Chicken Tikka Biryani

All the delicious flavours of a chicken tikka and a chicken biryani combined! This Chicken Tikka Biryani is quick and easy to make, and tastes amazing – the perfect fakeaway.

Course Curry, Main Course

Cuisine British, Fusion, Indian

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 20

Total Time 30

Servings people

Calories 519kcal

Author Eb Gargano

Ingredients

Chicken Tikka Marinade

3 cloves garlic crushed or grated
1 cm fresh ginger grated
3 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
3 teaspoons garam masala
Juice of half a lemon
½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)
100 ml plain yogurt
½ teaspoon chilli flakes (or to taste)

Chicken Tikka Biryani

600 g chicken breast cut into bitesize cubes
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion sliced
1 red pepper sliced thinly
2 cloves garlic crushed or grated
½ teaspoon chilli flakes (or to taste)
2 teaspoons garam masala
2 teaspoons turmeric
250 g basmati rice (See Note 1)
600 ml chicken stock (from a cube is fine, I use 1 Kallo Organic Chicken stock cube)
100 g frozen peas
2 tablespoons fresh coriander/cilantro plus extra for garnish (optional)
Pickles/chutneys/naan bread/Bombay potatoes – or whatever you like to serve with a biryani.

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 240C / 220C fan / gas mark 9 / 475F. (Do this later if you plan to marinate the chicken for the full hour.)
Place all the Chicken Tikka Marinade ingredients in a large bowl and stir thoroughly to combine.
Add in the diced chicken breast and stir thoroughly to combine. (I find using your hands works best here!)
Ideally, cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. However, if you don’t have the time, simply continue with the recipe – it will still taste very good!
Place the chicken on a large baking tray, reserving any leftover marinade for later.
Place the chicken into your preheated over and cook for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, put the tablespoon of olive oil and the onion and red pepper in a large frying pan or sauté pan (must have a lid), fry gently over a low heat with the lid on for 3 minutes or until softened but not browned.
Add the garlic, chilli and spices and fry for 2 minutes.
Add the rice and stir to coat the rice in the spices, then add the stock and bring to the boil.
Put a lid on the frying pan and turn the heat right down, simmer for 8 minutes (See Note 1) then add the frozen peas and cooked chicken tikka, stir once and replace the lid.
Cook for a further 5 minutes or until the rice is done to your liking. If it starts sticking before the rice is cooked, add an extra splash of water.
Finally stir in the 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh coriander (cilantro).
Sprinkle extra fresh coriander on top and serve with all your favourite extras, such as naan breads, pickles and chutneys.

Notes

Cooking time will depend on the specific brand of basmati rice you use. I use Tilda Basmati Rice, which yields perfectly cooked rice when cooked as above. Tilda advise cooking their basmati rice for 10-12 minutes. If your brand’s instructions advise you to cook the rice for longer than this. Add the extra time to the initial 8 minutes.
Suitable for freezing.
Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.

Nutrition