Sig..this cant be seen as yet another chicken biriyani..a different version which I love to try..
And the picture looks professional as usual !!
Woww lip smacking dish! am drooling here!
Don’t you worry Sig, I can never tire of Biriyani recipes! Infact, in your “If you could eat only 3 things, what would they be?” post, I mentioned biriyani as one of the dishes. This sounds similar to what my mum makes. Coconut milk is a given in her biriyanis, but sometimes she adds ground cashews too. Sauteing the chilis before grinding gives the biriyani a flavor like no other.
I regret not buying Ahaaram in India. I hope you post more recipes from the book.
Biriyani of any kind or combo is irressitable..this is a nice variation w/ mild flavours..
I love making biryani as well, although it take a while to prepare it. It’s worth the effort. Look delish Sig!
heheh…I can already see waiting eagerly for us to say no no…
but you are right…I am always ready to try another one…and this one looks really delicious ..
This is different to me:-) I have never used coconut milk in biryani.
I cannot profess my love for biryani enough, i could eat it any time any number of time & never get bored. & i usually eat a LOT when it is briyani. the caramelized onions blend in to give the final touch don’t they? I am drooling.
This looks delicious! I want some biryani!
Nothing like a good South Indian biryani I say – so bring on all your versions
and with versions as good as these, no one would be bored!
I usually finish off my biryanis on the stove top itself – doesn’t burn or get mushy and at the same time the slow cooking steeps the rice and chicken with the flavour of the spices. MIl on the other hand chooses to finish biryanis in the electric cooker…..I find that it dries out the rice a tad too much sometimes…
Too many recipes of biryani ? Nah ! That cant happen. I made a chettinad chicken curry last week and then the remaining went into the deep freeze. On sunday, I added basmati rice to this chicken curry, poured in half a can of coconut milk and cooked in in the biryani handi. Topped it with fried onions and cashews – turned super good !!
Oh, I can never have enough biryanis. This one’s nice and creative.
Eeven though i am veggie, i must say that dish looks really exotic and mouth watering!
Hey!!
Congratulations on your fabulous site!! you really make some yummy dishes and also know how to present them well
I must say you have a brilliant camera as well 
Although i am an eggetarian, i loved this recipe for its simplicity!
Keep up the great work!
Wish you good luck!
Cheers
Sujyothi
palatesdestiny.blogspot.com
I’m going to vegetarianize this
I will never get tired of biriyani’s ..ie non -veg ones. So keep them coming
aah…just the sight of biryani makes me want to eat! never get tired of any types or variations of biryani!! Yours looks awesome.
Heyy…ur egg and cottage cheese breakfast muffins , picture and recipe has been posted here – http://www.samayalblog.com/index.php/category/egg/page/2
Was just wondering if ur aware of this.
plagiarism : please check the following link. Some one is stealing your recipes.
http://chettinadusamayal.blogspot.com/search/label/Mushroom
She is stealing many recipes from bloggers.
U have a wonderful blog. Biryani looks delicious. Take care.
I have all your biryani recipes bookmarked. It is time for me to do something about it. Oh, I don’t know – like make one of them!
the best part is that garnish!! my mom made a very similar one yesterday.
psstt.. i am in kottayam
I have never seen it with hard boiled eggs before. I’m not yawning. I’m oohing and aahing.
i should try this one..i can impress my tamil friends with this!!
I made this biryani today and it was amazing…thanks so much for the recipe