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When I first came to this country decades ago, I worked in Jackson Heights, Queens (NY) and it was there that I fell madly in love with authentic and traditional Pakistani and Indian cuisine. A Pakistani co-worker at the time made the most delicious biryani and shared his recipe with me.

Unfortunately, I have since lost that recipe and do recall that it was a very, very long list of ingredients. I tried the recipe and my first time was not a huge success. My rice grains were far from tender, and I did not know how to save it without making it mushy. I do recall that family members still ate it, maybe out of pity for all the time, work, and money I invested in the preparation of it

I’ve made chicken biryani and other variations numerous times since then and it has now become a family favorite. This recipe has evolved over the years based on the spices I have always have on hand, along with some Caribbean ingredients, including pimento or seasoning peppers and Trinidad Green Seasoning.

It still doesn’t taste like the biryani I had from my co-worker but it’s really delicious. So delicious, my sister requested a pot of chicken biryani for her birthday (and does so occasionally), and so I delivered. I also filmed the making of it as an added bonus in the event she wishes to make her own in the future!

Of course, I helped myself before packing up the remainder for her. I also had to make it again two days later because my family wanted more!! This is just my personal version and not an authentic biryani recipe. Check elsewhere on youtube for that! Please remember to remove the spices before eating.

Ria's Chicken Biryani

This recipe has the basics of a traditional biryani with a Caribbean influence and my personal touch.

5 from 3 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: dinner, lunch

Cuisine: Caribbean, Indian

Keyword: biryani, caribbean chicken biryani, chicken biryani

Prep Time: 30

Cook Time: 40

Servings:

Calories: 615kcal

Ingredients

4 pounds chicken cut up into 2 inch pieces
1 Lemon juice to wash chicken, 1/4 skin/rind, sliced thinly
3 cups basmati rice soaked for 30 mins, gently washed, drained
1/4 cup oil or more as needed
4 onions medium, sliced
5 black cardamoms
2 tbs whole geera divided
2 tbs cardamom divided
2 tbs peppercorn blend divided
4 bay leaves
1 tsp turmeric
2 cinnamon sticks divided
2 tbs Himalayan salt divided
2 pimento peppers optional
2 plum tomatoes chopped
3 tbs minced garlic
1 container yogurt divided
1 bunch cilantro divided
3 tbs green seasoning
3 birds eye peppers or cayenne whole, optional, or other hot pepepr
1 1/2 tbs salt or to taste

Instructions

Wash chicken with the juice of a lime or lemon. Rinse, drain and set aside.
Wash rice and add enough water to cover. Soak for 30 minutes. Bring 10 cups of water to boil in a medium pot. Add washed rice, 1 black elaiche, 1 tbs peppercorns, 1 cinnamon stick, 1 tbs cardamom, 1 tbs whole cumin and 1 tbs salt. Cook until 70% done. Drain and set aside.
Place a large pot over medium heat and add oil. When hot, add sliced onions and cook until golden brown, about 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove to a plate.
Add remainder of the black cardamom, green cardamom(1 tbs), peppercorns(1 tbs), cinnamon stick(1), whole grian geera (1 tbs), and turmeric. Cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring.
Raise heat to high, add chicken, salt (about 1 1/2 tbs) and stir to combine. Cook for 5 minutes until brown.
Add cilantro, minced garlic, pimento peppers if using, tomatoes, couple thin slices of lemon, cayenne peppers if using, green seasoning, ½ caramelized onion and stir to combine. Cover and cook for 10 minutes.
Add 1/2 container, about 1 1/2 to 2 cups, yogurt and stir to coat. Cook for 10 more minutes and add the remainder of the caramelized onions.
Drain rice once it is done cooking, and add it to chicken, stir to combine. Toss the remainder of the caramelized onion over the rice, along with chopped cilantro if you wish. Cover tightly(sometimes I wrap a kitchen cloth around the cover) and cook for 15-20 minutes, or longer if still not fluffy enough. Leave covered for an additional 20 minutes.

Video

Notes

Make Raita.
To the remaining yogurt(1/2 container), mix in 1 small minced red onion, finely chopped hot pepper, 1/4 cup chopped cilantro, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp minced garlic, salt, to taste and black pepper. Alternatively, you can place all ingredients in the food processor and pulse to chop and combine at the same time.

In the corresponding video on YT, I used 4 cups of rice but decreased it here since 3 cups make a large quantity. Feel free to use up to 4 cups, depending on how many people you are cooking for.