Bombay Chicken Biryani - Pakistani Biryani

Why you’ll ❤️this chicken biryani

✔️ Authentic Pakistani taste with a Bombay twist.
✔️ Perfectly infused with rich and aromatic spices.
✔️ A complete meal that pairs beautifully with raita or salad.
✔️ Great for family dinners, potlucks, or special occasions.

I use Shan Special Bombay Biryani in this recipe, a blend of several aromatic spices. For any biryani to come out perfect, the selection of rice is quite significant. A biryani with fluffy, non-sticky long-grain rice is a treat to the eyes.

Ingredients

To make a Pakistani biryani recipe chicken, you need the following items:

Chicken - I prefer using boneless chicken for biryani as it cooks faster, which is a significant time-saver. For this recipe, I’ve used chicken breast.

Rice - Always go for long-grain Basmati rice. It’s perfect for biryani because it cooks up fluffy and non-sticky every time.

Shan Biryani masala - This is my must-have secret for a flavour-packed biryani. Just a heads-up: it’s quite spicy, so add it carefully! You can find it at any Asian grocery store. Feel free to use any biryani masala you like. I stick with Shan because it never lets me down.

Ginger garlic paste - Fresh is best if you have the time! I usually grind about 2 inches of fresh ginger with 8–10 garlic cloves and a tablespoon of water. The store-bought works fine, too, if you’re short on time.

Tomatoes - Use fresh, ripe red tomatoes as they add beautiful colour and richness to the biryani. I blend mine into a smooth paste.

See the recipe card for details!

Step-1 Marinate the chicken

Clean and cut the chicken into pieces of your preferred size. You can either buy pre-cut pieces of a whole chicken.

Combine chicken, freshly prepared ginger-garlic paste, Bombay biryani masala, and yogurt in a mixing bowl. Mix well to incorporate all the spices.
Cover and allow it to marinate for 2 hours or overnight in the fridge (images below).

Step - 2 Cook the rice

Rinse basmati rice and soak it for at least 30 minutes. Boil water with whole spices, Kewara water, and salt, then cook the rice until it’s 75% done. Drain and keep the rice aside (images below).

Step-3 Fry onions

Chop onions into thin slices. Fry them in medium-hot oil until they turn golden brown. Spread on a paper towel. Be sure to keep each onion slice separated to retain its crispiness (images below).

Step- 4 Cook chicken and layer the biryani

To the same pan where the onions were fried, remove excess oil and pour the marinated chicken into the remaining oil. Cook chicken for 7-8 minutes to blend all the spices into the oil.

When the chicken is slightly tender, add tomato puree and cook for a few minutes. Add fried onions and saute for 3-5 minutes. When oil is released, spread evenly cooked rice over the chicken.

Add more fried onions on top of the rice layer. Cover with a lid. Place the pan on a griddle (Tawa) on low heat for 12-15 minutes.

Turn off the stove and keep it under steam for 5-10 minutes. Using a spatula or turner, mix the rice and chicken well.

Garnish with fried onions and freshly chopped cilantro leaves on top. Serve and enjoy hot Bombay chicken biryani!!

How to prevent chicken biryani from turning soggy?

If your biryani turns out too wet, it’s usually because there’s excess moisture left in the chicken or rice. Here’s how to prevent that:

Marinating the chicken well in yogurt and spices helps draw out excess moisture into the marinade instead of releasing it into the biryani.

Partially cook the chicken first — make sure the marinated chicken is at least 75% cooked before layering it with the rice.

Drain the rice properly after boiling, so no extra water seeps into the biryani.

Avoid unnecessary water. Don’t add extra water while cooking the biryani unless absolutely needed.

How to avoid biryani sticking to the bottom?

It is the most common problem we face when we make it for the first time. To avoid biryani sticking to the bottom, you can consider the following:

1. Don't skimp on using oil. Always use a generous amount while preparing biryani.
2. Use a thick-bottomed vessel.
3. If you find the partially cooked chicken is dry, consider adding a small amount of water.
4. Add fried onions to the chicken and the biryani as well.
5. After adding rice, cook it on low heat.

What are some common mistakes when making chicken biryani?

1. The most common mistake we all might face while preparing a biryani is not doing the labour, as it is a time-consuming delicacy. So don't compromise on time, as each step plays a crucial role in the overall biryani outcome.
2. Biryani masala is the most crucial step in the biryani. If you use it too much, the biryani will be too spicy to handle, and if it is not spicy enough, you could miss the richness of the biryani. Use a generous amount of masala to coat the chicken while marinating.
3. Next, not using the right quality of rice. Always use long-grain, aged basmati rice for fluffy, non-sticky rice grains.
4. Boiling rice to the full extent makes biryani sticky. Remember, cook it to 75% and cook the rest of the rice with the partially cooked chicken.
5. Chicken is not well-cooked before adding the rice.
6. Excess water in the chicken while adding the rice. It may cause sticky, wet biryani.
7. The chicken is too dry when adding boiled rice. It may cause dry biryani that can stick to the bottom.
8. Too much oil may ruin the biryani.
9. Cooking biryani on high heat may burn the biryani sitting at the bottom.
10. Onion slices are thickly chopped. It will not crisp after frying. Make sure to cut them thinly.
11. Over-fried onion slices will impart a bitter taste to the biryani.
12. Never compromise on the quality of the ingredients when you prepare biryani, as ingredients are the base of a delicious biryani.

Flavourful Variations

• For an extra kick, drizzle on this 2-ingredient chilli oil or stir in 2–3 tablespoons of homemade Schezwan sauce.
• For extra freshness, sprinkle some of my homemade dried mint leaves over your biryani before serving.
• Top up with toasted almonds, cashews, and raisins before serving.
• For flavorful fusion tadka, serve this Shan chicken biryani with fresh chutneys like green mint-coriander chutney and Indian cilantro chutney, which add a delicious zing.

Expert Tips

• Soak rice for at least half an hour before cooking.
• Marinate chicken for at least 2 hours.
• Don’t overcook the rice; it should be slightly underdone before layering.
• Use fresh ginger-garlic paste. It takes the dish to the next level.
• If you have saffron, make use of it. It gives a brilliant color to the biryani.
• Use salt carefully, as the biryani masala already contains it.
• Fry onions in a large batch, as you need a lot for garnishing before serving.
• Spread the fried onion slices out so they stay crisp
• Always cook biryani on low heat after layering.

Serving Ideas

Don’t forget to serve biryani with these refreshing yogurt recipes:

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Never compromise on ingredient quality when making Pakistani Chicken Biryani, as great ingredients are the foundation of a delicious dish. You can also leave a comment or share a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #tipsnrecipes to let me know how it goes!