One-Pot Fragrant Chicken Biryani Recipe

Chicken biryani is one of the most popular Indian dishes in the United States. Unlike the beloved saucy favorite chicken tikka masala, biryani is a rice dish prized for being full of texture. The texture is achieved by precise layering, beginning with deeply browned onions and an array of whole spices, then followed up with marinated chicken, rice, and a flavorful broth. Though the process from start to finish is time-consuming, none of the steps are very difficult, and the results are well worth it. Best yet, the cleanup is minimal: The entire dish is made in one pot.

Developer Michelle McGlinn walks through the process of making an easy, fragrant, one-pot chicken biryani in this recipe. Beginning with a yogurt-marinated and masala-spiced chicken, the biryani is layered with flavor every step of the way, even including the saffron-infused broth that the rice will cook in. You'll need several threads of saffron, which will then be bloomed in warm milk before being added to the broth and cooked into the rice. The results yield a fluffy, bold rice dish that can serve as a main course alongside naan and raita, or as a filling side to serve with saucier curries like tikka masala.

For the most authentic version of this dish, you'll need a handful of spices, some ghee, and some common aromatics, which you should try to find before swapping for substitutes. The spices you'll need are Kashmiri chili powder, garam (or biryani) masala, salt, turmeric, coriander, cumin, star anise, cardamom pods, bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon sticks, and saffron. With the spices down, the rest of the list is fairly easy to find. You'll need chicken — we like tender, juicy chicken thighs, but you can use any cut you like, including drumsticks, breasts, or wings. From there, grab Greek yogurt, garlic, ginger, onion, milk, ghee, chicken stock, and Basmati rice. Basmati rice is crucial to achieving perfect chicken biryani, so be sure to seek it out (and look for aged, if possible).

Make small slits all over the chicken pieces using a paring knife, then add them to a large bowl.

Add ¼ cup yogurt, grated garlic, grated ginger, 1 tablespoon garam masala, 1 teaspoon Kashmiri chili powder, 1 teaspoon salt, turmeric, coriander, and cumin to the bowl.

Using your hands, combine the marinade with the chicken until well coated. Marinate for 30 minutes or up to overnight.

In the meantime, rinse the rice until the water runs clear. Then soak the rice in a large bowl for 30 minutes.

Drain the rice and set it aside.

Heat the milk in the microwave for 30 seconds or until just warmed. Add the saffron and stir.

Heat the ghee in a large pot over medium heat.

Add the onion, star anise, cardamom pods, bay leaves, cloves, and cinnamon and cook until the onion is softened, about 5 minutes.

Add the chicken and cook, turning once, until nearly cooked through, about 8 minutes.

Add the remaining yogurt, garam masala, chili powder, and salt, and then cover with rice.

Add the saffron milk and chicken broth to the pot and bring to a simmer. Do not stir.

Cover the pot, lower the heat to medium low, and cook until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is fluffy, about 30 minutes. If the rice is undercooked and liquid is absorbed, add ½ cup more chicken broth and cook until the rice is tender.

To serve, fluff the rice with a wooden spoon, then top with cilantro, mint, and fried onions, if desired.

Chicken biryani requires a few ingredients that aren't typical finds at grocery stores. Kashmiri chili powder is often used in Indian dishes like Tandoori chicken, butter chicken, and biryani. Known less for its heat and mostly for its bright red color, the chili powder can be substituted for paprika and cayenne — paprika for color, and a pinch of cayenne for heat. Ghee, which is a clarified butter, is often sold alongside oils and shelf-stable butters, but if your store doesn't carry it, simply swap for unsalted butter, which will offer the same creamy richness.

There is an extensive list of spices required for biryani that add a necessary dimension to the dish. Though it is traditional to use whole spices, which are first toasted to release their flavor, if you can't get your hands on the whole version you can swap in the ground variants. For ground spices, start small, using a teaspoon or two until the flavor is to your liking. Finally, saffron is one of the world's most rare and expensive spices. Sold in small, red threads, saffron offers a subtle, sweet, floral, and earthy flavor that is accentuated when bloomed in milk or broth. If you're having trouble finding saffron (we suggest ordering it online), we recommend skipping it — though it adds a layer of flavor, it is subtle enough to go unnoticed if you leave it out.

Usually when making rice, the goal is to cook it until it is moist and fluffy. Perfect biryani is not sticky or overly moist, but instead uniquely textured: Each grain should be long, separated, and dry, cooked to al dente but not sticky. Achieving this specific texture requires attention to a few details, beginning with the type of rice. It is important to use Basmati rice, which translates in Hindi to, roughly, "full of aroma." Not only is the rice itself fragrant, it also has a higher amylose level than stickier varieties of rice like Jasmine, which results in grains that separate from each other when cooking.

The second secret is to use pre-soaked rice and refrain from stirring it. It's hard not to stir a big pot of ingredients, especially when the onions are crisping away at the bottom of the pot. That's intentional, though, and will maximize both the flavor and texture of biryani. Stirring the rice is believed to release too much starch, causing a mushy, sticky texture instead of the singular grains biryani requires. You also want the bottom layer of rice to crisp against the heat and soak up the flavors of the cooked chicken below. If you are making biryani for the first time, watch the rice closely, and undercook it slightly if you aren't sure: Overcooked rice will be mushy, which is the last thing you want.