Easy Chicken Biryani

5 from 1 vote

This Easy Chicken Biryani is quick, easy and is all made in one pan. A much cheaper – and healthier – alternative to reaching for that takeaway menu! (Plus it’s only 579 calories and it contains 29 grams of protein!)

Course Curry, Main Course

Cuisine British, Fusion, Indian

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 25

Total Time 35

Servings people

Calories 579kcal

Author Eb Gargano

Ingredients

Chicken

400 g chicken breast cut into small chunks
2 teaspoons garam masala
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil (or rapeseed oil, or coconut oil)

Biryani

1 tablespoon olive oil (or rapeseed oil, or coconut oil)
1 onion sliced
1 red (bell) pepper sliced
3 cloves garlic crushed or grated
1 teaspoon chilli flakes (or to taste)
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons garam masala
2 teaspoons ground turmeric
300 g basmati rice (see Note 1)
Salt and black pepper to taste
400 ml coconut milk
200 ml water (or chicken stock, if you prefer)
100 g frozen peas (no need to defrost first)
2 tablespoons fresh coriander (AKA cilantro) plus extra for garnish (optional)

To serve

Pickles/chutneys/naan bread/chapattis – or whatever you like to serve with a biryani!

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Chicken

Place the diced chicken breast in a bowl and sprinkle over 2 teaspoons of garam masala, plus a little salt and pepper. Turn to get all the chicken pieces evenly coated.
Put 1 tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan or sauté pan and place over a high heat for 1 minute.
Tip the chicken pieces into the hot frying pan and fry for 2-3 minutes, or until browned nicely on all sides, but not quite cooked through. (It will finish cooking later when added to the biryani.)
Tip the part-cooked chicken out onto a plate.

Biryani

Turn the heat right down and place the chicken pan back over the heat.
Put the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in the pan, and then add the sliced onion and red pepper. Fry gently over a low heat with the lid on for 3 minutes or until softened but not browned, stirring occasionally.
Add the garlic, chilli and spices and fry for 1 more minute.
Return the chicken to the pan together with the rice (See Note 1), salt and pepper. Stir to coat the chicken and rice in the spices, then add the coconut milk and water and bring to the boil.
Put a lid on the frying pan and turn the heat right down, simmer for 8 minutes then add the frozen peas, 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 coriander on top and serve with all your favourite extras, such as naan breads, pickles and chutneys.

Notes

Rice brands vary enormously in their cooking time, so do check the packet and adjust cooking times accordingly. I use Tesco basmati rice or Tilda basmati rice. Both state a cooking time of 10-12 minutes, and are cooked perfectly when the above instructions are followed to the letter. However, if your brand needs a longer cook time, then I recommend you start cooking the rice in the coconut milk / water mixture first, then add in the chicken when the rice has 13 minutes to go, and the peas when the rice has 5 minutes to go. In this way you will avoid over cooking the chicken and peas.
Suitable for freezing.
Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.

Nutrition