Amma and I made this biryani together and apart from slicing the onions and preparing the ingredients, it’s quite hands off. If you get chicken pieces cleaned and prepared, even better. I bought 6-7 piece of chicken drumstick (the leg pieces) and we were good to go. Since it wasn’t part of the plan to make the biryani, a few ingredients are missing but I have added notes for all you can adapt and prepare accordingly. For instance, mint is a no-brainer and must be added to this biryani but I didn’t have any and didn’t want to go out and walk a kilometre to buy a bunch. Another important note is about the coconut milk. Adding coconut milk enhances the flavour of the biryani and I’d say it’s a necessary ingredient. It makes the rice sticky and richer, almost making it seem very greasy but that’s just the coconut milk doing its thing. It also makes the rice stick to the bottom of the pressure cooker if overcooked so be careful not to use too much eat when the biryani is cooking – more on that below. We serve chicken biryani with a cucumber raita, papad, and lemon pickle. A mirchi ka salan is a great idea too and you can make it in advance if you are cooking for a lot of people. For more amazing biryani recipes, check out: vegetable biryani recipe egg biryani mushroom biryani cauliflower biryani layered chicken biryani recipe Step by Step Pictures: How to Make Pressure Cooker Chicken Biryani Prep the ingredients by slicing the onions, grinding the ginger, garlic, and green chillies together, and soaking the rice for 30 minutes. Drain the rice and set aside. Heat 1/4 cup ghee in a pressure cooker pan and add the whole spices. When they turn fragrant, add the sliced onions and roast until golden brown. Then add the ground ginger-garlic-chilli paste and roast for a minute until fragrant Add biryani masala and curd to this mixture. Mix well. Then add chicken masala and mix again to coat the chicken pieces well. Add turmeric powder and salt and mix again Top up with the coconut milk. I used store-bought, thick coconut milk and then measured water in the same packet (3 times the amount). Since I used 200 ml coconut milk, I added about 600 ml water which was perfect. Simmer until the chicken pieces are half cooked. Now add the drained rice and chopped coriander and mint leaves. Close the pressure cooker and let two whistles sound. Takes about 10 minutes. Let the pressure completely leave the pressure cooker and remove lid. The biryani will appear sticky and moist. Gently mix without breaking up the rice too much. Once the biryani cools down, it will become the right consistency. While the rice may seem greasy, it’s mostly due to the coconut milk. Garnish with the fried cashew nuts and more coriander leaves. Serve warm with raita and papad. Notes: – the ratio of rice:water is 1:2 roughly. This is the proportion I use generally for cooking basmati rice – the consistency of the rice would differ a bit based on how watery your coconut milk is. Mine was store-bought and very thick – the consistency of the biryani will also depend on the rice. In short, I am trying to say this is not a magic formula in terms of measurement of ingredients. You’ll have to adapt based on where you live, what type of ingredients you use, and how you prefer your biryani. Use the recipe only as a guideline
